Back in the Gym

[Amethyst]

The lunk alarm is basically a siren. I hear it rarely, only for a second, somebody teasing somebody else. I'd hate to work out where people are running it all the time!

I think "no muscle tops for men" is sexist. Who cares what the men wear, as long as they have something on. We women run around with bare midriffs all the time in there.

Tanning beds are unhealthy - but I guess some really like them. To me, they are wasted space that could be used for stretching, etc.

Ask the PF staff person to sound the lunk alarm. It is loud. Also PF has tanning beds which I am not interested in. PF is also popular with long distance truckers in my area. also.

 

[athena53]

Don't really understand some of the bad press PF gets, it's one of the better gyms I've belonged to, always clean and workers friendly and willing to help out. Since Covid hit they have blocked off adjacent cardio machines to increase social distancing, plenty of cleaning stations spread out throughout the gym with kindly reminders to wipe off machines before and after use.

I loved PF until they started ignoring the mask mandates and dropped me when I called it to their attention. I even owned their stock, which I sold at a very nice profit after that incident.

Tanning beds are unhealthy - but I guess some really like them. To me, they are wasted space that could be used for stretching, etc.

Low-cost gyms such as PF run on an interesting business model that assumes most members will use it only occasionally. I was there every day but if all the members did that they wouldn't have room for them! Tanning beds, massage chairs and free pizza and bagels are there to keep the occasional users coming in and paying their membership fees.

 

[Amethyst]

I guess it evens out over time and distance. When we were going 4 days a week, it wasn't always the same 4 days...and we saw plenty of folks (especially in the morning) who were clearly there every blessed day.

Their treatment of you is, unfortunately, not unbelievable. They are quite callous about memberships. Then again, the fancy gym we used in MD was ruthless about membership as well. And cost 4X as much.

Low-cost gyms such as PF run on an interesting business model that assumes most members will use it only occasionally. I was there every day but if all the members did that they wouldn't have room for them! .

 

[Nick12]

Gyms know most gym members hardly use their membership. At the PF location where I went, the staff member said they have 7K paying members , and generally 10% use their memberships.

 

[jollystomper]

I love threads with interesting tangents .

Never understood the loud grunting when lifting (or any workout). When I started lifting weights in college, I usually lifted with the football team, and grunting was just not heard. If it did occur, it was more made fun of. I do not know if the gym we are members of has that rule, but you never hear it. Of course I work out with headphone (I don't sing but I will walk/jog/ellipticate/lift to the beat) so that helps .

No gym issues, long story short we have belonged to an independent gym for 20+ years that has been great. They put in a lot of safety precautions, and has a decent clientele (amazing they let us join ), so I have been comfortable going since they reopened almost a year ago.

 

[Chuckanut]

I don’t know which is worse in a gym, the grunters or the incessant loud music, loud ads, and all the ‘challenges’ that are somehow supposed to inspire me. I guess that’s part of the reason reason I dropped my membership.

I’m OK with the gals showing their midriffs.

 

[Amethyst]

I tune out the music and ignore challenges. The gym is just an assignment from me to me; I give full value, and stick with it till it's done.

I don’t know which is worse in a gym, the grunters or the incessant loud music, loud ads, and all the ‘challenges’ that are somehow supposed to inspire me. I guess that’s part of the reason reason I dropped my membership.

 

[littleb]

We have not rejoined the gym yet but missed going during the pandemic. We started hiking and cycling about 2 months ago. I gained 10 pounds last year but need to lose 15.

On a positive note, we cycled 80 miles in the past 2 days. Slowly getting back into shape and it feels good.

We are going to wait until November to rejoin the gym since we can currently exercise outside.