Planet Fitness is purposefully cheap, which makes them the McDonalds of gyms. It’s like going to Olive Garden for a great Italian night out. It invites cheap clientele (not absolutely of course). When I was 16 and first started going to a gym there were huge grown men there that intimidated the crap out of me. But you know what those grown men did? They taught me a lot of things, including gym etiquette, etc. They knowingly provided information and unknowingly provided me with progressive goals and aspirations.

Planet Fitness, instead, markets itself as a judgment free zone and in its marketing completely judges men that look like the ones that were nothing but nice and kind and helped me as a teen. Planet Fitness markets itself as absolute hypocrites in this regard. Judgment free? They have no dumbbells over 60 pounds and those are the only free weights they offer. They have smith machines instead of squat rack or free weight benches. Smith machines are much more dangerous to use while trying to squat and press. They don’t allow grunting? God forbid I try hard there and let out an audible noise while doing so and break one of their precious rules. Oh, and if you do break that rule they will let off an alarm, the “lunk” alarm? That’s the most explicit judgment I’ve ever experienced in a gym. Hypocrites.

About those cheap clientele, in my opinion, they generally attract the worst of the worst in terms of gym goers. The type of guys that are exactly what they advertise against, but even worse than real body builders, it's guys that don't have a clue what they're doing. My experience at the Centreville, VA location is that they attract men who work out in jeans and wife beaters, have horrible gym etiquette, and would never take the time to teach younger people the ropes as you would find at a more typical gym that encourages linear progression instead of stagnation and, ultimately, not showing up at all while still collecting their $10 a month. Again, smart business model, horrible gym.