Before the start of this semester, my friend took me to Crunch, a gym located 15 minutes away from Fordham Lincoln Center. On the way there, I mentioned that my roommate and I had started going to Planet Fitness. In response, my friend, a Crunch member, told me that Planet Fitness is a beginner gym and that Crunch has better equipment.

Okay, listen. He might be right that Planet Fitness is more beginner-friendly, but that doesn’t make it a bad gym. Planet Fitness has been labeled the most disreputable of all gyms, excluded and looked down upon by anyone involved in anything fitness. As a frequent customer and avid fan of my local Planet Fitness, I’m here to defend this gym: It’s time for the slander to stop.

Some argue that because Planet Fitness does not have a proper squat rack, it does not deserve the same respect as other gyms. But, I might point out that there are plenty of other ways to do squats.

While I may not be the strongest person in the room, I do not consider myself a beginner to working out.

There’s the Smith machine, which is essentially a squat rack with the barbell permanently attached to the frame, making it a safer piece of equipment while working the same muscles. If your goal is to work on quads, there’s the leg press, the leg extension machine and a variety of free weight exercises. If your goal is to work on glutes, the same thing applies. Trust me, the lack of a free weight squat rack is not robbing anyone of their gains.

There is even a rumor that Planet Fitness labels its weights heavier than their actual weight to trick customers into thinking that they are lifting more than they actually are. Now, doesn’t that just sound like a rumor made up by your middle school bully to make you feel bad about yourself? If you’re still skeptical, TikTok user @jarrettlifts brought a scale to Planet Fitness to make sure all the weights are correctly labeled. Spoiler alert: they are.

While I may not be the strongest person in the room, I do not consider myself a beginner to working out. I’ve been an athlete my whole life, and I’ve been lifting in gyms, on and off, for the past four years. Planet Fitness, contrary to popular belief, is not just frequented by beginners. Every time I go, I see plenty of people lifting heavy weights with great form.

There is no reason for working out to be an exclusive and overly judgmental boys’ club that shames others for not adhering to their standard of so-called fitness.

Before you ask — no, the “Lunk Alarm” is not that bad. At the Hell’s Kitchen location I go to, no one has set off the Lunk Alarm, even when they do drop weights once in a while. For those who are wondering, the Lunk Alarm is a large blue alarm attached to the wall of the weights room to discourage gym-goers from obnoxiously dropping weights, grunting or flexing their muscles. This relates to Planet Fitness’s goal of “no gymtimidation” written across the walls. 

The Lunk Alarm is Planet Fitness’ way to simply promote inclusion. If anything, having a problem with the Lunk Alarm might speak to your elitist ideas on fitness rather than the friendly, open-arms approach to fitness that Planet Fitness is practicing. 

There is no reason for working out to be an exclusive and overly judgmental boys’ club that shames others for not adhering to their standard of so-called fitness.

Even if this is a prime worry, working out should not be about looking a certain way.

A lot of people have health goals they want to achieve, but gymtimidation (yes, it’s a real thing!) keeps them at home. This anxiety especially affects women, who fear being judged by their male counterparts at the gym. According to a study done by Metro, the top three reasons that people avoid the gym include not being able to afford a membership, feeling too intimidated and worrying about how they will look in front of other gym-goers. Planet Fitness works to combat all three.

Even if this is a prime worry, working out should not be about looking a certain way. It can be. If your goal is for your body to look “better,” whatever that may mean for you, then that’s great! 

If you just want to keep your heart healthy or get stronger, that’s just as great. Whatever your reasons are for working out, no one should feel too intimidated to step into the gym. Planet Fitness’s efforts to create a judgment-free zone may not completely eradicate the anxieties of those just starting their fitness journey, but it’s a start.

Going to the gym should not be a luxury.

My favorite part of Planet Fitness, though, has to be the price. For $10 a month, it is by far the best deal. Of all the gyms that are a walkable distance from the Fordham Lincoln Center campus, even the second-most affordable, New York Sports Club, is more than four times the price of Planet Fitness. Paying over a hundred dollars a month should not be the norm for gyms. 

Everyone deserves the right to a healthy lifestyle, but in 2022 — the age of fitness trends and $38 SoulCycle classes — not everyone can afford it. Going to the gym should not be a luxury. It does not have to involve eucalyptus steam rooms or an outdoor track with skyscraper views, like the roof of the Upper West Side Equinox Sports Club. Those things are nice, sure, and available for those who can afford them, but they should not be synonymous with health.

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Planet Fitness allows everyone cheap access to equipment that will keep their bodies healthy, help them gain in strength and even achieve fitness goals, no matter how “light” you think the weights are. So what if everything is purple and yellow? Health does not have to look a certain way, whether it’s the color of the equipment at your gym or the size of your body.