How To Survive Planet Fitness Type Gyms

No one wants to be a fan of Planet Fitness. “True” lifters think the place to be a joke. However, it’s not a bad place to start a foundation. For my direct training, I would only use the place for machine work I do not have access to. I don’t have space for abduction machines. I would like a better lat pulldown. It would be nice to have a treadmill or stepper when it’s cold out, but I ain’t got the money for that stuff yet. Although it’s not the perfect place, a lot of work can be done to develop good behaviors and habits. Although it is almost impossible to deadlift here, so why bother, right?

With the numbers from the COVID years 2020-2021, Planet Fitness lost 1 million members 15.5 to 14.4. There is something to be said about sharing equipment at this time, but I wouldn’t have been surprised nonetheless. Plenty of people join and forget to quit later on. Millions, if not billions of dollars to do what exactly… Eat pizza on the Elliptical? (side note, not a fan of pizza there. It’s should be a meal plan time thing or team-up with a prepped dinner delivery company.)

What is missing is not the drive to be healthy, but what do you do when you get there? We confuse easy when we HAVE to do something. We question everything and half-ass it until we claim “We did it! Now leave me alone about it.” Like exercise is a punishment for eating like shit. I’ve done it. That was me. I looked at all that purple equipment and said, “What the fuck do I do now?” I would just wander around and take an open machine do 3 set of 10 (not challenged at all) and think, “I’m going to the gym. Why aren’t I jacked?” I wasn’t because I was random and unfocused. But let’s get a little focused and understand… I’m at the gym what do I do?

Things to do when new to a gym

1) Ask employees how every piece of equipment is used? Then ask what else can I do with it?

There are a lot of creative ways to use equipment, then there are YouTube videos of complete gym fails. Something like a Pec-Dec can be great for chest development, but if you set the handles all the way back and sit backwards, it’s a fantastic Rear Delt Fly. If you aren’t sure, watch someone use it or take a picture of the equipment and see if you can find videos online. Below is link to a walkthrough of a standard location. Not all equipment will be the same though. YouTube is amazing for dumb stuff like this. Plus the people actually want to talk to you about it!

2) Set consistent times you can cancel the rest of the world and focus on self.

You need to set time when you go. It can’t just be I’ll go before or after work. Set a time… bam 5am I walk in the door or boom 7pm I’m already warming up. Put it in your phone or on your calendar as blocked off for self. You don’t need to schedule 2 hours a day, unless your drive to the gym sucks. Set aside 30-60 minutes and you don’t need that long. Check this actual JM Blakely 8 minute workout ate is incredibly intense. This is not a video for beginners though, but it can be learned.

How to know what to do when you get there?

a) Mobility 1.0-Prime movements

Start off priming the primary moving pattern of the day. If it’s a day focused on bench or squat or by a body part, do stability and mobility of the pattern you want to perform. This includes extra time stretching or pre-exhaustion to create a link to the movement and limit potential lost energy from bad form. (Most of the time think: How do I prep this movement to move as straight a line as possible? Then how to I get my body to a spot where I am the strongest to move it as straight as possible.) This may help even out movement issues or adapt your training overall. This can include light 5-15 minute easy cardio.

1) Compound Movements

This should be the toughest work in stability and strength. Most (if not every time) it should be a movement of multiple joints. For example, moving your shoulder and elbow joints to press forward includes multiple joints and muscle groupings. (Barbell/DM/Whatever) bench press includes activation of your Chest, Shoulder, and Triceps. Squats (when done with flexion at hip and knees) activate Quads/Hamstrings/Glutes. Row/Deadlifts activate Shoulders and Elbow on your backside. That’s why I like a Push Pull Leg Split because my compounds are easy to remember. Push-Bench, Pull-Rows & Deadlifts, Legs-Squats. There are so many variations here that it really can be endless until you find your favorite flavor of the month. This is where you find consistency for a little bit, until the movement is impractical/painful/boring. These can be changed out for more sport focused things too. Pick the toughest work and start here fresh. I also recommend filming these sets. It’s so dumb to think about, but once you watch yourself, you will learn a lot.

2) Supplemental Movements/Corrections

This group is done once Compounds are wrapping up. However, if you notice something off in technique these can superset in between sets to create a corrected environment. Like tibialis raises if your heels come up during a squat or even putting a change plate under your heel. Another thing is to bring up a group that is lacking. For instance, a squat movement impacts my Quads way more than my Glutes. I would then follow squats with a hip extension type exercise to help my butt catch up. Lastly, this can be volume to a struggle point, like locking out a bench. The weight moves, but it’s not locking out. Spend time on Triceps extension work to add strength to that component. It’s like Shaq practicing free throws. If you suck at it, you should probably have practiced more. These would also be sport corrections and actual situational practice. This is the section where filming helps direct you. Find a weakness and make it stronger.

3) Unilateral Work

If you are perfect with form, then skip. No one is ever perfect. Practice movement on one side only. Bulgarian split squats can reveal unilateral balance issues or if a certain side takes over the movement. This also allows you to receive hyper-focused feedback about how a smaller group works together. The stronger a single leg squat, the stronger the front/back squat with better technique. If sports focused, this would be more plyometric base since most sports need solid leg explosiveness and landing.

4) Isolation (if needed)

This is stuff failure is based on. There is a high focus on a single joint movement where stability is removed from the equation and simply force remains. This is best on machines to limit the movement patterns. You don’t a lot of sets to failure. At most, even for advanced people, 3 strikes and you’re out. It is a great learn experience on recovery to try to fail twice. This work is drastically lighter than previous work and just focused on how the muscle contracts. If for sports, this is the same as practicing layups. You just learn to groove through it, even when you are tired.

5) Mobility 2.0

At the end, take a few minutes to redo the warm-up. Check to see things move right, where you feel the work done and compare it to expectations. You should not crawl out of the gym, but you should leave tired and relaxed. I really like to stretch through the muscle afterwards to encourage range of motion and how my stability changed. It then gives me a chance to think about my next warm up or identify my supplemental moves on the next go round.

6) Dumb Fun

Do fun things. Test a new piece of equipment. Practice something you learned. Be safe. You don’t need every session to be crippling. You should be laughing/smiling at some point while being challenged.

7) Cardio. It’s terrible to be at the end of the list, but it is still needed.

Everyone’s favorite! I’m not saying cardio is the last thing you do. You do want tire yourself out with weights first… minus leg day. Basically, the average person needs 150 minutes of moderate cardio per week. That is just under 21.5 min per day. You can even use training days to just focus on cardio. Occasionally, remove the isolation work and do cardio. Add a little extra cardio to an upper body day and maybe reduce it on a lower body day. You can even get this work done with a solid 22 min walk outside or around the house. Or it can be done in 2 10-11 minute walks.

You are only as good as you allow yourself to be. Get creative. Have some fun to start. You can get better anywhere if you have the determination to take another step.