Planet Fitness Gym Membership: At $10 a Month, it Doesn't Get Much Better

When Planet Fitness came to the neighborhood, it let everyone know it with its now-infamous postcards offering a gym membership for only $10 a month. I was pretty suspicious. I mean, with a membership rate that low, what kind of equipment do they have?

I just canceled my other gym membership ($60 a month) because I didn't go enough to justify the cost. I needed to go somewhere and decided that at $10 a month, if I only went once a week, it was worth it to join Planet Fitness.

I signed up, and the beauty of Planet Fitness, aside from the free tootsie rolls, is that it is a month-to-month contract. There was no three-year membership required, which in my mind is comforting, because if I don't like it, I can leave.

There was a $49 sign-up fee which they occasionally waive. I was not privy enough to this fact so I did pay it. They also have an upgraded membership that allows use of their tanning beds and massage chairs for $19 a month, but I don't tan and I have a husband to cover the massage portion so I passed. You also walk away with a styling T-shirt and a free purple pen when you sign up. Bonus!

The equipment was plentiful. They had at least sixty treadmills and twenty stationary bikes. They had ten elliptical machines. There weight lifting section had all of the basics. They offered dumbbells and machines.

Planet Fitness offers free personal training. It's more like you and three other people with a trainer as he tells you what the machine does, but for free it is worth it. You can't ask for one one one training when you are paying a dollar a visit now can you.

They proudly announce that it is a no frills gym. It is a no judgment zone and no meat-heads will be there mocking your lack of gym prowess. They were right for the most part. I always felt comfortable. I never worried that anyone was judging me or questioning why I was in "their" gym.