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This is in response to a post I saw on my Facebook Timeline.  It was a picture at a Planet Fitness of a Hammer Strength Machine with a note posted on it. The note states this:

“We do not cater to bodybuilders or heavyweight lifters, please help us keep our non-intimidating environment by loading only four weight plates on each side. Thank You! PF Staff.”

This is one of the more foolish things I have seen from this kind of gym. My journey to get into shape was a very difficult one. Not one that any person can just wake up and do, but only special people with real goals and understanding how to achieve said goals can accomplish. As most of you know the fitness industry is one of the biggest scams out there next to “car salesman.”  There are thousands of companies out there selling BS supplements that do not work that cost a fortune. Gyms that sell BS cookie-cutter workout packages that promise results and when you fail the trainer/sales rep points to you as the failure and not them, yet they promised you results if you followed their instruction. This is just another way the industry show’s its true colors and cares not for you and your goals, but more about keeping the pig fat and keep coming, spending money all the way there.

Let’s break this note down shall we.

“We do not cater to bodybuilders or heavyweight lifters” If you are a gym what is your purpose? To get people in shape, right?  What does that actually mean, get-into-shape? Could be getting stronger, could be losing weight, might be rehabbing an injury. Bodybuilding is usually lightweight, high volume training. Supersets, Drop Sets, Quarter Reps, Negatives, Failure Reps and such. Powerlifters tend to do this too but the weight is heavier and the reps are low. Instead of 4 sets of 25 reps with lightweight, one might perform 4 sets of 6 reps with very heavyweight. Well what is heavyweight? One plate? 2? 4? 7? What if they are doing drop sets. They put on 6, 25 lb. plates on each side and have a spotter, remove a plate every 10 reps till there are no weights? One will not get results from doing this… 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps. If you hit 12 and you can do 3 or 7 more reps, you did no work… You might not even break a sweat with those numbers. When someone says I do 4 sets of 10, that doesn’t mean you stop at 10 because you hit 10. You want to get as close to a failure rep as possible. A failure rep is when you do a rep and you cannot do another without added assistance (a spotter). It is all relative, but damn, don’t sound like an idiot… 4 Sets of 10 reps is just a benchmark, it’s not suppose be literal. 

“non-intimidating environment” So someone who has never lifted before signs up at your gym and is lifting next to a person that has 20+ years’ experience/knowledge in weight training. Soooooooo that newbie is always intimidated? Ok, get the FK out of the gym then you pussy… Really… Is that where we are now? That person is probably out of shape because of that sort of lazy, pussification mentality of, “I will just do the minimum and never get in anyone’s way or rock the boat.” Ok, that might work in life for something, but not in the gym environment. Planet Fitness and YouFit Gyms are fitness centers fronting as gyms. A Gym is where people go to bleed, sweat, cry, work, train, destroy their bodies to either, heal their minds, build their bodies or a little of both… A Fitness Center is where people go that have NO gym experience, are injured and need to rehab, lazy people who say they wanna work, but their actions say, no, they are lazy… Gyms are for real lifters, real bodybuilders, and real power lifters. People who get off on the pain/pleasure responses to breaking down muscle fibers. Fitness Centers are for Fat People that need to lose 45 lbs., but they are only willing to lose 5. Go do that, we don’t want you. We don’t want your money, we don’t want your lazy attitude on our machines/weights while we have serious training to do. I am not humble about my experience. My experience was/is unique to me. It made me hard, very hard… I am a true alpha dog. I do not need to be nice to people to get my point across. I choose to because of respect, I also choose to be dick for that same respect. I do not want to cheapen the experience. I worked for You Fit for 4 months as a trainer. All that place did was make me not want to work with people that really needed/wanted help.

There was soooooooooo much red tape that it made the job impossible for a guy like me, who is very driven about training. 

As a trainer. I am to make weak people strong, be it mental, emotional, maybe even spiritual, and absolutely, physical. I am not there to sell BS packages that are designed to not work to a customer’s full potential. They only work just enough to get that person to come back and sign more contracts and pay more money. I am not here to hold your hand and tell you to pray it will be alright in the end. It might be, it might not be. If you are afraid then you are already loosing. If you are afraid of pain, then you have lost already. 3 workouts a week, at 30-minute sessions for a month can cost up to $500 or more at some places. Ok, that is a lot of money. Guess what, you won’t reach your fitness goal with this package. Think about this… That is only 90 minutes a week… I train, 6 days a week, anywhere from 90 to 180 minutes a session. Not all is lifting weights. I will do abs… I will do cardio too. Add it all together, it takes time, dedication, heart, and will, to get this kind of training done and guess what? It works… Hard Work… Works… Hard… You watch TV, you watch sports, you might follow Bodybuilding. These people do not get their on talent alone. They practice. They Train, they eat right, they rest, they repeat. Not 3 days a week, but EVERYDAY… It’s a lifestyle. If one is not willing to change their old habits, completely, they will, indeed, fail… That is very hard on someone that is, say, 160 lb. frame, but walking around at 300 lbs… You can’t put someone through that and try to get them to believe they can do it… Look, you’re gonna have bumps in the road, no doubt about it. That is part of it. In order to be great at something, one has to face plant fail at it. Get back up, dust themselves off and do it again until they succeed. You have to make the pain of those failures, a pleasurable experience. Who does that? Yes, crazy people do that. So be crazy and go do…It… 

Nike, says Just Do It… What do you think they mean? Yes, exactly… Do…

Planet Fitness / YouFit just want your money. They care very very little for their clients. They have these silly contracts to keep you binded so when you realize how full of shit they are you can’t cancel it without paying most of the money and that is what they are hoping for… I would charge people for 30 minutes, like I am supposed to, but train them for an hour or maybe 90 minutes sometimes, just because I knew these people were real and they needed it. They needed to understand what this really is. Sure, I got in trouble and I retired from training after that… Big Middle Finger to YF. So much so, when I quit, I canceled my membership with them and went to a real gym, not a fitness center. Now Planet Fitness and YouFit are 2 different gyms, but they pretty much behave/look the same. They are interchangeable… So much so they have that stupid purple color everywhere… UGH… If you don’t want power lifters and bodybuilder’s in your fitness center, then why do you have hammer strength machines? Hammer Strength is like the Sony for fitness machines. They are the best… Yes, it’s very confusing. What kind of message does that send? Hey, here is a mustang, but don’t drive fast or take it into 5th gear. Just don’t. We don’t wanna offend anyone. It’s a gym that is what you are supposed to do, get jacked and offend everyone so they grow a pair and train harder than I am so they can motivate the next person. That is how winning is done… 

Getting into shape, you have to have a real understanding of what your body is at that moment. You have to go deep into your soul and find you and let you out. If you are FAT, you have to undo, what, 20? 30, years of bad diet, poor choices, and laziness. It doesn’t happen overnight, it doesn’t happen in 6 weeks. You cannot defeat that on 3 days, of 30 minutes cookie-cutter workouts. It doesn’t happen… It’s not a real thing you can accomplish…  Change your life… I am not saying 6 days of 2 to 3-hour workouts like me. I am saying, make it a priority… You can do a lot in 5 days of 1 hour a day sessions. If not with a trainer, then just on your own or at home. There are all kinds of FREE resources out there for you. Use them… Do not be played by false voices that say they can help you, but it will cost you this much money and if you fail it’s on you kind of mentality. Do not go out and buy $400 in supplements that probably don’t work. Do your research. Find out what works for you. Right now my main attribute in the gym is my deep-seeded connection with my mind/body. They are intune. I know how to train my body because my mind listens to it. I know what to feed it, how much rest I need. 

Getting into shape takes Diet/Exercise/Rest… There is one more thing, repeat… It must be done all the time, not sometimes or when you have time to do it or the money to spend on it.

Look; I am not religious, but if you have a deep passion and connection with Jesus Christ then just apply that deep passion and connection to your body/gym the same way you would with Jesus. That is the kind of dedication you need to reach goals. Now if you have that sort of mentality, yes, your goals are actually reachable. Now you can believe in yourself and all that is left is doing the work. The belief is the hard part… Doing the work is easy. Do not try…. Do… “Do or Do Not, There Is No Try.” —Grandmaster Yoda

Planet Fitness and YouFit are terrible because they try to sell you peace of mind that you can achieve your goals. However, in all their processes, none of them are designed to complete the task and it’s by design that way. Isn’t that terrible??????  If I were selling gasoline for your car, and you came in, spend money with me for gas, but all I was giving your car was water, well, how would you feel? The really sad part is, they don’t care either. They hire kids with no management experience. Give them the title of General Manager or Director of Training, pay them a fraction of what someone with that job title should be making and send them out to serve you. Yup, that is what you are dealing with. It’s not the people’s fault, they are trying to do their job, but lack the skills/tools to make it work. Again, why would you want to work with someone that does not actually have your goals in mind? Again, all they care about is your money. These fitness centers only target the novices, because we experienced lifters, know the game and they don’t want us there screwing up their scam. If I ever owned a gym, it would be run way different than what I see from most gyms.

Enough Said on the Subject… I went from being an accomplished powerlifter that gained weight after my glory days only to lose it, get into shape. At great personal cost. Time/Energy/Will/Money/Rest/Soul Searching/Pain… It wasn’t easy, but it’s doable if you really want it, but here in lies the problem.

You-Have-To-Really-Want-It…
Well Do You? Prove it…
Show me, you do…

Get it done…
No excuses…
No weak-minded here.
Be strong or fall.
I made mine and went full speed ahead without apologies or reservations…
End of Line…

The Hypocrisy of Planet Fitness / YouFit Mentality
by David-Angelo Mineo
3/6/2016
2,191 Words