Planet Fitness

[Van-Tramp]

I can't really speak for how the company views trans, but I would say that if you are a trans and have gone through the steps so you are legally a female, you should go in the female locker rooms (and vice-versa). I doubt they will take any political stance on it, but if you go into the women's room and start hanging your dong out (even as a partial-trans), you can expect to have your membership revoked.

Crossdresser is still legally one gender or the other, and he/she should stick to that gender's locker room or expect to be escorted out at minimum or arrested.

 

[MK7]

Bring your flip flip shower shoes. And watch for fungus

I never understood how anyone could ever walk around public showers w/o flip flops on. I don't care how clean it is. I don't even want to  get a high concentration of bleach onto my skin, just for fun. Then there's the walk from the locker and into the showers while barefeet. Gross. Then the walk back to the lockers, then putting on fresh socks, after treading on whatever that was out there, makes no sense?

 

[offroad]

1 million years of foot evolution and not as concerned of nasties infection on my soles of my feet as I should be.

 

[becida]

Bring your flip flip shower shoes. And watch for fungus

I bring my shower shoes to ANY public shower.

 

[becida]

Any other nation wide fitness centers to research? The idea of having different places to shower at all over the country sounds like a good one right now.

 

[GotSmart]

YMCA!

 

[BigT]

The YMCA near me wants $69.00 a month! Yikes! I wanted to ask them what exactly made them worth almost twice as much as anyone else, but I knew I wouldn't get an honest answer.
24Hr Fitness is between $30 & $40 a month.
City Sports wants between $20 & $30 a month.

I just want a swimming pool and shower. Towel service would be nice, though. That way you don't have to deal with extra humidity in the van/RV from a wet towel.

 

[TMG51]

The YMCA near me wants $69.00 a month!  Yikes!  I wanted to ask them what exactly made them worth almost twice as much as anyone else, but I knew I wouldn't get an honest answer.  
24Hr Fitness is between $30 & $40 a month.
City Sports wants between $20 & $30 a month.  

I just want a swimming pool and shower.  Towel service would be nice, though.  That way you don't have to deal with extra humidity in the van/RV from a wet towel.

Walmart sells this thing as a "yoga mat" in their athletics section, next to sporting goods. I'm not sure why they call it a mat, since it offers no cushion whatsoever, and is thinner than a towel. However, it makes an excellent towel. It's very thin, yet microfiber, which means it is both absorbent and dries quickly. It folds down very compact and doesn't leave lint. And it's cheap. I recommend one for every van.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lotus-Microfiber-Yoga-Towel-Mat/28132542

 

[MK7]

The YMCA near me wants $69.00 a month!  Yikes!  I wanted to ask them what exactly made them worth almost twice as much as anyone else, but I knew I wouldn't get an honest answer.  
24Hr Fitness is between $30 & $40 a month.
City Sports wants between $20 & $30 a month.  

I just want a swimming pool and shower.  Towel service would be nice, though.  That way you don't have to deal with extra humidity in the van/RV from a wet towel.

Maybe YMCA has more locations and in more states. Why is an honest answer important to you if all you want is a pool & shower? It's a gym, not a cancer treatment center. What you're asking would usually require an inquiry to upper management for their sales & marketing strategies as well as their business model and perhaps company secrets. I doubt that the guy at the front desk making minimum wage is going to know all of this. City Sports is only in CA and not even in all major cities.

 

[GotSmart]

Many health plans have free or reduced access to the Y or other health clubs.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

Any other nation wide fitness centers to research? The idea of having different places to shower at all over the country sounds like a good one right now.

Snap Fitness, but I don't know anything about them.

Here's a map showing all the locations of Planet Fitness, Anytime Fitness, Snap Fitness, Curves, and Gold's Gym.  There are more Curves than any other, but I think they're women only.

I'm about to pull the trigger on an Anytime Fitness membership.  They gave me a free 2 week trial in Anaheim California, so I'm clean.

 

[Lj Unlimited]

I have belonged to Snap Fitness since 2008. They are kind of pricey at $40 a month but they are non contract. They are all 24/7/365. Most are staffed mid morning to late evening. You can use any location worldwide, but the majority of your visits must be to your home club each month, or they will switch you to the club you used the most that month. I believe there is a fee for switching. Their clubs are on the small side compared to Planet Fitness. But they can be found in smaller towns. My home club is in a town of 1600. I have used locations in MI, IN, IL, WI, KY, TN, and GA and they were all in strip malls. All locations I have visited were satisfactorily clean, though some cleaner than others. All but one had showers. I definitely would not try to overnight at any of the ones I have been to. Anyone L.E.O. driving thru the lot can see in the windows fairly easily. No one inside, but a vehicle parked outside would probably arouse suspicion. I suppose if you found one that gets steady late night use you might be alright.

 

[MrBob]

I'd like a place to work out as much as I'd like access to showers. I live in my van and am on the road for 4-5 months yearly. I've been looking at the Planet Fitness and Anytime Fitness web pages trying to figure out which might be best for me. The Black Card at 20 bucks a month offered by Planet Fitness seems to offer good access. Their web page doesn't mention penalties or contracts.
 I phoned an Anytime Fitness location today and couldn't get a quote over the phone for a monthly membership fee, and was told that for the first month my membership would only be good at a home location, which seems odd and does me no good.

 

[Van-Tramp]

You are right on both accounts MrBob

PF is a great deal, but unless you do a lot of stealth camping in major cities, you will not find too gyms to visit. They have great pricing, but only about 700 gyms and all are in major metro areas. Their black-card membership *is* a 12-month contract. Their $10 basic membership is not but does not give you nation wide access

AF is twice as expensive, does have a 12-month contract, and has 2000+ gyms (many in mid sized towns). They say it takes 30-days for your key to start working nation-wide, but that did not stop me from walking into any AF gym, shop them my paperwork, and getting to workout/shower (during their staffed hours). It is worth the wait.

 

[BradKW]

How do these places operate when not staffed?

 

[Iggy]

At Anytime Fitness, they give you a key fob that you press against a sensor by the door. It recognizes your fob and unlocks the door.

 

[Lj Unlimited]

How do these places operate when not staffed?

Snap Fitness gives you a an access card with some type of RFID chip in it. You just hold it up to the reader on the door, and it unlocks it for a few seconds. Go in and do your workout, shower, and leave.

 With the exception of the changing and shower rooms every square inch of the club is covered by CCTV cameras. There are also a few emergency alarms you can pull if needed. I tend to go around 3:30 in the morning and I have never not felt safe there. Of course its a small town and the club and a few bank ATM's are the only thing open 24 hours.

 

[MrBob]

You are right on both accounts MrBob

PF is a great deal, but unless you do a lot of stealth camping in major cities, you will not find too gyms to visit. They have great pricing, but only about 700 gyms and all are in major metro areas. Their black-card membership *is* a 12-month contract. Their $10 basic membership is not but does not give you nation wide access

AF is twice as expensive, does have a 12-month contract, and has 2000+ gyms (many in mid sized towns). They say it takes 30-days for your key to start working nation-wide, but that did not stop me from walking into any AF gym, shop them my paperwork, and getting to workout/shower (during their staffed hours). It is worth the wait.

 I tend to avoid big cities unless there's a museum or gallery I want to visit, so that puts AF in the plus column. And, it sounds like you were able to use your enrollment paperwork to get you in the door of any AF during business hours during the 30 day period, and that's another plus.
 On several occasions I've phoned the "Y" while on the road and asked of they had a shower pass. About 50% of the time they do and sometimes the person at the desk says just come ahead. There are also Rec centers in most towns that have shower passes. Boulder charges 5.50 for a day pass that includes a shower, for instance, and the nearby town of Longmont charges 1.00.

 

[ldmccain]

Just as info.
Canceled my membership today.
They require you to come into the gym, and if you don't go back to the club where you membership is they have to transfer you to the club you are standing in before they can cancel your account...
The very nice young man told me the transfer should take a few minutes. Then after starting the transfer said sometimes it takes days....
Luckily it only took about 10 minutes..

Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk

 

[user 423]

^
What is the main reason you cancelled?