Planet Fitness – Lynchburg

I joined right after Thanksgiving. The place is clean, well-​maintained, and has a friendly staff. Anthony, the trainer, is great about setting up a program for people new to weight training. I’ll post again after a few months with an update, but right now the value for the low monthly is there.

As the previous reviewers have well stated, you have to look at this gym for the price. For $ 10/​month (warning — once a year in September there’s a $ 29 annual fee, so, really, $ 12.50/month), this gym is great. I used to go in the mornings at 6 a.m. and it was great because there were hardly any people there. Now that I work 6 – 3 I go after work and it gets quite crowded by 4.
Pros:
1. $ 10/​month, $ 20/​month if you want tanning (which no one should, I can’t believe a gym is promoting health and the opposite of health at the same time. . more on that in the cons), massage chairs, water massage, and the ability to bring a guest.
2. Lots of cardio equipment and an okay variety.
3. Various good features — wall for keys and hooks for jackets, a small area where people can just sit in chairs and hang out, clean and large locker rooms with showers, changing areas, bathrooms, mirrors, lockers, and hair dryers.
4. If watching TV is your thing while you run/​walk/​etc. they have about 16 – 20 TVs with 8 – 10 channels going, and you can plug your headphones right into the machine to watch.
5. Free personal training. I’ve never gotten any, but, Anthony looks like he’d whip me into shape.
6. Duplicates of a lot of equipment so you don’t have to wait for someone to get up (in most cases).
7. 30 minute workout zone has a circuit course that is fool proof for those who want to sneak in some weight training and cardio without thinking too much about it.
8. This place is only 3 years old, so, everything is still fairly brand new and well maintained. Spray bottles and paper towels are available all over the facility.
9. They finally got barcode scanners which makes entering the facility quick.
10. The facility is 24 hours Monday — Friday, and extended, though not 24 hours on the weekends. Really great for those in the shift work fields, nurses, restaurant workers, etc.
Cons:
1. Because this is a «judgment free zone» gym, you get all kinds in there. Most of the time I love this. You’ve got young people who are serious about fitness, middle aged people trying to get back into shape, and even older people who work hard. I like that it’s not a bunch of meatheads, but, a lot of people are not seasoned pros at gym etiquette. A large amount people don’t wipe down machines after use. Some people get on machines and start chatting and won’t get up so you end up passive agressively staring at them.
2. I am appalled that they have «bagel Tuesday» and «pizza Monday» each month. How does that promote health? And tootsie rolls? Come on guys. I only once made the mistake of going on a Monday night when they had pizza and I had to get off of the treadmill because the scent of pepperoni was so strong I couldn’t run without wanting to throw up.
3. I wish they had a couple rowing machines. They are my favorite piece of full body cardio workout equipment.
4. The ab area can get cramped. There are three mats in a tight space and it’s always a fight.
5. The staff at the front desk can often get wrapped up in talking to each other and not be attentive to those waiting. I’m glad they’ve switched to barcode scanners so I don’t have to wait to tell them my number every time I walk in.
Overall, it’s a great gym for the price. I don’t love that I have to drive from Boonsboro to the mall to use it because I hate Wards Rd, but, for the price, it’s worth it. This gym, like any, gets super crowded in the beginning of the year when people are trying to make resolutions. It tapers off. The great thing is, if you miss a month or two, you don’t feel so guilty about the price at least, because $ 10 really doesn’t hurt that bad.

So this is a gym that has no judgement… except if you are actually in shape and actually dedicated to working out. So for that I strongly dislike it. But I knew that when I signed up and the cheap price got me. $ 10 for basic or pay $ 20 and get the addition of unlimited tanning and the ability to bring a guest for free whenever you want as often as you want (2 memberships basically). Its an amazing deal. And I must say they take great care of the equipment. But it is lacking in the free-​weight department. I would like to see a true stairmaster and more free weights as well as actual bars for benching.

Great gym for the price. Equipment is of commercial grade and well maintained. PF is very good about fixing equipment in a timely manner. Would like to see Stairmasters and Bosu balls, but for $ 10 per/​mo I can live without. Locker rooms have showers and blow dryers. I have not utilized their tanning services but they seems to be decent. The main reason for my rating however is because the cleanliness of this facility. Gyms can become very gross not only because of patrons, but also because of lack of initiative as displayed by employees/​management. Here management constantly has employees going around sweeping, vacuuming, and wiping down machines. Furthermore they encourage their patrons to clean their machines after they’re done using them by putting paper towels and spray bottles in multiple convenient locations around the facility. They are currently making some new exciting additions, including hydro-​massage machines!