Dear Planet Fitness...You are NOT Judgement Free

Dear Planet Fitness,

When I first heard about your "Judgement Free" policy, I thought that sounded really kind of nice.  Although I am a person who enjoys exercise and fitness, I have always been intimidated by those who are more knowledgeable about fitness than I am.  I have always been intimidated by free weights, and, even though I know and believe that free weights are better for you than machines, I have always used the machines instead because of my fear of looking stupid.  Somehow, through a commercial or a friend who used your gym, I'm not really sure how, but somehow I heard about your policy on judgement, and it sounded good.

So I joined your gym.

I joined on a particularly busy afternoon, which was good for you, because your employees were too busy to give me a tour around the gym.  Had they, I would NOT have joined.  The employee told me that I could go and look around, and I did for like, a second, and then I decided to join.  They had pretty much everything I wanted.  Ok, they had treadmills and they were cheap, and that's all I really cared about at that time.

I did my first workout that day.  I was mid workout when I heard this loud, scary alarm.  I thought that maybe it was a fire alarm or something.  I had no idea what I was hearing.  I looked around to see if anybody knew about the evacuation protocol, as I assumed we would have to evacuate.  But nobody did anything.  Nobody even looked concerned.  Nobody really cared.  That's when I saw it.  The "Lunk Alarm."  Someone had set it off. I was alarmed, but since nobody else seemed to be, I figured it was just something I missed in my rushed sign-up process, and I continued with my work-out, praying that it wasn't because of me or anything I did.

What I came to learn was that that alarm is set off when someone is acting like a "Lunk."  When someone is grunting, dropping weights, wearing obnoxious clothes, etc.  When someone is behaving like a scary, intimidating exercise-aholic.  These people, apparently, are called "Lunks."

This did not set well with me. 

What I came to realize was that you were, in fact, judging these people called "Lunks."  So much so that you publically humiliated someone.  A loud, blinking alarm would go off to show everyone, "Hey, look, there's a Lunk present."  To me, it sounded a lot like judgement.

At first, I let it go. I figured it must be a rare occassion when someone sets off the Lunk Alarm.  But it wasn't rare.  In fact, every single time I visited that gym, I'd hear it several times.  It was distracting.  It always startled me.  And what's worse was that it affected my time there.

I became afraid that I would set off the Lunk Alarm, and that everyone's attention would be brought to me, and that I would be embarrassed.  I joined that gym so that people would NOT notice what I was doing.  And there it was, this ever-present, looming risk of everyone looking at me.

Is that what you really wanted?

To be "judgement free" is not a good thing.  It's ok to judge people's actions.  It's ok to say that lunks are intimidating (that is a judgement).  It's ok to say that Lunks aren't welcome, if that's what you're going for.  But that's your judgement.  And it's not being "judgement free."

When I saw one of your commercials, I couldn't believe it.  Look at it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPwG7Rd9oHU.  Now, first of all, I've never been to a gym where people acted like they do in those commercials.  Also, they are blatantly making fun of those so-called "Lunks."  They are degrading to them.  They are rude.  You know who is the problem?  YOU are. 

Like I said, I'm ok with it if you don't want those people to be in your gym.  But you know, you should show them a little bit of dignity, even if you don't like them.  Wouldn't YOU expect the same?

I am no longer a member of your gym, because YOU intimidated me with YOUR judging.  YOU made me even more afraid to try the free-weights than I would have been without your alarm.

Be judgement free, or don't.  But don't pretend to be when you aren't.  Your selling a product you aren't providing, and because of it, you lost a customer. 

Krissy