Planet Fitness, Austin TX

Can’t beat the price! The actual gym itself smells, but for $10 per month, I can’t complain.

Really great staff and conveniently located.

I've been a member for 7 months now at this Planet Fitness location.

Things I love:
- Open 24 hours
- Cheap!
- Clean bathroom/showers (in my opinion)
- Filtered water bottle filling (just bring your own empty water bottle)
- Lots of average looking folks. I never feel self conscious.
- Stair climbers
- Soooo many cardio machines
- Big parking lot
- Big ass ceiling fans
- Staff is chill - not fake, smiley, or trying to sell me anything
- It's a gym!

I've been a member of $50/month gyms before and there's a few things I admit that I miss. There's no towel service here - bring your own towel if you want to shower. No sauna. No smoothie counter. The WiFi is weak and inconsistent. No rowing cardio machine (minus a star for this). The area for weights is limited, and there's no room for group fitness classes. (Apparently you can get free training from a personal trainer and group classes if you ask at the desk, but it's not self explanatory. I haven't tried it out.) It feels like a do-it-yourself experience at a home gym but much bigger and with almost everything you'd ever want.

However, Planet Fitness does the job! The lack of frills is why it's so cheap. Ultimately, I get more than what I pay for. I'm on the 15/month no commitment plan because I hate being locked into anything. (The 10/month comes with mandatory 12 month contract.) Since I joined I've dropped 15 lbs, and I can now run at a decent speed which was a big goal of mine.

Before joining this gym I was trying to get my exercise outdoors. I found standard cost gyms too expensive and too much of a psychological head trip - I'd feel guilty about not going every day for what I was paying, guilty about not using enough of the fancy features when I did go, embarrassed and intimidated that I couldn't keep up with everyone else in the fitness classes.

However, after moving to Texas, trying to get some outdoor exercise in the extreme summer heat proved challenging. I'd have to wake up super early, or try to squeeze in a walk after the sun went down. I'd end up going for days or weeks without moving much. My energy level sucked. I was tired all the time. By 3pm at work I could hardly focus. I was fine with being a little chubby from a vanity standpoint, but I wasn't feeling healthy.

So I bit the bullet and got a Planet Fitness membership. I started off slow. I invested in a great pair of earbuds and a Spotify account. Sometimes I'd bring in a book and read it while walking on a high incline on a treadmill. I wouldn't come every day, just when I felt like I'd been sitting too much. Eventually I decided I'd try to keep up with a minimum of 30 minutes a day of cardio within my target heart rate. I'll spend up to 2 hours if I have a podcast or audio book I'm into.

Today, I am 15 lbs down from where I started. This didn't take much effort, just the consistency of showing up a lot. I also track what I eat with the My Fitness Pal app, as well as the calories I'm burning from the gym's cardio machines. This has allowed me to start setting weight loss goals without having to push myself in any way - just as a byproduct of my primary goal to feel healthy and energetic.

In 2018, I would like to drop an additional 30lbs and work towards being able to do full push-ups and unassisted pull ups. At first I was wondering if this would just be my "re-starter gym" before upgrading to a standard gym, but Planet Fitness has everything I need to accomplish my goals. I think about branching out and trying other fun physical activities to add to my weekly routine, now that I'm confident my general fitness is decent and I don't have to be self conscious about keeping up with other people. I'm so grateful there's an option to work out at a really low monthly price so I don't have to get psyched out over the cost of my gym and just get my body moving. I really look forward to my daily workout and I feel great.

If you're inactive like I was, I encourage you to join. For only $10-$20 a month it's like you can't afford not to join.