Who's Afraid of Fitness?

Has it come to this?

Planet Fitness Alienates "Lunkheads"

I've never been to a Planet Fitness. I guess the idea to give people that are too self conscious to work out at a "regular" gym a place to go is a good thing. Get people out of the house. Get them moving. Be supportive. But say that person gets some momentum, starts to LIKE working out and wants to take it to the next level. This does not sound like the kind of place that is going to give someone the right foundation for ramping up intensity.

They claim they won't try to sell you a personal training package. I hated the hard sell as much as the next person, but people who are hesitant to go to a gym, people who have never been to a gym, people who are not familiar with fitness, these are exactly the people who most need guidance. They need someone to show them the ropes, how to do moves correctly to avoid injury and imbalances.

It's good to get people in a place where they are comfortable to try things they've never done before. But you remove anyone serious about fitness, you then also remove a lot of what inspires people to push harder and set goals for themselves. Maybe I've overly competitive, but I'm always eyeing the next person to see if I'm lifting more weight, doing my work faster, etc. And it's a shame, with the obesity epidemic being what it is, that people are too ashamed of their lack of skill to strive to improve upon it.