Planet Fitness — Local services in Arlington

I wanted to share an experience my husband and I recently had at the Arlington Pentagon Row center. We have been proud members of the Planet Fitness community for the past four years. However, during our last visit, we encountered an incident that left us feeling quite disheartened, primarily due to the way it was handled by the staff.

Here's a brief overview of the issue: On a Saturday afternoon, my husband and I were working out in the weights area. It was not crowded, and there were plenty of available benches. We were using two benches next to each other for our respective workouts when another member, who was using the same bench behind us on a smith machine, left his spot and approached us. He asked if we were using both benches, to which we replied affirmatively. Unfortunately, this individual proceeded to use offensive language, calling my husband an offensive name simply because he wanted the benches we were using.

Naturally, we were taken aback by this unprovoked confrontation. We attempted to reason with him, pointing out that there were other available benches he could use. In response, he used even more offensive language. In the face of this bullying behavior, we felt compelled to respond in kind, which seemed to surprise the aggressor.

Subsequently, my husband decided to involve the staff to prevent the situation from escalating further. This is where the unfortunate part began:

The staff appeared unsure of how to handle the situation. They called over another staff member (whose name we won't mention), who seemingly ignored our perspective. Instead, he listened to the aggressor's fabricated version of events, conveniently omitting his use of abusive language and his attempt to acquire the same bench we were using. The staff's proposed solution was for us (Me and My Husband) was to politely ask the aggressor to use other benches. While we were more than willing to accommodate, this request hinged he had asked us on mutual respect and courtesy, which were evidently absent in this case. Not only was this individual a bully, but he also displayed sexist behavior. When my husband reported the issue to the staff, he was met with derogatory comments like, "You went crying like a little girl." Furthermore, when I responded to his abusive language with similar language, he criticized me for "not displaying ladylike behavior."

Respect and collaborative solutions should be a two-way street. What troubles us most is that the staff seemed disinterested in hearing our side of the story. Their lack of empathy and understanding was quite disheartening.

While we understand that resolving such situations can be challenging, we believe that a fair and unbiased approach is crucial. We share this experience not with expectations of immediate action but with the hope that it serves as constructive feedback. We value our membership at Planet Fitness and believe in the principles of respect and inclusivity that an should...

DO NOT go to this gym. I have been a client since the first month they opened until today. We need to clarify that I barely go to the gym because I have been living overseas instead of in Virginia for the last two years, and I was paying $25 monthly to access the gym.

Everything was good until Laura (an employee) arrived. She started to pick on me for small things like turning off the video you were watching and telling me to stop dropping the weight (even though I was not doing it); I did not say a word because I did not want to create a situation.

Last October, she came to me twice telling me to stop dropping the weights until I got mad and stopped her and let her know I was not the one dropping the weights and she needed to verify first who was the one doing it so she could approach people. After that situation, I wanted to talk to management, but they were unavailable.

TODAY, I was lifting weights, and Laura came to me; the only thing I have for you is that you put your jacket on the locker. My coat was folded on my space, and the gym was almost empty, so I went to the counter and asked to cancel my account. The manager asked why I wanted to cancel my account; I told her since Laura started to work here, she had been picking on me, and I was done. Laura started to laugh (Like I did it), and management did not care about me being a customer for almost three years and barely going to that gym.

I don't know if it is profiling, racism, or xenophobia, but I will highly recommend you don't go to this gym and visit another place where they can treat you...

I've had a Planet Fitness membership for about 2 months now and for the most part, I'm enjoying it. However, I do have one major critique. PF claims to be a "no judgment zone" where people of all sizes and levels of fitness can come to work out. I'm a large woman, and no one has ever been anything but respectful to me while I'm there. But that doesn't mean I don't experience issues at the gym due to my size. First of all, at this location, there are chairs near the entrance, and none of them are chairs fat people can comfortably sit in. They're all very light, unsturdy chairs with arms, so me and my big hips barely squeeze in. There are also a number of machines I can't use due to my size because I can't adjust certain parts of the machine. For example, there's a version of the triceps press machine where you can't rotate the handles to the "wide" position, so people with large hips will have a hard time sitting on it. I also haven't figured out how to widen the torso rotation machine so that both my thighs will fit on it at the same time. Anyway, just some things to keep in mind if you're a fat person looking to make the most of your...