Planet Fitness — Local services in Mundelein

I joined the new Planet Fitness in my area about a week ago (basic level membership) and have worked out maybe 5 times so far. I'm really enjoying the place! I have more "cons" than "pros" listed, so it may seem strange I'm giving 4 stars, but this is because the cons are not a big deal to me, and I really like the pros a lot! I'm quite happy with my membership so far.

Pros: The equipment is very modern and works very well, especially since I prefer to work out by myself (the bench press equipment for example is very easy to manage without a spotter--I actually really like this a lot). Great pricing compared to what I've used in the past. Loads of treadmills and stationary bikes--you'll never need to wait for equipment if you're doing aerobic. Large variety of equipment! Showers have actual curtains. Not a huge factor for me, but nice. I tend to enjoy getting into my zone while working out and not interacting with other people during it, and I've found Planet Fitness is a good environment for that, although I imagine more extroverted exercisers would be able to find people to interact with if they wanted to.

Cons: The bike machines are a bit too simple for my tastes in terms of settings compared to what I've used in the past at other workout centers. While there's plenty of aerobic equipment, it would be nice if they had a tad bit more weight lifting equipment. I can imagine that if my Planet Fitness got any busier than what I've seen, lines would likely be frequent for the weight lifting equipment. No complimentary workout towels or built-in locks for the lockers (you have to buy your own, which they provide at a fairly reasonable price). Not a big deal, but it caught me off guard compared to what I'm used to. The only water fountains I've found in the place are in the back by the locker rooms. Not a big deal, but it's a mild inconvenience.

Neutral: While the monthly pricing is very inexpensive, there is a joining fee and yearly fee. Even with these costs taken into consideration though, the annual price is still about half of what I used to pay at my local park district workout facility (although that facility had a pool and track, but not worth it for me), hence why this is under "Neutral". Just something you should know. You may need to get used to some of the very modern equipment since the barbell equipment do not use true free weights (this doesn't bother me personally). The one I go to doesn't open until 5 AM on Monday (7 AM-7 PM on the weekend), although it's open 24 hours after that until 10 PM Friday. This is better than what I came from, but I'd say it's average for such a big chain and therefore under "Neutral". Only 3 showers in the men's locker room. This is under neutral since I've never seen anyone else use the showers other than me, so it hasn't been an issue. The music is in-house pop music, which I'm not a big fan of, but this doesn't affect me since I use earbuds during workout, so under the neutral category this goes (also, 90% of people won't mind it)! The main room feels like room temperature and only has slight air movement, whereas I wish it were slightly cooler or breezy for working out (I am on the bigger side though and sweat easily besides, so perhaps this wouldn't be a problem for others, so I'll put this under neutral). A premium membership is offered that sounds like it includes a lot of nice things (massages I believe?), but since I don't have any experience with it, under...

For the price, I don’t know how you can beat this gym.

Pros-

This gym is still pretty new, so the machines all seem to be in good working order. I frequently see staff performing preventative maintenance on machines too, which has not been my experience elsewhere.

It’s clean. I’ve been in other, more expensive gyms that just smell like stale sweat all the time, but that is not the case here. Of course there are people who use machines without wiping them down, but that happens everywhere. I frequently see staff going around wiping machines down though. Locker room is always clean.

Tons of cardio equipment. Doubtful that you would ever have to wait for a treadmill or an elliptical or a bike. Only 4 rowing machines but I seem to be the only one ever using them.

Open 24 hours on weekdays.

Staff is usually pretty friendly. They don’t try to sell you on things like personal training or supplements like some other gyms do, and I appreciate that a lot.

Cheap. $10/month for the basic membership plus a reasonable yearly fee (can’t remember what it is at the moment. $40?) dunno if you can beat that.

People leave you alone. I’m an introvert and would rather not talk to people at the gym, so that’s a bonus for me.

Cons-

Not a lot of weight machines. There are 2 of some machines, and only 1 for the others. This hasn’t been a problem for me since I’m typically there during off-peak hours, but at busier times there could be waits for some of the single machines.

Hate the music. Not a big deal to me since I have earbuds and I don’t listen to typical workout music anyway, but I really don’t like the music there.

Hours on the weekends are 7am-7pm. Would be nice if they opened a couple hours earlier and stayed open a couple hours later.

Positioning of the TVs is really awkward for some of the cardio machines. If you’re in the front row of machines, you’re basically looking straight up to see the TVs and it’s not comfortable. Poor planning by someone as the problem would be eliminated by positioning the TVs a few feet farther back.

No opinion-

Massage machines and tanning booths. I don’t have the premium membership so I’ve never used them.

Showers. Never used them. They do...

It's inexpensive and doesn't have power racks or any proper barbells. If you want to do squats, bench, or deadlifts you'll need to compromise and accept using dumbbells or a smith machine. It's an understandable choice because insurance costs would kill their business model. Otherwise this gym is fine.

My bigger issue is with how this gym continues to approach the covid pandemic. Initially they reduced hours and claimed it was to ensure everything was cleaned properly. After speaking with staff I confirmed they cut hours because fewer people were coming and they didn't want to pay to have people here 24 hours. It's understandable but longer hours would have helped immensely because people could come at off hours to reduce the risk of infection. So they removed a major risk mitigation technique to save money. They also claimed to require masks but never enforced the rule.

Now it's about 2 years later, covid rates are very high in the county again because no one cares. This gym is very crowded most days and unless you come between 2 am and about 5 am it's not possible to avoid particulates others exhale. It seems like no one here cares to even try to stay away from eachother. The staff will never enforce any guidelines on distance and the customers will work out immediately next to you without a second thought.

Im trying to return to some sense of normalcy but you still need to be careful. Gyms are probably the worst place you can go to risk infection. There are things you can do to reduce the risk but this place does not care about spreading illness and never will.

If I can't get out before 5 am I don't...