Anyone train at Anytime Fitness?

[Wolfpack]

a bench press were 'on the way' but hell if I know lol.

That's exactly what they told us when I signed up at our's. That was back in March. We don't even have a power rack, which was also suppose to be there. But I'm in a small city right now with only 2 gyms, one is $54/month for one person and Anytime is $30/month for one. Plus I didn't have to pay a sign-up fee and it's month to month. The other one has a $120-150 sign-up fee too.

 

[csl068]

Anytime Rules

You will not see the standard oympic flat bench press at most Anytime Fitness facilities, I am sure there are some that do have them, but liability wise due to the fact it is a 24-7 club, they dont want the issue of someone crushing their chest in the middle of the nite when their is no one spotting. So you should see (and I say should) a half rack which I think is a fantastic piece of equipment by hammer strength. Where you can do pretty much squats, bench, incline, decline, pullups, they have attachments for bands, you name it and plus you can set up the arms where if you cannot get that bar up on the bench (being alone) you always have the arms you can drop it on and get out safely.........so that is why you will most likely never see an olympic bench at most anytime fitness facilities.........I think josh summed it up correctly stating it depends on the owner, if the owner has experience in the gym then his or her gym is going to be sufficient, if they have no clue and are trying to make a quick buck, then you have what you have............as far as no dropping weights or no deadlifting, well then you clearly have a case of an owner who probably doesnt even know what a dumbbell is, and you are probably not going to enjoy your time in the gym...........

 

[GymDudeVA]

I worked as a trainer at one for a while. I think they are all franchises, with some latitude as to equipment choices, etc. Ours was very mom-and-pop, and the owners welcomed hardcore bodybuilders and fat newbies alike (although the clientele definitely was mostly the latter LOL). It definitely appealed to beginners who were actually very afraid to go to the Gold's down the street. But this was good because (a) more clients for me, and (b) almost no one on the free weights! It had a smythe machine, squat cage, dumbells up to 100, good leg press machine, etc. Like someone said, no flat bench with uprights due to liability issues, so you have to put a flat bench in the cage for barbell bench press.

The owners were very eager to please, and the atmosphere was ultra laid back. Down side was no real bodybuilder atmosphere for motivation, but up side was free weights all to myself! The 24-hours aspect is nice...after hours you feel like you are in your private gym sometimes. They do have cameras everywhere. Be careful never to push the emergency buttons, as the police and the owners will be called, even in the middle of the night. I worked the office/membership some too, and the pricing, terms, etc. seemed fair and straightforward. And the key deposit was only $25, which you get back when you return it.

 

[Big Vin]

Out of the 25 or so that I've visited...I'd say 3 of them had olympic benches. They're out there, but not in most Anytime Fitness'.

 

[rock3000x]

Never had any problem there

 

[rock3000x]

SNAP

I work out at Snap Fitness and I honestly don't know how they stay in business, there's never anyone there.

 

[SecondAct]

AF ranges from decent to horrible, never great. I've worked out at a few that are decent, good equipment. The flexibility is wonderful, but that's the only great thing about them. There is one where my gf lives presently.

I went up to join and the franchise owner was a strange bird. I'm not big enough to have received the Planet Fitness treatment many have. I'm a big guy, but was really more out of shape than big when I went. There are HS kids who are more impressive. Hell. i was more impressive at 17. I tried to pay cash, eventually offered to pay 6 months up front because I keep late nights and love to be able to work out at 3AM if necessary, and it's a small town. Guy hemmed and hawed, eventually I said, "alright, here's my card" thinking his issue was about not having protection if I opened the door at 6 AM and let someone clean the place out.

He still didn't want it, and basically told me I was too big to work out there and they didn't have enough equipment. It was laughable, I was out of shape and might be the 30th biggest guy in an average gym. He obv. was taking his business philosophy from a Planet Fitness angle. I just shook my head at him and explained that as a business owner, if a guy wants to pay me cash up front and use my facility at off-peak hours in a business with a 75% fail rate, I'd be thrilled. This clown was a lifelong mill employee who decided he wanted to be a business guru. His right, but just a path to bankruptcy. If you don't want a 40 something clean-cut guy driving a 70k car who likes to pay cash and work out at 3AM, I don't know what he views as his target market. This is the type of disparity you get with AF franchises.

 

[Bullman77]

The one I was at in Chesapeake was decent. More cardio than weights though.

 

[Ironraider]

You will not see the standard oympic flat bench press at most Anytime Fitness facilities, I am sure there are some that do have them, but liability wise due to the fact it is a 24-7 club, they dont want the issue of someone crushing their chest in the middle of the nite when their is no one spotting. So you should see (and I say should) a half rack which I think is a fantastic piece of equipment by hammer strength. Where you can do pretty much squats, bench, incline, decline, pullups, they have attachments for bands, you name it and plus you can set up the arms where if you cannot get that bar up on the bench (being alone) you always have the arms you can drop it on and get out safely.........so that is why you will most likely never see an olympic bench at most anytime fitness facilities.........I think josh summed it up correctly stating it depends on the owner, if the owner has experience in the gym then his or her gym is going to be sufficient, if they have no clue and are trying to make a quick buck, then you have what you have............as far as no dropping weights or no deadlifting, well then you clearly have a case of an owner who probably doesnt even know what a dumbbell is, and you are probably not going to enjoy your time in the gym...........

Excellent post...and from what I've seen out there you're spot on!

 

[Big Vin]

Was at AF today in Alameda, CA. Had Olympic flat bench. Don't see that too often.