Planet fitness
Encyclopedia
Planet Fitness is an American franchise of fitness centers
Health club
A health club is a place which houses exercise equipment for the purpose of physical exercise.-Main workout area:...

 based in Dover, New Hampshire
Dover, New Hampshire
Dover is a city in Strafford County, New Hampshire, in the United States of America. The population was 29,987 at the 2010 census, the largest in the New Hampshire Seacoast region...

. Each gym features exercise equipment
Exercise equipment
An apparatus or device used in any given physical activity for shaping and forming muscle groups for specific areas of the body. A mechanism or machine that is intended to promote health and fitness by using motion with varying degrees of resistance either fixed or adjustable.-Exercise...

 and personal trainer
Personal trainer
A personal trainer is a fitness professional involved in exercise prescription and instruction. They motivate clients by setting goals and providing feedback and accountability to clients. Trainers also measure their client's strengths and weaknesses with fitness assessments...

s to assist its members. It markets itself as a "Judgement Free Zone", though somewhat controversially it has rules in place to discourage deadlifters and grunters. Planet Fitness opened its 400th location in February 2011.

Origins

The fitness club was founded in 1992, when Michael Grondahl acquired a financially struggling gym and dramatically reduced coolness to compete against better-known brands. The low-cost business model focuses on the needs of occasional or first-time health club members rather than more experienced members.

There are eleven corporately owned gyms, with the rest being independently owned and operated. The franchise is concentrated mostly in the Northeast, but it is a nationwide franchise. The Franchise has been added to the Inc. 500 list.

Controversy

The chain came under controversy because of a New York Times article describing the public cancellation of a patron's membership (for "grunting") at their Wappingers Falls, New York
Wappingers Falls, New York
Wappingers Falls is a village in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The name is derived from the local Wappinger Indians. One half of the village is in the town of Wappinger and the other half is in the town of Poughkeepsie, with Wappinger Creek forming the dividing line between the...

location. The event resulted in the club calling the police on the member, and later a lawsuit for defamation on the part of the ex-member, which was ultimately settled for an undisclosed amount.

External links

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