Planet Fitness gym chain is a total abortion
This makes me want to hurl. A member was expelled because - horrors! - he grunted while squatting. Such behavior doesn't comport with the gym's "non-intimidating" atmosphere.
"This is really absurd, especially the part about the grunting," said Al Argibay, a corrections officer who learned first-hand "no grunting" means exactly that ... "We're creating an atmosphere that's not intimidating," said Carol Palazzolo, the gym manager, who yanked Argibay's membership on Monday ... Argibay said he was at a multi-press station, getting ready to squat about 500 pounds* when the forbidden sin happened. "I let out a grunt, squatted down, back up, grunt again. That's it," explained Argibay. "Basically, grunt, grunt, basic breathing in heavy, and breathing out."
For Christ's sakes, this is sickening. What makes it even worse is that Planet Fitness is the nation's fastest-growing gym chain. In fact one's opening up near me, in Centerreach, though I'd sooner drink worm-filled dog diarrahea than be caught dead inside the place.
Actually, I know exactly what a Planet Fitness is like. It's full of (a) near-anorectic girls doing hours of cardio training; (b) douche bags doing biceps curls in the squat rack; (c) fat people walking on the treadmill for ten minutes at two mph and then bragging about their terrific workouts; and (d) old men walking around naked in the locker room with their shriveled twigs and berries hanging out ... okay, scratch (b) off the list, for sure as s*** there's no squat rack in any Planet Fitness, and I suppose (d) is sort of irrelevant because you'll find naked old men in every gym locker room.
I cannot emphasize just how royally p.o.'ed this story has made me. To make matters worse, Ann Althouse - a top blogosphere s***-doesn't-stink celebrity who refuses to allow anonymous comments to her precious blog - has actually defended Planet F***hole's no-grunting policy.
* = it appears that he was doing squats on a machine, which makes sense as there certainly wasn't a real squat rack. Squatting 500 pounds on a machine isn't remotely close to doing it with free weights. A 500-pound squat with free weights in a rack is a superb accomplishment, probably more than some NFL linebackers can manage.
