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Yes, yes it is. I used to be a personal trainer, and I have helped people to lose a lot of weight. A few of the people I trained really liked that I didn’t care how fat they were (My dad is a very large man, his dad more so, so I didn’t frown on large people as many do, to me they were like family).

Around these parts, there’s gyms for the elderly, gyms for the bodybuilders, gyms for the college students, gyms for women, and now, a gym that is for the “average person.” They don’t allow grunting, don’t allow equipment hogging, don’t offer really high weight (fixed) dumbells and barbells, and label themselves as the “Judgement Free Zone.”

I find it a brilliant business move, as every first Monday they order hundreds of dollars worth of gourmet pizza (about $1,000-$1,200 worth if they paid full price, but they get a steep discount), and feed everyone. Every Tuesday morning they have “Einstein Bros. Bagels” for those that missed the pizza. This isn’t your average take out pizza, either, it’s really, really good and fatty, lol, and about $20-25 a piece.

I really, really like the way that gym works (I was formerly a member), and the atmosphere. Even though I’ve never had what most people would qualify as a “weight problem” (I have never, at my largest, been more than a few pounds out of my ideal weight limit) I still enjoyed my personal exercise there over other gyms at which I have had memberships (many).

Back home (Vegas), I used to go to the gym at 1AM to get away from all the blowhards that would often hog the equipment for hours as they flexed in the mirrors. Good on this gym, and those like it.

I once belonged to Bally’s. And what a crummy gym that was. A lot of broken equipment, smelly moldy shower and locker rooms, a young snotty staff and young snotty self impressed members who where more into primping and preening and grunting and wearing the latest workout fashions just to prove how cool they were and worst of all it was mostly a meat market not to mention that they way oversold memberships so that it was nearly impossible sometimes to even find a parking place not to mention the 30+ minute wait just to use a treadmill.

My then employer offered a deep discount (50% subsidized) to join the not a chain “athletic club” that was across the street. The gym was huge with two separate gyms on either side of a very nice aquatic center with three salt water filtered pools; an Olympic sized lap pool and two heated therapy pools and a whirlpool. The main gym had a combination of aerobic machines; treadmills, elliptical and bikes, an indoor basket ball court, a free weight area and a large assortment of weight training machines with loud music and multiple TV screens. The other side of the gym was smaller and quieter and somewhat more catered to an older crowd but it had a juice bar and internet cafe. I used both depending on my mood on any given day and used the aquatic center often.

Their philosophy was not about “hard bodies” but on fitness and health for all people of all ages, shapes and sizes. The staff was great, friendly, knowledgeable and non-judgmental. And the clientele was the same. There were some serious fitness folks but it was a completely different atmosphere than the Bally’s. I saw lots of folks of all ages and all sizes and even some with disabilities and everyone was made to feel welcome. I’ve since changed jobs and moved to Pennsylvania and I really miss that gym.

… and now, a gym that is for the “average person.” They don’t allow grunting, don’t allow equipment hogging, don’t offer really high weight (fixed) dumbells and barbells, and label themselves as the “Judgement Free Zone.”

I presume you are talking about Planet Fitness. I belong there now and while it doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles, I like it, I like it a lot more than Bally’s.