The workout: Hypertrophy. Week 3, day 1.
Focus: vertical push/pull + posterior leg
Total volume: 42 sets
Circuit 1: 4 sets, 8-10 reps
- Neutral grip lat pull down
- Cable shoulder captions
- Weighted hip thrust (back elevated glute bridge)
Circuit 2: 4 sets, 8-10 reps
- Wide grip lat pull down
- Barbell shoulder press
- Hip extension w/eccentric focus (commonly known as back extension, I focus on the movement coming from the hip joint and using my glutes only)
Circuit 3 (Abs): 3 sets, 30-45 seconds
- Traditional crunch (30 sec)
- Oblique crunch left/right (30 sec each)
- Flutter kick (30 sec)
- Bicycle (30 sec)
- Front plank (45 sec)
- Side plank left/right (45 sec each)
I always enjoy the opportunity to workout with friends. The workout feels faster, I have more fun, and having an accountability buddy is great for consistency. I recently have worked out 1-2 times a week with a friend from my PT class who has a membership with Planet Fitness. Like a lot of gym rats (I assume) I had some presuppositions regarding how my experience would be and they were not entirely positive. I’ve got to be honest y’all, I was pretty impressed.
The gym was CLEAN, like spotless clean. The locker rooms were clean. The equipment was clean….it was amazing.
The gym staff were polite and professional.
Not a single person dropped their weights or performed more than their last rep with bodily noises involved (grunting, huffing, etc.)
Weights were where they were supposed to be! There are signs every 5 feet reminding people to re-rack their weights and I got the impression it was something the staff reinforced.
It was temperature controlled. “What gym isn’t?” You might ask. I’ll tell you. Every single Gold’s location which has bought into the crossfit fad with their “Gold’s Fit” has the darn doors open in the evening so their clientele can pretend they train in Sparta or some nonsense.
Exactly zero gym bros tried to hit on me or “help” me.
The only real negative I found was in the variety of equipment. This Planet Fitness had most of your standard gym fare; however, there were no squat racks, or free barbells/plates available. This is probably due to the idea of keeping away the gym bros or “lunks.” Unfortunately for me, it’s also a nonnegotiable component.
In summary, I won’t be giving up my Gold’s membership anytime soon ( I enjoy squats and deadlifts too much), but for most people I think this gym is a great option and is surprisingly affordable.
Best,
Dr. Mims
My Whole Wellness 