Doctor T.
Google
I’m writing this review based on what this gym used to be. I don’t know if it’s permanently closed or being “remodeled,” which is the Planet Fitness euphemism for replacing perfectly good, ergonomically sound Life Fitness machines with poorly designed and outright DANGEROUS Matrix branded machines.
Here’s the deep dive…
Once upon a time, and in the surviving locations like this one that hadn’t turned like victims of a zombie apocalypse, there was a very popular machine called “Torso Rotation.” (This location had two, and even at off hours, they were constantly in use.) The user kneels on a round platform, their back held in place by chest pads, and pushes their hips from side to side against resistance. The chest pads kept it safe and effective. To work your obliques, you can’t turn your entire chest. And it is incredibly risky to your spine to not have back support. The Matrix version of this machine, “Rotary Torso,” offers zero back support and is dangerous even at low weights. By not isolating muscle groups, it doesn’t really do anything. This is obvious just looking at both machines.
So why is PF forcing this? I’m imagining that if their target audience is happy to pay relatively affordable monthly dues to a gym they feel comfortable rarely using. With this business model, they must assume most people won’t know enough to notice. Locations like this one were used daily by people who work in the area. But does PF actually care about its regulars?