A sauna or a steam room could be a great place to relax following a grueling workout at the gym. There are plenty of gyms that offer sauna and steam room facilities. But is Planet Fitness one of them?
Planet Fitness does not have a sauna or a steam room because its primary goal is to provide low membership fees to its patrons. Presently, anyone can join the fitness facility for as low as $10 per month. Adding a sauna or a steam room would increase the membership fee drastically.
In the rest of the article, we are going to look at all the facilities that Planet Fitness offers and its membership plans. We are also going to discuss the gyms that do offer a sauna or steam room facilities and how much money you will have to spend to access those facilities.
Table of Contents
- What is Planet Fitness? (Quick Overview)
- Why Is There No Sauna or Steam Room in the Planet Fitness Gyms?
- What Facilities Are Available at Planet Fitness?
- Benefits of Planet Fitness Gyms
- Which Gyms Have Saunas & Steam Rooms?
- Conclusion
What is Planet Fitness? (Quick Overview)
Planet Fitness is a fitness company that offers a variety of gym centers, personal training sessions, and live classes. It’s a global lifestyle brand with over 900 centers across the United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Panama, and Mexico. Since its inception in 1992, Planet Fitness has been dedicated to providing a welcoming environment for all members of the fitness community. It has over 8 million members in the U.S., making it one of the largest fitness companies in the world.
Planet Fitness has a chain of gyms with a unique business model, which focuses on offering affordable memberships to people within the age range of 18-35. The company has an extremely efficient system for retaining its members, which is why they are able to offer inexpensive plans.
The gym’s membership pricing model consists of three tiers:
- The lowest tier is $10 per month and you’d be bound by a year-long contract
- The second tier is $15 and there’s no contract involved.
- The highest tier offers full facility access and costs $23 per month. Under this plan, you are bound to a year-long contract.
Why Is There No Sauna or Steam Room in the Planet Fitness Gyms?
The gyms in the Planet Fitness franchise have a large variety of workout equipment and classes to offer. However, they don’t offer saunas or steam rooms. That’s because gyms are built to be more cost-effective.
Installing a sauna or steam room is a costly business, especially when done on a commercial scale. And even after installation, there is maintenance cost involved.
In the U.S., you can’t build a unisex sauna or steam room which means the cost of installation and maintenance would double. This will lead to higher membership prices which is opposite to Planet Fitness’ business model.
What Facilities Are Available at Planet Fitness?
Two of the biggest reasons to join Planet Fitness are the affordability factor and the cleanliness of the centers. Then depending on your membership plan, you can access facilities like tanning, massage chairs, hydro massage, body enhancement, free wifi, free fitness training, and 50% off of drinks.
Benefits of Planet Fitness Gyms
While low cost and thousands of centers have made Planet Fitness accessible and popular, that’s not all. The franchise offers a number of benefits –
I. Gyms Are Open 24×7
In a typical gym, you’d have to plan your workout session based on the gym’s timings. Not anymore. Whether you want to work out early morning or late at night, the gyms are open round the clock.
It’s perfect for people who lead a busy life but don’t have a gym set up at home. And it’s great for people with body image issues and prefer to work out when there’s no one around. If you think about it, 24×7 gyms are perfect for introverts who prefer not being around a ton of people while working out.
II. Gyms Are Well-Maintained
If you are used to the low standards of your local gym, Planet Fitness gyms are going to surprise you. At Planet Fitness centers, you don’t have to worry about unclean machines and smelly changing rooms. Most of the centers are pretty clean. Equipment is wiped regularly, changing rooms don’t smell like sweat and we have noticed how old curtains are regularly replaced with new ones.
III. Gyms Are Well-Stocked
Forget about queuing up to use gym equipment. Planet Fitness gyms are well-stocked with weights, bikes, and treadmills. At some centers, you can find up to twenty-five machines.
While there are a few budget competitors out there Planet Fitness is the cheapest fully-stocked gym. The centers offer massage chairs and tanning bed sessions after a workout which you won’t get in any other gym for a monthly membership cost of $23.
It’s probably worth mentioning that if you are looking to lift weights, then you can’t do that at Planet Fitness. Since the company wants its center to make everyone feel welcome, having muscle heads walking around intimidating people is not ideal.
Also read: Which Gyms Have Saunas & What Kind?
Which Gyms Have Saunas & Steam Rooms?
We are listing down the name of gyms that do offer a sauna or a steam room experience.
24 Hour Fitness
Founded in 1983, 24 Hour Fitness is a chain of fitness clubs that offers a variety of amenities and services. The company has more than 400 locations in North America and provides access to cardio machines, free weights, group exercise classes, personal trainers, nutritionists, tanning beds, swimming pools with water slides, and of course sauna and steam room sessions.
Equinox Fitness
Equinox Fitness is a luxury fitness company that has been around for over 30 years. Their centers are present in a lot of different locations and offer a variety of membership plans for fitness enthusiasts.
Its mission statement is to “empower people to be the best version of themselves.” They try to do this by providing their members with the ability to work out in a clean, safe environment that offers top-notch amenities.
Equinox Fitness was founded by Harvey Spevak who wanted to create a gym that was different from what was already on the market at the time. He wanted it to be private and upscale, catering only to those who could afford it so it’s not surprising that they also offer sauna and steam room experiences.
Life Time Fitness
Life Time Fitness is a company that has over 200 locations in the United States. They have a variety of different fitness centers, but they are most famous for their gyms.
They have an extensive list of services that includes everything from personal training to weight loss programs. They also offer various membership plans that can be customized to fit your needs and budget.
Life Time Fitness is also known for its variety of classes and group exercise sessions. Their classes range from yoga, pilates, and spin classes to strength training and circuit training sessions. You will find a sauna, steam room, hot tub, pools, and even water slides at a Life Time gym. And as you can imagine, the membership cost is pretty high, over $100 per month.
YMCA
The YMCA is a nonprofit organization founded way back in 1844 and today it provides affordable, accessible, and safe fitness programs for all. Since the YMCA’s beginnings, it has grown into the world’s largest community-based nonprofit with more than 2,700 locations in 40 countries. The organization serves nearly 20 million people each year.
At some of the YMCA centers, you can find a sauna, steam rooms, swimming pools, and basketball courts but they are not commonly found in all the centers. So we suggest looking into a YMCA center before signing up.
LA Fitness
LA Fitness is a health and fitness club with more than 300 locations in the United States. The company offers a variety of fitness classes, personal training, and group exercise sessions.
The company was founded in 1984 in Los Angeles and it had one goal in mind – to create the best fitness experience possible. They offer an unlimited membership which includes access to all their group fitness classes as well as personal training sessions with a trainer of your choice at any location nationwide for $50- $99 per month depending on where you live.
That said, you won’t find sauna and steam rooms at every center. Make sure you are checking in with your local center before signing up.
Also read: Does Crunch Fitness Have a Sauna?
Conclusion
Planet Fitness does not offer sauna or steam facilities because of its low-cost membership models. At present, you can get a gym membership for as low as $10 per month. Adding a sauna or steam will radically increase the membership fee.
Given that Planet Fitness aims to keep its gym centers low-cost, we don’t think you’d ever have a sauna or steam room facility at Planet Fitness.
