Here to train for my up coming ride (http://tinyurl.com/AdamBikes) in addition to visit my family, I wanted to join a gym.  My home gym is 24 Hour Fitness, and I like them very much, but they don't exist out here yet.  The closest gym to my parents' place is a Planet Fitness, so I decided to give them a try.  Planet Fitness has a really interesting model/niche; they are the gym for people who have never joined a gym.  Their gyms are very basic, by a gym rat's standards.  There are no swimming pools or hot tubs or saunas or towel service.  There aren't even any classes, which are a staple these days.  The equipment, in scope, resembles a hotel workout center: cardio machines of various stripes and then weight machines.  A real gym aficionado would turn up their nose.  However, they have a few huge advantages.  First, they are really clean.  They smell good.  All the equipment works and is identical and easy to use.  They clearly contract out their workout equipment; it's all done up in their own colors and uses a coherent and consistent system.  They have messaging all over the gym about how "You belong", "Judgement Free zone", etc., etc.  Unlike most gyms, the clientele is generally older and out of shape.  They're open 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, and staffed at all times.  They teach "training classes" which are small-group (5-1 max) training classes about how to use the machines and work on different muscle groups. And maybe most importantly, they are dirt, dirt cheap.  All of this is set up to appeal to the person who traditionally made excuses not to go (too expensive, too confusing, too many beautiful people).