“Yep, I’ve used the alarm a handful of times,” says Megan Chichila, manager of the new Planet Fitness franchise on West Stadium. That’s the company’s trademarked “Lunk Alarm,” which is used to keep the gym a “Judgement Free Zone.” (The company deliberately uses the British spelling. What–are you judging them?). A large sign defines a lunk as: “n. [slang] one who grunts, drops weights or judges [other users].”
A switch behind the counter activates the alarm’s siren and a flashing light. “We just do it for a second or two,” Chichila says, if they hear a client “dropping weights or grunting or maybe swearing.”
Over at the Arbor Fit Club, director Shawn Sage asks: “Have you seen their ads?” (Visible on YouTube, they’re hilarious–Planet Fitness is evidently not a Humour Free Zone.) “I don’t wanna be negative or anything, but their judgment-free zone is itself a judgment. Anyone who wants to lift weights or do yoga, they can come on over here, and we’ll take ’em.”
Chichila says she hasn’t lost a lunk yet. “People are very respectful,” she insists. “Everyone wants a healthy lifestyle.”
