Best Gym In Plano/Frisco/Allen?

Posted by hertabuzz@reddit | plano | View on Reddit | 51 comments

I've heard good things about the Texas Family Fitness gyms, which have now been converted to Planet Fitness locations. I also think Fitness Connection is good, but that's only in Allen.

However, Plano also has an Equinox and Lifetime. But I've heard that it's not actually that great. Is this true?

Money is not an issue for me - what's the best gym to signup for? My focus is just lifting weights, but if there's other perks that gyms offer to make it more worth it (e.g. red light therapy, social events), I'd be interested.

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Alive_in_Platos_Cave@reddit

Lifetime has a favorable environment with mostly working machines, pleasant employees, and comfortable member culture. But they are greedy AF and WILL increase your dues $10 every year.

Note that from Nov 2019-2024, inflation grew ~22.5%, while in the same period, dues increased ~67%. They cut open hours and didn’t improve the value, unless you’re obsessed with Pickleball.

They also pay their hourly employees poorly while opening more and more clubs and compensating upper management disproportionately higher. They seem to be focusing more on image and pretentious premium “recovery” additions than repairing strength and cardio machines.

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karma_time_machine@reddit

If you guys have the gym benefits through your insurance, you can pay the premium tier $100/mo to get access to Lifetime. It's a great deal but you only have access to one facility.

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hertabuzz@reddit (OP)

Do they have red light beds? If not, then I fail to see how it's worth it

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karma_time_machine@reddit

If you're in the market for a luxury gym, going through insurance cuts the price by more than half and gives you access to all the lower tier gyms and city rec centers. I have no idea about light beds but it has pickleball courts, bball, numerous pools hot tubs and saunas, restaurants inside, daycare, classes, and state of the art equipment.

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hertabuzz@reddit (OP)

Does Lifetime have red light beds? If not, then I fail to see how it's worth it

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Alive_in_Platos_Cave@reddit

Nope, but they are adding quite a bit of “upgrades” to make it more club like (rest/ recovery/ work spaces) and less gym like. Which I believe is targeting the top 10-20% economically. It used to be much more reasonable, low key, and actually 24 hours. It’s still 10x better than LA Fitness, but probably not worth the price @ $200/mo like it was @ $100/mo a few years ago.

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Vincentamerica@reddit

Rec membership is the best value in plano- multiple different facilities and a single membership is like $150 for the year. My family membership is like $360

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PrinceOfStealing@reddit

Damn. I used to live in Plano from 2001-2018. It was always like 50 or 75.

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el_profesor_erotico@reddit

Lifting weights eh? I highly recommend Starting Strength Plano, located on Preston just south of 121.
Very strength focused, well-coached, and with a great culture. No other real perks, beyond a water fountain and the head coach's corny jokes.

At a minimum, go for a visit and a free 30 minute session.

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Sufficient_Duty_6571@reddit

i like EOS fitness

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QuesoStain2@reddit

Im there too but holy shit its so crowded in the afternoon. Great price but comes with some issues. I was at Cowboy and all the regs I used to see there I now see at EOS. Its getting too packed.

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TNALTX@reddit

I like Plano Athletic Club. It’s $75 a month, and it’s never very crowded. They have plenty of equipment and free weights. They also have really good classes, in my opinion, and an outdoor workout area, sauna and pool.

They keep it clean too, which I appreciate.

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QuesoStain2@reddit

$75 for a gym is absurd

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Engagethedawn@reddit

I enjoy the access to pool, outdoor area, and classes along with the price. Honestly cannot beat the amenities for the price in the area.

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ShellmyBelle35@reddit

Goodness. It’s used to be $50

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parikptlcfa@reddit

Who remembers when this used to be Q club?

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TNALTX@reddit

Oh really?? I’ve only been a member a little over a year, so it’s always been $75 for me. Here I was thinking that was a steal, compared to surrounding gyms!

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ShellmyBelle35@reddit

Yeah cowboy fit is $50 a month but as far as I know it doesn’t have a pool. It does have unlimited spray tanning included in the price which is wild

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rhyde11@reddit

That is actually crazy they include spray tanning!

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jsoonerboomer@reddit

Sheesh, yeah I’m at $50 still. Guess they grandfathered in the earlier folks. Still think it’s a great gym and never crazy crowded and would be worth the even higher now rate

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Prince-Ali_@reddit

There is a one time $100 sign up fee (literally just signed up last week) but so far I agree I'm enjoying it so far!

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TNALTX@reddit

Oh! I don’t remember this, but then again, I signed up over a year ago and my memory isn’t the best 😬

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shagwell8@reddit

Their hours suck tho. And their limited hours are always 8am-12pm. It drove me crazy when they had those hours on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, day before thanksgiving, day after Thanksgiving, day after Christmas. It made no sense.

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Grognac_the_Red@reddit

So I'm a member at Crunch and I'm having a great time so far.

My favorite parts are the 5am- 11pm hours, classes in different things every day (like hot / regular plates and yoga, biking, zumba, boot camps etc) they have a large Hiit zone, and their weight lifting area is fully stocked.

They have two saunas, tanning rooms and three different types of massage chairs that you can use whenever you want.

I'm a fairly new gym goer, and all the staff have been very kind and helpful whenever I've needed help, and they don't force a coach on you when you ask for pointers or recommendations.

I have a $25/month plan, so I can attend all classes I want as much as I want. I did sign up during a promo though. So now I think it's like $30. But it's really been an amazing positive experience

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neatgeek83@reddit

I just switched from TFF to Club 4 Fitness. It’s clean, less than a year old and has amenities like a sauna, tanning beds, red light therapy and hydromassage.

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Alive_in_Platos_Cave@reddit

Are the red light beds included in their membership?

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neatgeek83@reddit

At the 24.99/mo tier, everything is. I won’t use it so I’m on the $10/mo tier which is for “fitness floor” and locker room access (which includes the sauna).

Check out their website they have it all listed

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Alive_in_Platos_Cave@reddit

Thanks—I drive by regularly, so will check it out! I’m starting a peptide that’s activated/ enhanced by light, so the red + tanning bed might be an interesting experiment.

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neatgeek83@reddit

Sounded like snake oil to me but I hope it works!

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aek82@reddit

Equinox is nice if you can workout off peak hours and live close by. They have a fairly nice app that lets you manage your membership - billing and canceling is straightforward. The gym is geared more towards personal training and fitness classes though. The cardio and weight areas are comparatively small to other gyms. In terms of standout amenities, probably the cleanest locker room at a gym I've ever seen, and the roof top workout area can be great on a cool sunny day.

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hertabuzz@reddit (OP)

The gym is geared more towards personal training and fitness classes though

Neither seem interesting to me for fitness. I just do my own workout. The classes are good to meet people, maybe?

Equinox has a luxury brand associated with it but does it live up to it? If I can get a better weight area at Planet Fitness in Frisco, then I don't know.

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Alive_in_Platos_Cave@reddit

Networking and dating I’ve heard 😂

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hertabuzz@reddit (OP)

I've got a million in savings and I still think $220 a month is kinda crazy for a gym membership. Who is to say you get enough value with networking/dating to where it's worth it? The equipment is nothing special. And they lock you in for a year so you can't just try it.

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Alive_in_Platos_Cave@reddit

I haven’t tried it either. The idea of networking or targeted socializing at the gym (meant to be an escape) sounds horrible. I would be interested to go once for a free trial visit and people watching.

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aek82@reddit

It is a luxury brand. However, its still just a gym. There's nothing really special in terms of gym equipment in that franchise.

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Next_Ad_9281@reddit

I’m looking into crunch fitness soon. I’m tired of LA fitness culture, the people are toxic. And planet fitness is too restrictive. Texas family is ok but it doesn’t have many amenities.

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giant-rabbits@reddit

What’s toxic about LA fitness?

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Next_Ad_9281@reddit

It’s a zoo, super crowded, most people are there for their ego, not to necessarily work on their health but to draw attention to themselves, many are inconsiderate with their workouts and space and length, the tik tokers, people always watching and staring. It’s just not super inviting honestly. So many other things but these jump out.

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Comet7777@reddit

We transitioned from Texas Family Fitness over to Crunch once the former was shut down. Most of the morning regulars at TFF have made the migration to Crunch which was cool to see.

Reason I dig Crunch is that there’s a crap ton of squat racks. Never seen a gym with so many.

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Next_Ad_9281@reddit

From what I hear they have cryo and sauna which is a plus! As long as they have plenty machines and not many wait times I’m sure it’s lovely over there. I’m so over LA

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ShellmyBelle35@reddit

What I appreciate about Crunch is you don’t have people setting up tripods and camera to film themselves. Never go to the Plano West location on a Friday evening. It’s a high school get together.

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hertabuzz@reddit (OP)

Your first sentence contradicts your second sentence though.

Are you talking about the Crunch Fitness Plano on Preston?

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