The new fitness center in the Crenshaw Plaza offers weight training, cardio, yoga, and other forms of exercise for beginners and also more advanced fitness enthusiasts.
By Jason Lewis
Many Black communities are labeled as food deserts because of the lack of grocery stores. One lesser known term that has a very similar negative impact is fitness desert, and the Crenshaw District, which is the heart of Los Angeles’ Black community, can be considered one of them.
Mainstream commercial gyms such as Planet Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, LA Fitness, and a few others, are plentiful outside of Los Angeles’ Black community, but other than some smaller gyms, the area has not had much to offer.
Planet Fitness has changed that by opening a new location in the Crenshaw Plaza, which is on the southeast corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue. This fitness center has new state-of-the-art equipment that is hard to find in this area. It also has free weights and cable machines for resistance training, battle ropes and medicine balls for functional training, and treadmills, exercise bikes, and stair climbers for cardio workouts. It has floorspace for yoga and stretching, and also a relaxation room where people can get massages.
A fitness center like this in the heart of a Black community is important because Black people have the highest rates of preventable diseases that are associated with obesity, such as heart disease, diabetes, and various forms of cancer.
Planet Fitness’ business model has evolved over the years from a gym geared toward beginners and people who may have felt subconscious exercising around more serious fitness enthusiasts, to a fitness center that’s more inviting to both groups.
“Planet Fitness is about is creating a judgment-free zone,” said Adrian Armendariz, general manager at the Planet Fitness inside of the Crenshaw Plaza. “Basically a comfortable, non-intimidating environment for all members to come in here and work out in a nice, peaceful area. A nice thing here is to give them more community, getting them on those healthy benefits. And that healthy lifestyle is our goal here.”
Armendariz has seen some great transformations from people who have dedicated themselves to workout programs at the fitness center.
“We've seen huge transformations,” he said. “The biggest one I've seen was a person who lost 350 pounds. I’ve seen elderly people go from using canes to not using canes, people that have been doing rehabilitation getting stronger, and those young guys who just never worked out to getting much bigger and getting into sports.”
For more novice gym goers, Planet Fitness trainers can help them design a program that is specifically tailored for their goals. One-on-one training is offered as part of the membership, and there are trainers on site who can give guidance.
The fitness center has very user-friendly machine equipment that hits all of the muscle groups. This equipment is very easy to figure out how to use, and there are pictures on the equipment that tell the user which muscle group is being worked out. This allows the more novice gym goer to go through their workout plan without the need of a trainer.
For the more serious gym goers and also competitive athletes, Planet Fitness has upgraded their equipment to meet their needs. The fitness center has racks for Olympic lifts, such as squats, deadlifts, cleans, snatches, bench press, and back rows. There is a section that has light to heavy dumbbells. And there is equipment that can be used for more functional and explosive movements.
“We used to just be mostly geared towards just the basic general fitness, getting people who were nervous to just come into the gym, getting their foot into the doors as well, and catering to people that have never stepped foot inside of a gym was the overall goal,” Armendariz said. “Once that was implemented, they've implemented new stuff to get those people that are highly-trained athletes in here, like the weight plates, the Olympic squats, the tire flipping. Implementing all that new state-of-the-art special equipment has brought that athletic crowd in here. We’re not just catering to the people who are new to fitness, which is still our goal, but also to get everybody just to come into the gym to continue that healthy lifestyle. We’re also catering to that crowd that wants to get stronger.”
Many local high school athletes make use of the weight lifting area as gaining access to high school weight rooms can be challenging. Teenagers from 13 years old to 15 years old can workout with an adult present. Teenagers 16 years old and above can workout on their own. The fitness center has a summer program that allows teenagers to use the facility for free for three months.
The upgraded equipment is also great for the people who started out at Planet Fitness as beginners and got comfortable enough to move on to more advanced equipment.
“With people who have been here so consistently, as they're doing so well and getting stronger they have become advanced,” Armendariz said. “Bringing in more advanced equipment was important so that they don't leave and go to a new fitness gym. We offer that new stuff here for them, so it's been very beneficial overall.”
Planet Fitness has the Black Card Spa, which has a hydro massage bed that has water jets to give a deep tissue massage. There is also a Total Body Enhancement Booth which has red light therapy that stimulates skin cells, a tanning room, and a massage chair.
Membership at the gym starts at the very reasonable price of $15 per month. For more information visit www.planetfitness.com
