Serious athletes and others genuinely interested in and committed to improved physical performance focus on improving fundamentals. The basic, boring – but difficult – things that make people better. That’s why most commercial gyms specifically focus on not catering to them.

Low-priced gyms are the most extreme example of this. Planet Fitness, which charges between $10 and $20 per month, has, on average, 6,500 members per gym. Most of its gyms can hold around 300 people. Planet Fitness can do this because it knows that members won’t show up.

A gym with people truly interested in getting strong would look more like this:

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/12/17/371463435/episode-590-the-planet-money-workout

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/12/30/373996649/why-we-sign-up-for-gym-memberships-but-don-t-go-to-the-gym