I guess the most economically efficient model would be for gyms to charge per use with surge pricing.

4-5am? $2. 5-6pm? $10!

That’s what our local gym did. It was ultra frustrating to use and they stopped offering it after a while.

From the article: "There are many commercial gyms that won’t let you in on a ‘pay-as- you-go’ basis at all, even if you beg."

Pay as you go in general is not popular. It creates an incentive to not use the product or service and makes people feel bad about using it. Meanwhile upfront payments make you feel good about using the service. You already paid for it, using it is getting your monies worth.

And if you can’t build a habit around using their service, you won’t stay a customer for long.

The ideal customer is someone who pays but doesn’t use it. But these people tend to not renew their subscriptions. So realistically you want someone who habitually uses it and will remain a customer forever.

I think the Planet Fitness model is to appeal to non-gym-goers, and to also be cheap enough where people carry the membership year to year, because it’s not a big enough charge to hurt, while making the customer feel like they have some good intentions by having the membership.

They pay a guilt tax.

People love to bag on Planet Fitness. I suppose they brought it on themselves, but things have moved on. I have multiple gym memberships: one to a world renowned powerlifting gym, another to an athletic training facility popular with professional athletes, and my local planet fitness. I have that because it’s closest to my son’s mother’s house (we meet there a couple of times per week) and it’s my “travel gym membership” since 24 Hour Fitness closed in our town.

All that lead up to say: the numerous PFs I visit are regularly busy and people work out there quite regularly. I see a lot of familiar faces at each of the locations. Their clientele is no worse or less dedicated than those of the other gyms.

Also, having visited their gyms in a number of coastal metro cities I’ll say that they do a really great job of maintaining their equipment.

I'd be curious to see the numbers on Planet Fitness. At $10/month, what is their percentage of members who regularly show vs never showing up. $10/month is easy to forget about, like a steaming service. A gym charging $50 or $100+/month is harder to ignore and I assume would have a higher percentage of members actually showing up. Not because people who pay more will be more likely to turn into gym rats, but because there would be fewer people brushing off the monthly charge as a rounding error in their budget over time.

I've been to a Planet Fitness once as a guest of someone while on vacation. It as well kept, I was able to find some equipment for a good workout, and it was pretty crowded (in August), and I'm sure there are a lot of regulars. The question is, what percentage of the overall membership are those regulars?

I'm not sure if they still do the pizza thing, but that always struck me as odd and what gave them a bad image in my book. I never wanted to be a member of a gym that appeared to be sabotaging its members. It makes it seem like the gym isn't invested in the success of its members. I felt the same way about the dentist giving me candy after a cleaning when I was a kid.

Reverse pricing is much more enjoyable for people. Free lattes in the early morning hours, free protein shakes during other off hours, early bird/night owl discount when you renew for the long term if you badge in during off-peak hours exclusively.

I've seen gyms/pools offer reduced price off-peak only memberships.

My gym charges cancellation fees for not attending any group class you might have signed up for. It's kinda motivating to get yourself up there but sometimes you just don't sign up because you are not sure if you will feel motivated enough to go in that day. Either way, they make money.

My gym charged a cheaper rate for swimming from 10am to 3pm. I swam on my lunch break and saved a bunch of money.

Hmmm, not sure how much a customer taking a hot shower costs a gym.

Probably about 6 cents. Assuming a 30 minute shower with a 2.5 gpm flow rate and 110F average temperature. Maybe less if they have a more efficient water heater than resistive electric at ~11 cents per kwh.

Don’t forget that showers are expensive to build and maintain. I would guess that the amount of labor that goes into keeping the showers clean and running is far higher than electricity costs.

This. 100%. In an developed country, the lifetime labour cost to maintain a clean changing room and shower room far exceeds the build cost. To be clear: A different way to think about this issue: As long as cleaning staff are paid living wages, I think this is a good way to expand your economy. Some people want to use commercial gyms; let's make it the source of good jobs.

To make light of the comment: what the hell does someone need to take a 30m shower for?

I personally don't understand the people who wouldn't want to take a 30 minute shower.

So long as the water stays hot and you have the time, it's one of the more relaxing things you can do at home. Baths use way more water, and if you don't live somewhere like Japan, they aren't deep and cool off quickly without a bath warmer. Its also kind of gross to sit in a bath without already showering and getting clean before you get in.

If you have a speaker in the bathroom you can listen to an audio book. Long showers have only gotten better with water proof phones becoming more common. As a kid I would put my Gameboy in a Ziploc bag just so I could stay in longer.

A 30 minute shower uses more water than a bath.

If you don't believe me, try plugging the drain on just a 5 minute shower to see how much it fills up, then extrapolate...

(The shower crosses into more water generally somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes depending on the shower flow and desired bath depth...)

Every shower head is a minor restriction on flow compared to the bath faucet. It may or not be negligible. But a bath drawn for the same faucet runtime will use more water than the same runtime for a shower every time. The crossover in cost happens when the shower uses more water than the bath. That should happen very shortly after the time it takes to fill a bath. At one house, our bath took 40 minutes to fill, another 15-20, and another took under 10.

Only on HN someone wonders what's the cost of a shower, another person actually attempts to calculate that, and then we get into a discussion whether 30 minute showers are a good thing or not. IMO 30 minutes is a bit excessive but I do enjoy longer showers myself ;)

In grad school, many years ago, I would plug the drain and let the tub fill while I showered. I would pull the plug and let the tub drain once the water had cooled. This way my bathroom would warm up a bit. I suppose this might have saved a few cents.

These days you can get passive ‘waste water heat recovery’ systems that sit beneath a bath or shower tray - warming your inbound cold water with your outflow, so you use less new hot water (or have to heat it less).

I'd be curious to know how these systems manage with dissolved soap, partially dissolved skin cells, hair, etc.

> I personally don't understand the people who wouldn't want to take a 30 minute shower.

Are you aware that clean water is a finite resource that we're almost certain to run out of? [1] does that not bother you all?

Even mighty British Columbia with all the rivers, lakes, mountains and snowfall is under drought conditions, right now in winter!

https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/planet-earth/state...

> > I personally don't understand the people who wouldn't want to take a 30 minute shower.

> Are you aware that clean water is a finite resource that we're almost certain to run out of? [1] does that not bother you all? https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/planet-earth/state...

I think a 30 minute shower contributes to a global water shortage in the same way that plastic straws contribute.

The link you’ve provided says 90% of water usage is on the generation of electricity, food, and products.

I think the GP should continue to take 30 minute showers, because even if they stop, even if every person stops, it’ll have a negligible effect on water usage.

Much like plastic straws.

What do you mean it's a finite resource, I take a shower with some water, it gets dumped, cleaned then I can use it again. Does me taking a longer shower just disintegrate the water?

GP did not consider septic tanks either apparently

With unlimited energy, there's pretty much infinite water in oceans to desalinate. Energy and its clean production and storage is the only thing to worry about.

> Are you aware that clean water is a finite resource

It kinda is, when you're drawing it from a spring that will lead to the ocean one way or the other.

It's terrible for your skin.

Agreed, although I don't think this was a problem for me until I was in my 30s or so.

Body hair really extends shower time. A lot of body hair does it even more. Add long hair and beards and it's even more.

How so?

More hair means more product, more lathering, and significantly more rinsing. When my hair is short, I can wash it in a few seconds. With my hair below my shoulders, it can take more time to clean than an entire shower took with short hair.

Yeah, but the GP post was talking about body hair, which kind of puzzled me.

Maybe they were (implicitly) talking about shaving their body hair? I dunno - confusing.

Many years ago, at the end of a fifty mile race, I collected my bag and went to the locker room. When I got in, I guy was leaning against the wall, with the showerhead kind of over his shoulder (this was a junior high school). I undressed very slowly, for I was quite sore from the run. I took what I thought was a long shower, and then dressed very slowly and packed my stuff the same way. As I left the locker room, the guy was still leaning against the wall with water running over him. I didn't blame him.

You ran 50 miles in middle school??!!?

No, I ran 50 miles to middle school, or rather to a middle school. The 2024 JFK Memorial 50 Mile will finish at the Springfield Middle School in Williamsport, Maryland. I presume that it was the same school back then--I don't think Williamsport has the population for two middle schools.

I was 27, about twice the age I was when I finished 8th grade.

second this, it looks insane I can barely endure 3 minutes shower and my average is 40-50 seconds especially when it is -13 C outside

Shiiiiiitttttt! 30 minutes is a quick shower to me. Idk but I typically budget about an hour for a shower, then 20 to 30 to get ready. I figure most at the gym are just rinsing though.

How is that the best? To me the best custumer never even visits the gym, buys everything that is offered, and gives the business donations.