Woman who lost nearly 800 pounds finally walked out of planet fitness. After 2 years, one visit pushed her too far: ‘I’ve never had to do that before’

A TikTok user who posts as Ronni (@ronni3.lo) said in a video that she cut a Planet Fitness workout short and left the gym for the first time in about two and a half years. On-screen text in the clip reads, “I had to cut my workout short At planet fitness.” The video had gained 137,400 views and almost 1,400 comments. She said the visit “really sent me” after what she described as a hard Monday.

Ronni said she went to the locker, got her things, and left before an argument started. “Today was the first time- I’ve been working out for about 2 and a half years- today was the first time that I had to cut my workout early and leave the gym,” she said. “And I’ve never had to do that before.”

She said she understands that it is a new calendar year and that people make New Year’s resolutions. She also said she has seen more people come in during January and that gyms get crowded later in the day when people get off work. Her complaint, she said, was gym etiquette.

Follow-up clip says machine hogging is not limited to January newcomers

Ronni said people take up several machines and then say they are using one that is empty. She described a seated press with nobody in it while someone sat and told her they were using it, even though they were on a barbell. “You cannot be in 2 places at once,” she said. “It is a Snapple Apple fact.”

She said the gym is not a lounge or a hangout spot. “From someone who’s lost almost 800 pounds, we are not here to play,” she said. “When I come to the gym, I’m here to do a job.” She added that anyone who wants a personal gym should buy equipment and work out at home.

Ronni said she will not return to the location she visited that day. She said the problem was not the staff. “It has everything to do with the etiquette of the people who go,” she said. She also said that once she felt the need to call on “the Most High God to really pull me back,” it was “definitely not worth it.”

In a second TikTok video with the caption “lol yall are hilarious,” she said she did not expect the first clip to bring so many comments about gym etiquette and being overstimulated. On-screen text read, “Planet fitness, January, And etiquette (pt. 2).” She said she was not trying to keep new people away from the gym. Gym etiquette debates have surfaced elsewhere, such as when a Texas woman says she was dress coded at Planet Fitness and then reveals the reason.

Ronni said that in November of 2022 her commute was longer than her workout. She said she was pre-diabetic, had gravely low vitamin D levels, and could not last more than 10 minutes on an elliptical or treadmill. She said she could not walk up a hill without feeling like she was going to die. A still photo she identified as herself at her heaviest appeared on screen. She said she went from about a size 20 to a size 14 and had to change everything because of an endocrine disorder.

She said her gripe is not only with new gym-goers. “This is also the gym bros too,” she said. She said they hog machines, act as if the gym revolves around them, bring friends, and treat the place like a club. She also named high school athletes and people who arrived on January 1st, plus people who sit on machines to text or watch Netflix and people who do not wipe machines when they get up.

Ronni said she went to her usual location around 7 o’clock the night after the first video and that it was not too bad. She told people who take their training seriously and practice gym etiquette to hang in there and support each other. “It’s gonna be a long month,” she said. For Planet Fitness, the complaints don’t stop at etiquette, as one member was charged $500 and the company refused to explain why.

Viewers described January crowds as a yearly pattern and shared how they handle busy gyms. One commenter wrote, “Babes these folks gon be gone quicker than you can blink. January is very annoying.” Another commenter pointed to timing and said the rush is familiar. They wrote, “Just give it a month. Been working out for 10 years. It’s the same every year, just go when it’s not peak hours.”

Several people focused on phones and unused equipment. One commenter wrote, “What gets on my nerves is the texting while holding up the machines.” Another said early mornings work better for them. They wrote, “I started going at 5 am. People at that time are taking care of business. I like it.”

One commenter said they would use an empty machine rather than wait. They wrote, “If you are not actually using the machine and it’s empty… Not asking you will just have yo wait until I finish.” Another commenter said they changed where they train. They wrote, “I started working out at home! I am more focused now.”