The Lunk Alarm, a term trademarked by Planet Fitness, is designed to promote an inclusive environment.  The specifications for sounding this alarm, however, target a certain group of individuals and subsequently take away from the “Judgement Free Zone” that Planet Fitness stands for.  In order for Planet Fitness to truly become a gym for all, the definition of a “Lunk” needs to change.

According to Planet Fitness, everyone should ”feel comfortable regardless of their fitness level,” but the Lunk Alarm is causing a certain group of people to feel targeted.  Although the main goal of the Lunk Alarm is to make the average person feel included, it often calls out and mocks experienced lifters who are just trying to get a workout in.  Employees are forced to kick out people who might unknowingly fall into just one of the categories that Planet Fitness has given to make one a “Lunk.” Even if they are not causing any harm, the employees must act on all “Lunk” activities because this is what corporate Planet Fitness has told them to do.  Employee Andrew Waley states that he sounds the alarm “six to ten times a day”, regardless of if he thinks they are hindering the “Judgement Free Zone”.  In addition, “there are many videos and complaints about how Planet Fitness treats those who lunk” (Harrison). This shows that Planet Fitness is not treating every member fairly regardless of their fitness level; they are targeting out people with unfair “lunk” qualities.  The Lunk Alarm causes unnecessary noise, stigmas, and treatment that take away from Planet Fitness’s philosophy.

     As of now, the definition of a Lunk, according to Planet Fitness, is a person who “grunts, wears a bodybuilding tank top, drinks out of a gallon water jug, or judges”.  The majority of these parameters serve no hindrance to the judgment-free philosophy of Planet Fitness and specifically targets bodybuilders and experienced lifters.  A great way to go about removing the stigma on bodybuilders at Planet Fitness is to remove the criterion that targets them and keep the specifications that keep judging away at Planet Fitness. The qualities of a Lunk that have to do with one's appearance or harmless actions such as wearing a tank top or grunting while completing a lift should be removed from Planet Fitness’s definition of a Lunk. Qualifications to induce the Lunk Alarm such as “Interruptive behavior, bullying or fighting, and not respecting others' space” should be kept and now become the spotlight in the definition of the Lunk Alarm because these actions pose a severe risk of damaging Planet Fitness’s inclusiveness policy.

Change the definition of the Lunk Alarm to read: "Lunk (lunk) n. [slang] one who judges, picks fights, or exhibits interruptive behavior."