By Adam Urquhart | Monday, July 23, 2018
MERRIMACK – NASCAR driver Joey Logano joined Chris Rondeau, CEO of Planet Fitness, and other officials Saturday night for the grand opening of a new gym location.
Planet Fitness celebrated the opening of its new facility in Merrimack at 360 Daniel Webster Highway, #2, with a ribbon cutting ceremony followed by a party with Logano from 6-8 p.m., where he was available to sign autographs, take photos and help Planet Fitness present a $2,000 donation to the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua. Rondeau said this new facility is the seventh to open in New Hampshire, where the company founded.
“To have the support of all these different organizations, especially Planet Fitness, not just here locally but across the nation, means a lot to not just our club but Boys & Girls Clubs in general, because it takes a lot of community partners to make clubs happen,” Ashley Fudala, of Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua, said.
“I think it’s a great hole for us to fill for Planet,” Rondeau said. “We’re in Nashua, we’re in Manchester, and there’s a lot around, this is just one community that didn’t have us yet. So, it’s definitely good to bring Planet Fitness here.”
He also said 40 percent of their members haven’t been to a gym in their life prior to walking through the doors of a Planet Fitness location. Logano and several other participated in a shorter version of the PF Teen Summer challenge workout, which encourages teens 15 to 18 years old to sign up and workout for free at any Planet Fitness gym location in New Hampshire through Sept. 1. Rather than go for the full 30-minute workout, they were guided through a few exercises, including planking and high knees. Following that brief adrenaline-boosting warm-up, Logano made his way back toward the front of the gym to sign a locker for the gym, locker number 22, which is his cars number. He is in New Hampshire for a race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and said it’s definitely a great initiative to get teens into a gym and doing things over the summer.
“For me, working out, a lot of it’s obviously great for physical health, but I think even more it’s a mental health thing,” Logano said. “I know when I’m working out, I feel more confident in myself.”
This gym will offer teens and anyone else plenty of opportunity to work out and boost their confidence, as it featuring 19,000 square feet and 125 pieces of Life Fitness and Matrix cardio equipment, such as treadmills, arc trainers, stationary bikes, ellipticals and climb mills. It also features additional strength equipment, fully equipped spa-like locker rooms, tanning units and more. This Merrimack location is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and new members can join now for $1 down and $10 a month until Tuesday.
Founded in 1992 in Dover, Planet Fitness had approximately 11.8 million members and more than 1,565 stores in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, the Dominican Republic and Panama as of March 31.
