People who laugh at other people working out at the gym.
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Yesterday I was at the gym with my family. We usually work out 3-4 times a week.
While I was on the exercise bike, I could see these guys, 20 something guys doing weights. 2 ladies walk by. This one lady is quite fat with a huge 'bubble butt.'
One or two of the guys keep staring at her as she goes by and chortle and chuckle and make a bunch of rude comments back and forth.
I was so annoyed. I told my husband who felt the same way--we are all there to work out. At least this woman was trying to get healthy.
He said these guys will probably have beer guts by 30.
Anyhow, I think it's good to see all ages, races, and sizes working out.
Getting 'fit' is not just for 20 somethings or size 5s or marathon runners.
I don't see behavior like this where I work out. I doubt that anyone would last very long in a gym if that was how they acted.
I worked out at the same gym for over two decades. What used to get me mad were the big, hypermasculine dudes loudly making fun of the guys you could tell were Gay.
Well, over twenty or so years, you can hear a lot about a person, and watch his life unfold. Some of these guys who made fun of "The little F#gs" would get "excited" when they were in the shower alone with my Husband (who's 6'-3" and built). Other loud homophobes eventually made it with my Gay friends. One was caught by his wife with another dude. A friend who's a giant, hypermasculine/blond/bi-swinger/bodybuilder "had" several of the guys I'd heard practically screaming insults at Gay guys (they played the "passive role"). Another very loud Gay-hater was spotted at a Louisiana nudist colony, in a state of extreme "excitement", going into a trailer full of bisexual swingers. Later in the day, he was spotted in the woods, getting busy with a group of guys.
There was a Gay couple from out of state who'd use our gym every few months. One of them was a multi-title-holding bodybuilder (including Mr. (his state)), with an endowment so huge it was surreal. Over the years, my snoopy sources observed quite a few of the loud homophobes being mesmerized, in the showers, by Mr. (his state). They wanted him, bad. It took one of the most magnificent men on the planet to do it...but even the diehard Gay-haters betrayed a capacity for same-sex attraction. So, apparently, they hate Gays, but attraction to someone really, really, really hot does not count as Gay (you know, if he's butch and has a crewcut and all...) in some people's twisted little minds.
It is the fact that these guys were so loudly critical of others (often within earshot of their victims) which was what made their indiscretions noteworthy. In other words, that sort of gossip did not get repeated about guys who were considerate of others. It was the bullies whose missteps got broadcast.
Me, I'm a Gym Bunny who lifts for an hour a day, and does cardio for at least an hour (I'm on a machine while I type this...). I've lived this way since I was an uglier-than-Ugly-Betty 17-year-old. I go out of my way to make obese people feel welcome at the gym. Quite a few of the women are too embarrassed to get in the pool. I keep a huge navy blue terrycloth bathrobe in the car for just such occasions, and will send someone on staff out to fetch it, if that's what it takes to coax large new friends out into the pool (it's supremely important for very large people to do a lot of pool time, because it's a zero-impact exercise). These days, I can afford to just give them the robe (navy, of course, looks ritzy, and is flattering to wear), to ease their way from the locker room to pool's edge.
The gist of what I'm saying is that most gyms are for everybody, and people of all ages and levels of attractiveness should be made to feel comfortable in them. It's a moral obligation, I think, to at least be polite. It's a mitzvah, to go out of your way to make those who feel awkward feel at home there.
There are some gyms which are not for everybody. Hardcore gyms are for the big guys 'on the juice'. Powerlifting gyms are for Powerlifters. Gay gyms are probably not for "families". Women's gyms are for women. Society gyms (like the one that bypassed the long waiting list to let us in because we are minority but affluent and 'community-involved) are for a certain set. The fitness centers in big Baptist churches are probably not for atheist members of the ACLU. Your local JCC is probably not the place to work out, if....
But if someone is there in your gym, maybe feeling awkward, it's the least you can do, to be polite. If you're actively making fun of that awkward person, however, it means you're a bad person.
I'll never forget the kindness of the giant, kindly, beautiful blond guys in the Bodybuilding 101 class, when I was a new-on-campus 17-year-old. I was poor and hideous. They were from nice homes, and were gorgeous. They could have been snarky, or could have simply ignored me. They could have made fun of my future Husband, who was also in that class, and also hideous and poor. But they were sweet, and taught us more than did the coaches. Their kindness changed our lives. It was a blessing which costs me nothing to pass on to others.
Aside from the stereotyping muscular guys/gay thing, good post.... Weight lifting is a brotherhood and people are more than willing to bring others in, help them out, and even give advice on lifting.
Location: Everybody is going to hurt you, you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for-B Marley
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I work out at home now but I'm glad I never witnessed anything like that at a gym--ever. In fact, people were very helpful and really supported others who were in really bad shape for being there. If I worked there and heard such a thing going on, I'd tell them if you're going to make fun of people there to better themselves, leave and don't come back.
Yesterday I was at the gym with my family. We usually work out 3-4 times a week.
While I was on the exercise bike, I could see these guys, 20 something guys doing weights. 2 ladies walk by. This one lady is quite fat with a huge 'bubble butt.'
One or two of the guys keep staring at her as she goes by and chortle and chuckle and make a bunch of rude comments back and forth.
I was so annoyed. I told my husband who felt the same way--we are all there to work out. At least this woman was trying to get healthy.
He said these guys will probably have beer guts by 30.
Anyhow, I think it's good to see all ages, races, and sizes working out.
Getting 'fit' is not just for 20 somethings or size 5s or marathon runners.
Pity those clods, their mama's didn't raise 'em right
If it had been me, I would have walked over and said that to them too
Weight lifting is a brotherhood and people are more than willing to bring others in, help them out, and even give advice on lifting.
Just repped you for this, right on . At my gym, disrespect IS NOT tolerated. Violators will be banned and have their membership revoked on the spot. My gym would be considered a weightlifting gym but it has cardio equipment so it caters to all. My gym has local amateur bodybuilders and powerlifters who stop through and work out. Everyone feels at home in my gym.
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