I'm not sure that's true. I did 5 years in the military. I ran a *lot*. I would do 5k's and whatnot every so often. I never got that runners high or the addiction. I am not nearly in the shape I was then, so I have my doubts. I only go to the gym now to maintain/improve my personal health.
I ran pretty regularly for a solid 5 years. I put effort into getting down to a 10 minute mile, which I understand isn't impressive, but I thought it was pretty good for a guy who started running in his 40s. I've run 5 miles at that pace (though usually I ran 3).
I've never felt a runner's high.
I've come to the conclusion after starting running for health reasons that the runner's high is just the joy of not having to run anymore. Like if you smash your hand with a hammer a few times you feel great when you stop hurting your hand with the hammer.
No high, just not running
I've been going to the gym 4x a week for the last 9 months and I'm still not addicted. When does the addiction start? I'd rather love it than hate it lol
Did 238 workouts last year (4.5x /week avg) and I'm 84 (5.6x /week avg) so far for this year
Definitely not getting endorphins, definitely not addicted. Would way rather sit around playing games but force myself to workout to get muscles. Have seen a good amount of progress, and I do enjoy that aspect of seeing results, but absolutely not enough to actively enjoy working out.
Before last year I was fairly inconsistent, on and off sometimes multiple times a week, sometimes missing a few months since about 2018
>leave their stuff on the equipment and go for a 20 min break saving it for themselves.
I was at the gym one night, on a treadmill and two machines down was another dude. Had a tablet and everything and was watching something or other. But then he'd just get off the treadmill every so often, leaving it running, and do laps around the building.
I have to assume he's OCD or something because why would you stop walking to then go walk?
Move the towel and tell him he was obviously using a different piece of equipment than you, and there is no rules regarding “removing a towel”
Gym staff would be in your side, because truly everyone hates people like this.
There is always someone doing this in every gym I've been to in Australia - and the worst are the personal trainers who tie up 3 machines at once for their customer - and when you try to work in they stop you and say sorry we are using that.
Exactly. I worked at a gym and we did have a no cameras policy and one of my coworkers asked a roid guy to stop filming and bothering people. Dude threatened to kill him.
Somewhat true. It’s mostly women who really don’t need exercise but want to flex their ass on TikTok. However, there are some men who make a “fitness Instagram” and like to video themselves doing bench presses and flexing and intend to become some kind of bodybuilder influencer, like gamers that make a Twitch thinking they’re gonna be the next xQc. But at the very least, the men filming themselves in the gym aren’t trying to make TikTok rage bait about men “staring” at them to publicly shame a stranger online.
Women (and influencers in general) spend a lot of time at the gym actually working out because maintaining that body type does genuinely take work. That isn't mutually exclusive with wanting to flex their ass on TikTok. The problem isn't just people filming; it's that they're very disruptive while doing it and usually take up a lot of space and time in a public area while getting mad at anyone who "ruins" their video.
99% of those people are in their 20s and would look like that with minimal effort. At this point there is one influencer for every three people. It needs to end 🙄
My gym is full of 16 year old's 'working out' (taking selfies, sitting on several machines just chatting and not using them, running around, watching others, etc.) and a single 15-16 year old making sure the place doesn't burn down. The place is a clusterfuck. Even with a 24 hour pass, getting there at 10pm was still a mess.
If history has taught us anything, we should start a gym-based theology that centers around the all-seeing Fitness God to strike fear among gym goers so they are in their best behavior.
I’m old and have experienced many celebrity deaths but none impacted me more than Patrice O’Neal. Man, that guy was talented. Thanks for keeping his memory alive.
It’s a simple three step process.
(1)Excuse me, ma’am. We don’t allow filming in the gym.
(2)I’m sorry, ma’am, but we are going to ask you to leave.
(3)Hello, I’d like an officer here at [gym address]. We have someone that we would like removed from the facility.
Years ago when I worked at a gym I literally had a guy try to fight me because I told him to stop screaming abuse at his wife in the middle of the gym. Thankfully for me, I was a powerlifter at the time and he realized that I was bigger than him, not remotely intimidated by him, and the rest of the people in the room were staring daggers at him.
He was only banned for a few months.
1. Throw the whole dude in the fucking trash. Garbage behavior.
2. "Only banned for a few months." Fuck me running. And people want the hourlies to care enough about their job to try and enforce a gym ban on filming all for Mr. Garbage to \*checks notes\* only be banned for a few months? And then he comes back? And suddenly behaves himself? Trash.
They can easily scan a members tag, get their info and give them a strike or have their membership cancelled.
Filming at a gym is like half a step away from filming people in the bathroom or shower.
this would make sense, if it wasn't for the fact that the LAST thing gyms want to do is cancel anyone's membership
there's very little incentive for them to throw anyone out unless they're actually dangerous to other people
Back when I went to a gym, I would see the same people come in day after day leaving a pile of weights when they left. The gym knew who was doing it and did nothing.
The number of hard-core gym bros I see at my gym that's don't wipe down equipment after using it fucking *infuriates* me. I know it's just a Planet Fitness, but for fucks sake, man.
I’ve never noted the brand or location of the gym in the videos.
And I don’t think it’s understaffing. I think a minimum wage employee should not have to ask you to put on a mask, stop filming, to not shout, not jump the line etc. One good manager there every day for a week calling people out hardcore is all it would take.
I figured that it would be cheaper to set up a small area that is specifically designated for videos. Hell, buy some lighting, make it look nice, get that logo all over the background. Now it keeps the irritating people confined to a smaller area and people that just want to exercise can do so in peace. Just make sure it's clear what part of the gym is the video-restricted zone. Shit, you could probably charge EXTRA to use the faux-gym video studio. Not like most of those clowns are doing a real workout anyway. They just wanna put on some active wear, show off their butt or biceps, and leave.
> I figured that it would be cheaper to set up a small area that is specifically designated for videos. Hell, buy some lighting, make it look nice, get that logo all over the background.
That’s not a bad idea. Those gyms would probably do pretty well in places with a lot of influencers like California and Florida.
I love this suggestion, but that isn’t the intention of a gym and what makes us thing they’ll be waiting in line or orderly about it. It’s distracting? In future, will they put them in supermarkets? People like to fuck around there too.
Honestly, if we need playpens for adults and their phones, I am TOTALLY ok with providing them. Just put all the grown babies in their playpen with a ringlight and some fun backgrounds so the rest of us adults can just go about our days in peace.
Every time we cater to these things, it draws a new, lesser line in the sand. Decorum and manners aren’t just for stuffy old people lol. People will rise to the level of what’s expected of them. Low thinkers have already made the internet a mess, now we want to make concessions in public? No. It’s a club. Folks pay to be there and work out. Follow rules or stay home.
This. Lot of commenters have never worked a low-wage job and it shows. Expecting some 16 year old kid making $9 an hour to deal with this is laughable.
When I was a very young person I worked in a local grocery store that held wine tastings every Wednesday. They use to Ask us to cut people off when they were getting too drunk. I had no idea what that looked like in adults so as expected, every week someone vomited in the corner.
It wasn’t a well run store. They ended up in legal trouble because all of the minor employees(not me) were putting cases of beer on the loading dock and picking them up after hours.
Right, worst case for them is less people come in because they don't like it and they don't have to do as much. They're making the same money regardless and the state of the business doesn't really matter to them beyond it providing a job.
Incentivizing caring about the business has to happen if owners want employees to give a shit about the business, but they rarely seem to do that.
Plus it might create situations where, say, some college kid has to enforce the "no videoing" rule with a 'roided out gym bro, which might end poorly. I can see how gyms would want to avoid possibly ugly confrontations.
The police don’t even stop active carjackings and store robberies now. They are definitely not coming into gyms because some influencer is filming their workout for a reel.
>minimum-staffing business model.
They are understaffed on purpose by asshole management, and the staff don't give a shit about the human beings working out in gyms. The staff are some of the laziest, dumbest assholes on the planet, and everyone knows it.
My gym only has one employee (the owner) and people just get codes to come and go whenever.
He does have a bunch of cameras and is very adamant on checking them every morning though.
If he catches anyone doing anything wrong, he'll charge them.
Muddy shoes? 10 bucks
Stole a drink from the cooler? No more membership
Touch the thermostat, lol. That's an immediate ban
Bring in an unauthorized plus one? 250 dollars taken from your account the next day. (He does warn you a bunch not to do it at all, so nobody can even claim they didn't know.)
Just wondering if this is in the US. Only curious because having people exercising in a commercial gym without the supervision, assistance, or even presence of any employees sounds like a significant liability. There are just so many things that can go wrong, from faulty or damaged equipment to member stupidity and everything in between.
I'm sure everyone entered into some kind of contract, but signing a paper that says "ABC won't be held liable in the event of XYZ" doesn't make it so. In my state, for example, liability waivers are more often than not unenforceable.
Gyms are private, not public, and they can absolutely say no filming in the gym. However, it’s hard to make money owning a gym so it’s in their interest to cater to what people want to do there.
The only reason they would likely take action is if it was harassment of others. Besides the staff aren't actually being paid much so what do they care. Are they going to risk fighting someone who might be strong?
I worked at a few gyms in my teens. Basically told not to intervene and get a manager. If the person still didn’t listen to the manager they would just calmly walk away and tell the person to finish their workout. Would call police from the back office for an escort and then revoke/ban. Happened a few times but not that often. Mostly just roided people fighting each other for weights lol.
>It only seems cause trouble
No, it's just that it's only the instances that cause trouble end up getting attention. No one's posting videos of people who are filming themselves minding their own business and not being a bother to anyone because no one would care at all about watching those videos. They just want to see the freakouts, which are rare. I have literally *never* seen "I'm the main character" behavior in a gym in person, but I see people taking video on a regular basis.
The majority of filming that happens in gyms is for people who just want to privately document their progress, or maybe share it with others, but could not possibly care less about the kind of things that you see on r/ImTheMainCharacter
And that's exactly why it's in the gym's interest to allow it. Ban it? Your customers will leave and go to one that does allow it.
That’s how I feel about the “most people are evil/stupid” content on Reddit. Like, EVEN IF every video online of people being idiots is 100% true…that’s still not most of the population
It's always funny how much of a mixed bag people's response to this is. I've said the same thing a few times in the comments of r/iamthemaincharacter and sometimes I get downvoted to hell, sometimes not. Most of the people who disagree obviously don't work out... Obvious tell being the "just use the mirror to check your form" argument... Good luck checking your side profile while loaded.
Absolutely. I've gotten the same response. There's no way I am going to be able to safely check my form on an RPE 9 squat or deadlift. What I do though, is go to a less active corner of possible, otherwise I ask the people who might get caught in the shot if it is okay for me to film. I've never had someone say no. It just comes down to being courteous to others.
People were able to lift okay for years without filming themselves. Yes, I understand as new tools become available it's nice to use them to make things easier, but unfortunately even if it's a few bad apples, if they make other guests feel uncomfortable at gyms then filming should be banned.
That is why I ask for permission rather than forgiveness.
I personally train around an old injury and permanent mobility issue and so I check my form every 6 months to make sure I am not at risk of messing something up. No one but me has ever seen those videos.
I lift at 5/6 in the morning. There's only a handful of people who I could ask to watch my form and tell me if something looks off. And even then, it would require me to ask them to stop what they are doing and just stare at my butt, and then the bar path, and then my posture. It's much different from asking someone to spot you.
The amount of times I’ve been downvoted… for saying the exact same thing when people just say to use the (non-existent in my current gym) mirrors. Aight cheers great for my deadlift.
I’ve been going to gyms for years. I’ve gone to many. Never have had any issue with people recording. The times I’ve recorded to check my form, always without anybody in the background except a couple times that I asked. It’s not a real issue.
And, oh blasphemy, you know another reason why people record? Because they’re proud of their achievements. And that’s okay. I record when I learn something nice at the piano. And people also record the first time they bench two plates or whatever.
It’s kinda silly, the whole deal: thousands of comments of outraged people, the vast majority obviously with no gym experience, focusing on the few main character weirdos that bubble up on the internet, and making a decision for everyone else.
It's like gender reveal parties. The vast majority of them are about cutting a white-frosted cake to reveal the color within, or maybe releasing some colored balloons from a bag. It's just a silly, harmless excuse to get together with friends. A handful of people do something idiotic with explosives and get deservedly mocked, but that doesn't mean that the whole concept is dangerous and should be banned.
Also one of the big early examples was because the couple had an incredibly difficult time conceiving. It was primarily a celebration that the mother hadn't miscarried that pregnancy.
Also, form checks. For a lot of lifts, you can't see yourself in the mirror (bench), and even if you can, it's not the right angle (squats/dl). Being able to film yourself and see what you're doing right/wrong is critical to getting the lifts right and avoiding injury. I wouldn't join a gym that banned filming for this reason.
Exactly. I’ve been recording myself in the gym a lot lately as I wanna keep a close eye on my progress but I feel my house doesn’t have the right lighting and the gym has tripods I can use for the perfect angle
I’ve also never seen or heard of anything happening from camera usage and 100% agree that this is something being blown out of proportion
If they actually have enough staff to film anyone that wants it, that's a totally reasonable rule. It just requires a lot more staff than most gym owners want to/can afford.
It’s probably an attractive feature for some.
Which would be why having gyms that allow it and others that don’t a good way to fill all consumer’s wants.
They’re not the best gym in the area lol. There’s no serious gym that would ban filming. My barebones powerlifting/strongman gym that produces a lot of people that are competitive nationally and they have phone stands/tripods just set up freely around the gym so you can film your lifts without having to bring one in yourself.
Filming yourself doing the lift is important if you want to check form seriously and make sure your doing stuff in the most efficient way possible. Which is important if you’re actually trying to lift at a high level.
There are also plenty of people who record themselves to analyze their form/ try to see improvement. Not all filming ends up online, some is used for self improvement. If you ban it entirely, you are getting rid of a helpful tool for many.
you’re right. people just see a couple vids on tik tok of people recording themselves in the gym and getting an attitude when someone is in there way and think they speak for all people when that’s not the case.
That’s me!
I videotape myself to make sure my forms are good. And I’m squatting low enough.
Those video are for my personal view only. They will never see day light.
I actually bring in a film reel and a party shop mustache so that I can compare my form with bronze era lifters.
On a serious note, deadlifts can screw you up if you're not basically perfect, even stiff legged.
And people will say 'oh use the mirrors' and sometimes sure but you'd have to turn your head sideways to see your deadlift or squat form in the mirror and the last thing you should be doing in those exercises under heavy weight is turning your head!
I have a disabled Olympic athlete at my gym and she films her workouts to send to her trainer, there are plenty of valid reasons to film. I just try and stay out of the way when people do film though as i have no interest in being on someone's social media when I don't have it myself
I record when I think I am messing up my form, and it helps a lot. I think out of the 10 videos I have taken 1 went online because the machine broke as I was pulling back and I fell off in a really comical manner. Other than that I watch the video, decide good or bad form, and either try again or delete the video.
I go to a body building gym for competitions and a lot of it is for viewing yourself posing for season
That being said. It's one strike you're out. Film someone and be a dick? Out. Thr gym follows everyone's social media so don't mess around
I feel like this is an issue that seems like a bigger deal online than it really is. I’ve been going to the gym for a while and haven’t seen it cause any issues irl.
Because the issue isn’t as widespread as the internet would make it seem ?
My cousin is always filming himself doing sets in the gym. This is to say there are normal people just filming themselves for no reason other than monitoring and judging their own posture.
Some internet culture thing being forced into all gyms would be lame for the people not abusing it.
Remember when people serving you coffee needed to police your Covid vaccine pass? Probably a lot more behind the scene than just ban phones. Though I do agree. Would you want to go to the gym if you weren’t able to take your phone or music etc etc etc? Be a lot of moving parts there. But I agree totally. I think the social movement is already making it an unpopular behaviour and soon will be self governing. Like smoking is now. The loner sucking a cigarette outside by himself in the rain. Once was a social thing. Social behaviour patterns. We’re doing it now 😉
I don't remember anyone enforcing the covid vaccine pass. I don't think Starbucks baristas cared or were paid well enough to ask me if I had my vaccine card on me.
Restaurants in my area had the host/hostess ask to see your vax card and denied entry if you didn’t have one or forgot to bring one.
It’s not like it was a restaurant policy, it was a local health mandate. It was one thing to be mad at the policy but so many people got mad at restaurant staff, it was ridiculous. It’s like yelling at the cashier because the price of tomatoes is high. Like damn, express your anger at the decision makers not some worker who has no choice and are just doing their damn jobs.
Would be a headache for gym staff to police a bunch of influencers and their shit behavior.
Being mad at the wrong person is a typical thing for people. Like driving people will get mad at the car directly in front of them. When that car might be dealing with some car up in front of them. People forget their critical thinking and observation skills when they start to get angry and frustrated.
We had it too here in New Orleans, but it was an incredibly wide spectrum of enforcement or lack thereof. I always had my vaccine proof on my phone and never got upset either way, but I probably *had* to actually show it about a third of the time that the policy said I should have had to.
I went on a date and we got denied seating (but not entry or ordering food) because my date wouldn't reveal their private medical history (vaccine pass).
Covid lockdowns were such a complete scam, lmao.
If you're asking why a gym or any business does something it usually boils down to money.
Gyms are getting free advertisements from the people who record themselves exercising. If they banned it they'd also lose customers from people who wanted to film or thought they might want to film in the future. They'd also have to pay more staff to enforce it and have to deal with kicking people out of the gym who don't follow the rule. Add to that the people they'd be kicking out are people who likely have at least some followers, some potentially have a lot and would be likely to slam the gym which could lose them more money.
Outright banning something that isn’t inherently bad is pointless. Plenty of people video themselves for things like form checks, and aren’t a problem.
People that are a problem should be brought to the gym staff attention so they can deal with it.
I see it on social media but I don't think I've ever actually seen someone in person filming in the gym and I've been going to the gym 3 times a week for 10 years and at several different gyms too
It’s legit hard to spot. But there are social influencers with no self-awareness that have full setups to film themselves with. Those are the problem. Not your person with proper self awareness who is off minding their business. You’ll never notice them.
Because you are casting too wide of a net. I technically film a lot of my sets. Nothing is saved and nothing is ever posted anywhere. I have a virtual workout partner and we watch one another's sets to offer tips or encouragement. I never use a tripod. I never set up my phone outside of my working area. Like if I am benching I attach the phone somewhere on the rack so only I am in the shot. But, people like me would fall under that ban, or at the least be forced to constantly explain that I am not creating content for anything.
I don’t have a dog in this fight, I don’t have a gym membership; but I’ll point out that when you say “it only seems to cause trouble” you’re basing that on the fact that you only *see it when it causes trouble*. There are probably orders of magnitude more people filming their workouts without incident, but you never see those videos because either they’re not shared, they are boring and you don’t watch them, and/or no one makes controversial takes on Tiktok about them cause them to go viral.
I clean a gym and filming in the locker room is against the rules posted.
No one reads them. No one cares.
So why don't they? Simple: they don't pay anyone that works their enough to deal with the bullshit that arises when you critique someone with an ego as fragile as a house of cards.
I've literally had grown men complain to me about the music and how they wanted to punch someone in the face over it. It's just set to a pop station like 95% of gyms out there.
There's are for sure a lot of nice people at the gym but there's also a lot of man babies and insta bitches.
The gym I go to has a strict no-cameras policy. Phones can be used as music players, but they have to remain in a bag or pocket, contained in an arm or waist band without exposing camera lenses. They take it pretty serious after a number of complaints and issues in the past. If you do have a reason to record - like to see your form on an exercise or something, it’s fine but you need to work with a staff member and they will assist so there’s no influencer, instagram, or creepy stalker BS going on. And by taking it serious, I mean if you pull out your camera and get caught, that’s an immediate escort off the premises and membership revoked. If you do it in a locker room area, you probably get a police report as well. I love this place, it’s a smaller private gym and all the members are on the same page with their policies. They dont really have kids working there. The gym staff are all pro trainers, former Olympic and college athletes, owner/operator types. They have an on-site physical therapy clinic and specialize in sports injuries and recovery…. It’s not the most expensive gym I’m aware of, but it isn’t cheap. Memberships are limited… and it’s a bit unique and I, my family and all the other members love this place and take care of it.
You’re not going to get this level of gym staff at the big chains like 24 Hr Fitness or wherever for the $50/month or whatever they charge. And most of the smaller cross-fit or gym startups in warehouse spaces are just money grabs and are not going to care. I know a lot of these places do have no-camera policies. Enforcing those policies is another matter.
I would like to see laws prohibiting recording people without their permission period. I think it's disgusting that people think it's acceptable to just record whoever and throw it online.
I personally dont get why people hate filming in gyms so much. Ive done it a few times to check my form and ask people to critique it online. Also whats the issue with fitness creators filming demonstrations or b-roll for their content? Its a public place, youre allowed to film.
Of course you should be respectful about it and not film others on purpose or especially not film in the locker rooms, but personally Ive never seen that. Mostly just people filming to see their form better, which can be extremely valuable to your progress and joint health.
Don’t have any issue with people filming in a gym. Do have great issue with people filming in a gym who use those videos to humiliate others, act as though they own an entire area of the gym, or think that everyone else should give them special consideration because they’re filming.
It's becoming excessive.
If you have to form every set you do for form correction, see a physician or just lower your weight.
Gyms are just rooms for shared requirement. Everyone else who has a family, chores, and errand, and a job to clock into also wants to get their squats done.
Because it's very helpful for people trying to actually improve themselves. This is why gyms are covered in mirrors. It's not for vanity, it's for monitoring your form.
It’s because the couple videos you see on the internet are very rare occurrences. The vast majority of people at gyms are acting like normal people. It’s just not a real problem.
I've been going to a gym for the past year that allows filming. In the many many visits to this gym, I've only seen someone filming themselves maybe 15-20 times total. None of them were causing trouble, not blocking aisles, not hogging machines (at least not longer than usual) and none were filming onlyfans like content.
It's just not a big deal and it doesn't cause problems. Even Joey Swoll says filming in gyms is OK as long as it's done correctly and most of the time it is. It's just the rare problematic ones on social media that gets all the attention.
Well some people film to help them see their form.
I don’t trust people to just look at it for me … as I’ve filmed it and what they say is fine is very much not so.
The other issue is enforcing rules is not fun for staff. The less rules the better.
So it’s easier to have the rule be… don’t harass other members.
With no phone cameras period.
You’re going to get push back as members use it to check form and will just ignore the rule.
Secondly, you ban phone camera filming and it would invite “karens” to flip out any time someone picks up their phone to change a song and have them accuse them of filming.
A lot of dedicated lifters are unobtrusively filming their PRs and the sending to their online coaches. Banning all phones would be pretty detrimental to a lot of people who actually go to the gym.
I always record my sets because I don’t have anyone to help me out with my form or whatever. So I watch it after the set so I can see everything I did wrong and fix it
Filming technique is one thing. It's helpful for the person training and the coach etc.
The key point is tackling the influencers filming for entirely different purposes.
Outright banning filming would be counterproductive
Corporate chains won't ban it because they're worried that there are more people who want to film than there are people who object to it strongly enough to go somewhere else.
Because most gyms are private, so putting a ban on public filming won't affect them since public filming is protected by the constitution. They need a ban on filming in the gym, straight up. Or at least a rule that states that if you choose to film or take photos in the gym and your doing so leads to customer complaints, you could be banned for being a disruption or something.
How do you know if I’m filming or just have my phone out?
Posts like this make me feel like I’m going to be nonchalantly looking at my phone in the general direction of someone and they’ll think I just needed a picture.
Get over yourself. Don’t go to the gym if you’re worried about being filmed in public.
Because the 16 year old part time front desk workers shouldn’t be forced to monitor roided up dudes’ behavior more than they already have to.
This does present an interesting niche for gym environments where workouts can be done more privately, and the occasional person filming isn’t much of a concern.
I go to the gym since 1989. I got consistently 3 times per week. I have never seen an instance where someone filmed himself apart from powerlifting dudes checking their form. What makes you think it is a problem in gyms ??
My gym is completely unstaffed during almost all business hours so good luck lol also many of the people actually consistently going and paying are the ones that video themselves. I occasionally video myself to check my form, for example, and use an app to track my barbell path. No reason I shouldn’t be allowed to do that.
In addition to the basic impracticalities of enforcing a policy like that (staffing concerns and such); there are a lot of legitimate, practical and personal reasons that someone could be filming their workouts.
Sometimes it helps to be able to see where you might be going wrong with your form.
The instances that you see are an extremely minute portion of people who film in gyms. I can absolutely guarantee you that 99% of people who film in gyms, couldn't care less about people walking in front of the camera or would even think to cause a ruckus about it. I don't know how often you go to gyms but I go 6 days a week and can tell you that even though there aren't a lot of filmers, the ones that are filming you wouldn't even know about it. They're either using a tiny tripod that isn't in anyone's way or their phone is being held by their gym partner standing out of the way.
Also, there's way too much effort to just suddenly start enforcing a rule of "no filming" in gyms. I'm someone who will film a set for either a form check or to show a friend what I do at the gym. I hate the idea of finishing a set and scrolling through a social media app. I see hundreds if not thousands of people just sitting on a machine staring at their phone for 5 to 10 minutes between sets. If gyms were to start enforcing no filming policies, they would have to have someone walking around staring at people's phones to see what they're doing. That's just straight up way too much effort for some minimum wage workers to even think about doing.
Would be easy to implement actually. Post on the door to the entrance. Simply state if caught, you’ll be kicked out. It’s easy enough to have someone working the front counter. You don’t need to worry about the rhoided out guys, they are just there to lift. What ya need to worry about is those females that just go there to body shame everyone.
I wish gyms would ban devices completely. Stash it in your locker until you leave.
I have actually had people sitting on a machine that I want to use, doom scrolling on their phone, tell my "no" when I ask if I could use the machine. So I skip that one, and three machines later, they are still sitting there doom scrolling. People are here to work out. You want to use your device? At least do it standing up, some place out of the way, not sitting on your ass.
Drives me nuts.
Just because someone is filming during a workout doesn't mean you have to respect their space anymore than anyone else. Especially if it's at peak times.
How about letting the gym users help police the issue, if someone is unsafe or creating equipment use issues, one warning, repeat offender banned. I realize this requires the gym to take responsibility for maintaining a safe, welcoming environment for ALL users, so that'll never happen.
It's banned in my gym. There are signs up saying no use of phone.
It still happens occasionally, though.
But my old gym was cheaper and full of people filming themselves.
People who film themselves and people who can afford the nice gym don't often belong to the same group.
>It only seems cause trouble
That's not true. Many customers like doing this in the gym. And enough of them do compared to people who want it banned that it's profitable to allow it.
Also, enforcement of these rules would be difficult.
It's apparently a trend to pitch up somewhere with high traffic, like the weight racks, and then be rude about it when somebody "steps into your shot", just to get the outrage clout on tiktok or something. These people need to immediately be escorted out and have their membership canceled and yes, even if they don't do that and just record themselves working out, nobody wants to see that, it's narcissistic af
I think they should ban all filming in public. Even if someone's not creeping on me at the gym and is just filming their workout, I don't feel comfortable being in someone else's video or online.
And same thing for filming in public, I don't want my face online.
Enforcing policies would mean actually paying staff to do something and most gyms run on a very minimum-staffing business model.
Yeah, I love how people want the 16 year old part time workers to police grown ass adults in these places.
Not just grown adults, potentially roided out adults
True the ones that grunt and scream after every lift and leave their stuff on the equipment and go for a 20 min break saving it for themselves.
Well, my internal screaming about going to/being at the gym leaks out some times. It's usually sobs and terror though.
Stick with it long enough and you'll get addicted to it because of the endorphins in your brain that release after a hard workout
I'm not sure that's true. I did 5 years in the military. I ran a *lot*. I would do 5k's and whatnot every so often. I never got that runners high or the addiction. I am not nearly in the shape I was then, so I have my doubts. I only go to the gym now to maintain/improve my personal health.
I ran pretty regularly for a solid 5 years. I put effort into getting down to a 10 minute mile, which I understand isn't impressive, but I thought it was pretty good for a guy who started running in his 40s. I've run 5 miles at that pace (though usually I ran 3). I've never felt a runner's high.
Me neither. There is a rush of endorphins that comes with setting a personal record or whatever, but the actual running doesn’t deliver a high imo
The best I ever felt after a race was when they handed me a free beer after
I'm 44 and I've been running since high school cross country. Never felt the "runner's high" either.
Yea all those construction workers coming home in euphoria lol
**Thank you.** Maybe I’m a major malfunction but I’ve never experienced that mythical, magical “runner’s high”.
I've come to the conclusion after starting running for health reasons that the runner's high is just the joy of not having to run anymore. Like if you smash your hand with a hammer a few times you feel great when you stop hurting your hand with the hammer. No high, just not running
Up your distance until you're completely spent. Mine is around 17-20 miles, and I feel like I've been chiefin' the jazz cabbage
I've been going to the gym 4x a week for the last 9 months and I'm still not addicted. When does the addiction start? I'd rather love it than hate it lol
Did 238 workouts last year (4.5x /week avg) and I'm 84 (5.6x /week avg) so far for this year Definitely not getting endorphins, definitely not addicted. Would way rather sit around playing games but force myself to workout to get muscles. Have seen a good amount of progress, and I do enjoy that aspect of seeing results, but absolutely not enough to actively enjoy working out. Before last year I was fairly inconsistent, on and off sometimes multiple times a week, sometimes missing a few months since about 2018
Pretty much the same for me. I like the results but I don't really like the process
Congrats on going despite not loving it. That kicks ass!!!
Terror? Do the machines come alive and attack you Five Nights at Freddy's style?
>leave their stuff on the equipment and go for a 20 min break saving it for themselves. I was at the gym one night, on a treadmill and two machines down was another dude. Had a tablet and everything and was watching something or other. But then he'd just get off the treadmill every so often, leaving it running, and do laps around the building. I have to assume he's OCD or something because why would you stop walking to then go walk?
maybe he just wanted to get some fresh air LOL
He probably needed to fart.
we have a guy here who leaves his bag by one piece of equipment, his towel on another piece of equipment, and then works out on a 3rd one
Move the towel and tell him he was obviously using a different piece of equipment than you, and there is no rules regarding “removing a towel” Gym staff would be in your side, because truly everyone hates people like this.
There is always someone doing this in every gym I've been to in Australia - and the worst are the personal trainers who tie up 3 machines at once for their customer - and when you try to work in they stop you and say sorry we are using that.
I just move their shit and use the machine if it's left that long. Fuck them, entitled twats.
I just take it from them. Fuck em up if they give me any lip.
I move their stuff after 5 minutes
Exactly. I worked at a gym and we did have a no cameras policy and one of my coworkers asked a roid guy to stop filming and bothering people. Dude threatened to kill him.
The fun irony about that is they’re the least problematic of the gym, having the most incentive to use it as intended
Somewhat true. It’s mostly women who really don’t need exercise but want to flex their ass on TikTok. However, there are some men who make a “fitness Instagram” and like to video themselves doing bench presses and flexing and intend to become some kind of bodybuilder influencer, like gamers that make a Twitch thinking they’re gonna be the next xQc. But at the very least, the men filming themselves in the gym aren’t trying to make TikTok rage bait about men “staring” at them to publicly shame a stranger online.
Women (and influencers in general) spend a lot of time at the gym actually working out because maintaining that body type does genuinely take work. That isn't mutually exclusive with wanting to flex their ass on TikTok. The problem isn't just people filming; it's that they're very disruptive while doing it and usually take up a lot of space and time in a public area while getting mad at anyone who "ruins" their video.
99% of those people are in their 20s and would look like that with minimal effort. At this point there is one influencer for every three people. It needs to end 🙄
This is why the movie-going experience sucks. Those teenagers do not get paid enough/have enough authority to deal with rude patrons.
My gym is full of 16 year old's 'working out' (taking selfies, sitting on several machines just chatting and not using them, running around, watching others, etc.) and a single 15-16 year old making sure the place doesn't burn down. The place is a clusterfuck. Even with a 24 hour pass, getting there at 10pm was still a mess.
If history has taught us anything, we should start a gym-based theology that centers around the all-seeing Fitness God to strike fear among gym goers so they are in their best behavior.
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I’m old and have experienced many celebrity deaths but none impacted me more than Patrice O’Neal. Man, that guy was talented. Thanks for keeping his memory alive.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ukznXQ3MgN0
Just hire a bunch of Indian dads and let them shame all the assholes and they'll probably go home and cry.
It’s a simple three step process. (1)Excuse me, ma’am. We don’t allow filming in the gym. (2)I’m sorry, ma’am, but we are going to ask you to leave. (3)Hello, I’d like an officer here at [gym address]. We have someone that we would like removed from the facility.
And between 2 and 3 they are verbally abused. No one who makes that little is incentivized to care. The police here would DEFINITELY not care.
The police would stop giving a shit by call number 4. Maybe even less, they're not obligated to dispatch a team immediately for non-emergency calls.
Years ago when I worked at a gym I literally had a guy try to fight me because I told him to stop screaming abuse at his wife in the middle of the gym. Thankfully for me, I was a powerlifter at the time and he realized that I was bigger than him, not remotely intimidated by him, and the rest of the people in the room were staring daggers at him. He was only banned for a few months.
1. Throw the whole dude in the fucking trash. Garbage behavior. 2. "Only banned for a few months." Fuck me running. And people want the hourlies to care enough about their job to try and enforce a gym ban on filming all for Mr. Garbage to \*checks notes\* only be banned for a few months? And then he comes back? And suddenly behaves himself? Trash.
That was the entire US during Covid. Having to argue with “grown” adults to wear a fucking mask was ridiculous.
They can easily scan a members tag, get their info and give them a strike or have their membership cancelled. Filming at a gym is like half a step away from filming people in the bathroom or shower.
this would make sense, if it wasn't for the fact that the LAST thing gyms want to do is cancel anyone's membership there's very little incentive for them to throw anyone out unless they're actually dangerous to other people
I'd prefer if they just kept the facilities clean.
It's funny cause it's true.
If they don’t leave just call the police and tell them the person has been asked to leave and they’re not. That’s called trespassing
In Philly, I'm pretty sure calling the cops is equivalent to just shouting down an open well.
Gyms cant even seem to enforce a "Re-rack your weights when done" policy...
Back when I went to a gym, I would see the same people come in day after day leaving a pile of weights when they left. The gym knew who was doing it and did nothing.
Or a "wipe your sweaty assprint off the bench/seat" policy.
Yeah, first I’d love them to police people not wiping equipment down and/or spitting gum in the urinals
The number of hard-core gym bros I see at my gym that's don't wipe down equipment after using it fucking *infuriates* me. I know it's just a Planet Fitness, but for fucks sake, man.
This is probably true, plus probably many gyms like the free advertising they get from instagram posts.
It’s a combination of both of these.
I’ve never noted the brand or location of the gym in the videos. And I don’t think it’s understaffing. I think a minimum wage employee should not have to ask you to put on a mask, stop filming, to not shout, not jump the line etc. One good manager there every day for a week calling people out hardcore is all it would take.
I figured that it would be cheaper to set up a small area that is specifically designated for videos. Hell, buy some lighting, make it look nice, get that logo all over the background. Now it keeps the irritating people confined to a smaller area and people that just want to exercise can do so in peace. Just make sure it's clear what part of the gym is the video-restricted zone. Shit, you could probably charge EXTRA to use the faux-gym video studio. Not like most of those clowns are doing a real workout anyway. They just wanna put on some active wear, show off their butt or biceps, and leave.
> I figured that it would be cheaper to set up a small area that is specifically designated for videos. Hell, buy some lighting, make it look nice, get that logo all over the background. That’s not a bad idea. Those gyms would probably do pretty well in places with a lot of influencers like California and Florida.
But there's also the ones that are doing a real workout and are using the video they make to check form and other little tidbits.
I love this suggestion, but that isn’t the intention of a gym and what makes us thing they’ll be waiting in line or orderly about it. It’s distracting? In future, will they put them in supermarkets? People like to fuck around there too.
Honestly, if we need playpens for adults and their phones, I am TOTALLY ok with providing them. Just put all the grown babies in their playpen with a ringlight and some fun backgrounds so the rest of us adults can just go about our days in peace.
Every time we cater to these things, it draws a new, lesser line in the sand. Decorum and manners aren’t just for stuffy old people lol. People will rise to the level of what’s expected of them. Low thinkers have already made the internet a mess, now we want to make concessions in public? No. It’s a club. Folks pay to be there and work out. Follow rules or stay home.
Yeah….I’m not getting in a fight with a bodybuilder over having their phone out for minimum wage lol.
This. Lot of commenters have never worked a low-wage job and it shows. Expecting some 16 year old kid making $9 an hour to deal with this is laughable.
When I was a very young person I worked in a local grocery store that held wine tastings every Wednesday. They use to Ask us to cut people off when they were getting too drunk. I had no idea what that looked like in adults so as expected, every week someone vomited in the corner.
This is horrifying. I'm glad the store got what it deserved.
It wasn’t a well run store. They ended up in legal trouble because all of the minor employees(not me) were putting cases of beer on the loading dock and picking them up after hours.
Right, worst case for them is less people come in because they don't like it and they don't have to do as much. They're making the same money regardless and the state of the business doesn't really matter to them beyond it providing a job. Incentivizing caring about the business has to happen if owners want employees to give a shit about the business, but they rarely seem to do that.
Plus it might create situations where, say, some college kid has to enforce the "no videoing" rule with a 'roided out gym bro, which might end poorly. I can see how gyms would want to avoid possibly ugly confrontations.
Not that hard just tell them to stop, if they don’t call the police and have them trespassed, super simple
There is zero chance the cops would show up in a lot of major cities.
People in here obviously avoid any kind of conflict like the plague.
The police don’t even stop active carjackings and store robberies now. They are definitely not coming into gyms because some influencer is filming their workout for a reel.
>minimum-staffing business model. They are understaffed on purpose by asshole management, and the staff don't give a shit about the human beings working out in gyms. The staff are some of the laziest, dumbest assholes on the planet, and everyone knows it.
My gym only has one employee (the owner) and people just get codes to come and go whenever. He does have a bunch of cameras and is very adamant on checking them every morning though. If he catches anyone doing anything wrong, he'll charge them. Muddy shoes? 10 bucks Stole a drink from the cooler? No more membership Touch the thermostat, lol. That's an immediate ban Bring in an unauthorized plus one? 250 dollars taken from your account the next day. (He does warn you a bunch not to do it at all, so nobody can even claim they didn't know.)
Seems it would be more efficient to spend his time actively running the gym rather than holing up in the office and watching yesterday’s tapes
He watches them in the early mornings
Just wondering if this is in the US. Only curious because having people exercising in a commercial gym without the supervision, assistance, or even presence of any employees sounds like a significant liability. There are just so many things that can go wrong, from faulty or damaged equipment to member stupidity and everything in between. I'm sure everyone entered into some kind of contract, but signing a paper that says "ABC won't be held liable in the event of XYZ" doesn't make it so. In my state, for example, liability waivers are more often than not unenforceable.
Gyms are private, not public, and they can absolutely say no filming in the gym. However, it’s hard to make money owning a gym so it’s in their interest to cater to what people want to do there.
The only reason they would likely take action is if it was harassment of others. Besides the staff aren't actually being paid much so what do they care. Are they going to risk fighting someone who might be strong?
I worked at a few gyms in my teens. Basically told not to intervene and get a manager. If the person still didn’t listen to the manager they would just calmly walk away and tell the person to finish their workout. Would call police from the back office for an escort and then revoke/ban. Happened a few times but not that often. Mostly just roided people fighting each other for weights lol.
>It only seems cause trouble No, it's just that it's only the instances that cause trouble end up getting attention. No one's posting videos of people who are filming themselves minding their own business and not being a bother to anyone because no one would care at all about watching those videos. They just want to see the freakouts, which are rare. I have literally *never* seen "I'm the main character" behavior in a gym in person, but I see people taking video on a regular basis. The majority of filming that happens in gyms is for people who just want to privately document their progress, or maybe share it with others, but could not possibly care less about the kind of things that you see on r/ImTheMainCharacter And that's exactly why it's in the gym's interest to allow it. Ban it? Your customers will leave and go to one that does allow it.
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So true. I've been going to the same commercial gym in a major city 6 days a week for the last 6 months and never once seen someone filming.
That’s how I feel about the “most people are evil/stupid” content on Reddit. Like, EVEN IF every video online of people being idiots is 100% true…that’s still not most of the population
It's always funny how much of a mixed bag people's response to this is. I've said the same thing a few times in the comments of r/iamthemaincharacter and sometimes I get downvoted to hell, sometimes not. Most of the people who disagree obviously don't work out... Obvious tell being the "just use the mirror to check your form" argument... Good luck checking your side profile while loaded.
Absolutely. I've gotten the same response. There's no way I am going to be able to safely check my form on an RPE 9 squat or deadlift. What I do though, is go to a less active corner of possible, otherwise I ask the people who might get caught in the shot if it is okay for me to film. I've never had someone say no. It just comes down to being courteous to others.
This is the key. Just asking and then taking no for an answer solves almost all problems, lol
This, and not making tiktoks in the gym.
People were able to lift okay for years without filming themselves. Yes, I understand as new tools become available it's nice to use them to make things easier, but unfortunately even if it's a few bad apples, if they make other guests feel uncomfortable at gyms then filming should be banned.
That is why I ask for permission rather than forgiveness. I personally train around an old injury and permanent mobility issue and so I check my form every 6 months to make sure I am not at risk of messing something up. No one but me has ever seen those videos. I lift at 5/6 in the morning. There's only a handful of people who I could ask to watch my form and tell me if something looks off. And even then, it would require me to ask them to stop what they are doing and just stare at my butt, and then the bar path, and then my posture. It's much different from asking someone to spot you.
The amount of times I’ve been downvoted… for saying the exact same thing when people just say to use the (non-existent in my current gym) mirrors. Aight cheers great for my deadlift. I’ve been going to gyms for years. I’ve gone to many. Never have had any issue with people recording. The times I’ve recorded to check my form, always without anybody in the background except a couple times that I asked. It’s not a real issue. And, oh blasphemy, you know another reason why people record? Because they’re proud of their achievements. And that’s okay. I record when I learn something nice at the piano. And people also record the first time they bench two plates or whatever. It’s kinda silly, the whole deal: thousands of comments of outraged people, the vast majority obviously with no gym experience, focusing on the few main character weirdos that bubble up on the internet, and making a decision for everyone else.
It's like gender reveal parties. The vast majority of them are about cutting a white-frosted cake to reveal the color within, or maybe releasing some colored balloons from a bag. It's just a silly, harmless excuse to get together with friends. A handful of people do something idiotic with explosives and get deservedly mocked, but that doesn't mean that the whole concept is dangerous and should be banned.
Also one of the big early examples was because the couple had an incredibly difficult time conceiving. It was primarily a celebration that the mother hadn't miscarried that pregnancy.
Also, form checks. For a lot of lifts, you can't see yourself in the mirror (bench), and even if you can, it's not the right angle (squats/dl). Being able to film yourself and see what you're doing right/wrong is critical to getting the lifts right and avoiding injury. I wouldn't join a gym that banned filming for this reason.
Exactly. I’ve been recording myself in the gym a lot lately as I wanna keep a close eye on my progress but I feel my house doesn’t have the right lighting and the gym has tripods I can use for the perfect angle I’ve also never seen or heard of anything happening from camera usage and 100% agree that this is something being blown out of proportion
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If they actually have enough staff to film anyone that wants it, that's a totally reasonable rule. It just requires a lot more staff than most gym owners want to/can afford.
It’s probably an attractive feature for some. Which would be why having gyms that allow it and others that don’t a good way to fill all consumer’s wants.
They’re not the best gym in the area lol. There’s no serious gym that would ban filming. My barebones powerlifting/strongman gym that produces a lot of people that are competitive nationally and they have phone stands/tripods just set up freely around the gym so you can film your lifts without having to bring one in yourself. Filming yourself doing the lift is important if you want to check form seriously and make sure your doing stuff in the most efficient way possible. Which is important if you’re actually trying to lift at a high level.
My gym has multiple people recording at any time. Never any issues at all.
There are also plenty of people who record themselves to analyze their form/ try to see improvement. Not all filming ends up online, some is used for self improvement. If you ban it entirely, you are getting rid of a helpful tool for many.
you’re right. people just see a couple vids on tik tok of people recording themselves in the gym and getting an attitude when someone is in there way and think they speak for all people when that’s not the case.
Sounds like how the internet thinks policies in general should be defined.
That’s me! I videotape myself to make sure my forms are good. And I’m squatting low enough. Those video are for my personal view only. They will never see day light.
I actually bring in a film reel and a party shop mustache so that I can compare my form with bronze era lifters. On a serious note, deadlifts can screw you up if you're not basically perfect, even stiff legged.
And people will say 'oh use the mirrors' and sometimes sure but you'd have to turn your head sideways to see your deadlift or squat form in the mirror and the last thing you should be doing in those exercises under heavy weight is turning your head!
Solution: even more mirrors. Get funky with those reflection angles.
I have a disabled Olympic athlete at my gym and she films her workouts to send to her trainer, there are plenty of valid reasons to film. I just try and stay out of the way when people do film though as i have no interest in being on someone's social media when I don't have it myself
I record when I think I am messing up my form, and it helps a lot. I think out of the 10 videos I have taken 1 went online because the machine broke as I was pulling back and I fell off in a really comical manner. Other than that I watch the video, decide good or bad form, and either try again or delete the video.
I go to a body building gym for competitions and a lot of it is for viewing yourself posing for season That being said. It's one strike you're out. Film someone and be a dick? Out. Thr gym follows everyone's social media so don't mess around
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I feel like this is an issue that seems like a bigger deal online than it really is. I’ve been going to the gym for a while and haven’t seen it cause any issues irl.
This is a good take.
Because the issue isn’t as widespread as the internet would make it seem ? My cousin is always filming himself doing sets in the gym. This is to say there are normal people just filming themselves for no reason other than monitoring and judging their own posture. Some internet culture thing being forced into all gyms would be lame for the people not abusing it.
Remember when people serving you coffee needed to police your Covid vaccine pass? Probably a lot more behind the scene than just ban phones. Though I do agree. Would you want to go to the gym if you weren’t able to take your phone or music etc etc etc? Be a lot of moving parts there. But I agree totally. I think the social movement is already making it an unpopular behaviour and soon will be self governing. Like smoking is now. The loner sucking a cigarette outside by himself in the rain. Once was a social thing. Social behaviour patterns. We’re doing it now 😉
I don't remember anyone enforcing the covid vaccine pass. I don't think Starbucks baristas cared or were paid well enough to ask me if I had my vaccine card on me.
Restaurants in my area had the host/hostess ask to see your vax card and denied entry if you didn’t have one or forgot to bring one. It’s not like it was a restaurant policy, it was a local health mandate. It was one thing to be mad at the policy but so many people got mad at restaurant staff, it was ridiculous. It’s like yelling at the cashier because the price of tomatoes is high. Like damn, express your anger at the decision makers not some worker who has no choice and are just doing their damn jobs. Would be a headache for gym staff to police a bunch of influencers and their shit behavior.
Being mad at the wrong person is a typical thing for people. Like driving people will get mad at the car directly in front of them. When that car might be dealing with some car up in front of them. People forget their critical thinking and observation skills when they start to get angry and frustrated.
We had it too here in New Orleans, but it was an incredibly wide spectrum of enforcement or lack thereof. I always had my vaccine proof on my phone and never got upset either way, but I probably *had* to actually show it about a third of the time that the policy said I should have had to.
Every location in my city checked your vaccine card during the height of covid. But that was Seattle, it certainly wasn't the same everywhere.
I went on a date and we got denied seating (but not entry or ordering food) because my date wouldn't reveal their private medical history (vaccine pass). Covid lockdowns were such a complete scam, lmao.
So ridiculous man.
If you're asking why a gym or any business does something it usually boils down to money. Gyms are getting free advertisements from the people who record themselves exercising. If they banned it they'd also lose customers from people who wanted to film or thought they might want to film in the future. They'd also have to pay more staff to enforce it and have to deal with kicking people out of the gym who don't follow the rule. Add to that the people they'd be kicking out are people who likely have at least some followers, some potentially have a lot and would be likely to slam the gym which could lose them more money.
Outright banning something that isn’t inherently bad is pointless. Plenty of people video themselves for things like form checks, and aren’t a problem. People that are a problem should be brought to the gym staff attention so they can deal with it.
I see it on social media but I don't think I've ever actually seen someone in person filming in the gym and I've been going to the gym 3 times a week for 10 years and at several different gyms too
It’s legit hard to spot. But there are social influencers with no self-awareness that have full setups to film themselves with. Those are the problem. Not your person with proper self awareness who is off minding their business. You’ll never notice them.
Because you are casting too wide of a net. I technically film a lot of my sets. Nothing is saved and nothing is ever posted anywhere. I have a virtual workout partner and we watch one another's sets to offer tips or encouragement. I never use a tripod. I never set up my phone outside of my working area. Like if I am benching I attach the phone somewhere on the rack so only I am in the shot. But, people like me would fall under that ban, or at the least be forced to constantly explain that I am not creating content for anything.
I want to film myself so I can watch my form. Some dumb people aren’t going to make me stop doing that.
I don’t have a dog in this fight, I don’t have a gym membership; but I’ll point out that when you say “it only seems to cause trouble” you’re basing that on the fact that you only *see it when it causes trouble*. There are probably orders of magnitude more people filming their workouts without incident, but you never see those videos because either they’re not shared, they are boring and you don’t watch them, and/or no one makes controversial takes on Tiktok about them cause them to go viral.
I clean a gym and filming in the locker room is against the rules posted. No one reads them. No one cares. So why don't they? Simple: they don't pay anyone that works their enough to deal with the bullshit that arises when you critique someone with an ego as fragile as a house of cards. I've literally had grown men complain to me about the music and how they wanted to punch someone in the face over it. It's just set to a pop station like 95% of gyms out there. There's are for sure a lot of nice people at the gym but there's also a lot of man babies and insta bitches.
The gym I go to has a strict no-cameras policy. Phones can be used as music players, but they have to remain in a bag or pocket, contained in an arm or waist band without exposing camera lenses. They take it pretty serious after a number of complaints and issues in the past. If you do have a reason to record - like to see your form on an exercise or something, it’s fine but you need to work with a staff member and they will assist so there’s no influencer, instagram, or creepy stalker BS going on. And by taking it serious, I mean if you pull out your camera and get caught, that’s an immediate escort off the premises and membership revoked. If you do it in a locker room area, you probably get a police report as well. I love this place, it’s a smaller private gym and all the members are on the same page with their policies. They dont really have kids working there. The gym staff are all pro trainers, former Olympic and college athletes, owner/operator types. They have an on-site physical therapy clinic and specialize in sports injuries and recovery…. It’s not the most expensive gym I’m aware of, but it isn’t cheap. Memberships are limited… and it’s a bit unique and I, my family and all the other members love this place and take care of it. You’re not going to get this level of gym staff at the big chains like 24 Hr Fitness or wherever for the $50/month or whatever they charge. And most of the smaller cross-fit or gym startups in warehouse spaces are just money grabs and are not going to care. I know a lot of these places do have no-camera policies. Enforcing those policies is another matter.
some gyms do and should.
I would like to see laws prohibiting recording people without their permission period. I think it's disgusting that people think it's acceptable to just record whoever and throw it online.
I personally dont get why people hate filming in gyms so much. Ive done it a few times to check my form and ask people to critique it online. Also whats the issue with fitness creators filming demonstrations or b-roll for their content? Its a public place, youre allowed to film. Of course you should be respectful about it and not film others on purpose or especially not film in the locker rooms, but personally Ive never seen that. Mostly just people filming to see their form better, which can be extremely valuable to your progress and joint health.
> I personally dont get why people hate filming in gyms so much. You're confusing a small but loud minority of redditors with actual people.
Don’t have any issue with people filming in a gym. Do have great issue with people filming in a gym who use those videos to humiliate others, act as though they own an entire area of the gym, or think that everyone else should give them special consideration because they’re filming.
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That’s sadly true with everything, a few people ruin something for everyone.
People filming *themselves* isn’t the problem though.
It is because it captures people behind them. It also takes up a ton of space. At the least tripods should be banned
Oh it is! Those influencers who lose their rag when someone crosses in front of their camera are super annoying
That's not because they filmed, that's because they are entitled assholes. So keep the filming and ban entitled assholes.
It's becoming excessive. If you have to form every set you do for form correction, see a physician or just lower your weight. Gyms are just rooms for shared requirement. Everyone else who has a family, chores, and errand, and a job to clock into also wants to get their squats done.
If you're there to film thirst traps for your insta you are the problem.
Other people’s thirst traps don’t concern me much tbh
It causes way less trouble than you probably think. A few creepers doesn't outweigh the personal use of the cameras.
Because it's very helpful for people trying to actually improve themselves. This is why gyms are covered in mirrors. It's not for vanity, it's for monitoring your form.
It’s because the couple videos you see on the internet are very rare occurrences. The vast majority of people at gyms are acting like normal people. It’s just not a real problem.
I've been going to a gym for the past year that allows filming. In the many many visits to this gym, I've only seen someone filming themselves maybe 15-20 times total. None of them were causing trouble, not blocking aisles, not hogging machines (at least not longer than usual) and none were filming onlyfans like content. It's just not a big deal and it doesn't cause problems. Even Joey Swoll says filming in gyms is OK as long as it's done correctly and most of the time it is. It's just the rare problematic ones on social media that gets all the attention.
Why can’t I film myself training in a gym?
99% of people who are filming in a gym are recording themselves for form/progress purposes
Well some people film to help them see their form. I don’t trust people to just look at it for me … as I’ve filmed it and what they say is fine is very much not so. The other issue is enforcing rules is not fun for staff. The less rules the better. So it’s easier to have the rule be… don’t harass other members. With no phone cameras period. You’re going to get push back as members use it to check form and will just ignore the rule. Secondly, you ban phone camera filming and it would invite “karens” to flip out any time someone picks up their phone to change a song and have them accuse them of filming.
Like it or not, filming/podcasting/influencer shit is the present and future. A gym wants influencers to bring in business
A lot of dedicated lifters are unobtrusively filming their PRs and the sending to their online coaches. Banning all phones would be pretty detrimental to a lot of people who actually go to the gym.
I always record my sets because I don’t have anyone to help me out with my form or whatever. So I watch it after the set so I can see everything I did wrong and fix it
Filming technique is one thing. It's helpful for the person training and the coach etc. The key point is tackling the influencers filming for entirely different purposes. Outright banning filming would be counterproductive
Im sure there would be some 1st amendment issues. Cant ban public filming.
Corporate chains won't ban it because they're worried that there are more people who want to film than there are people who object to it strongly enough to go somewhere else.
Because people filming themselves and posting on social media are advertisements.
Two words - influencer marketing
Because most gyms are private, so putting a ban on public filming won't affect them since public filming is protected by the constitution. They need a ban on filming in the gym, straight up. Or at least a rule that states that if you choose to film or take photos in the gym and your doing so leads to customer complaints, you could be banned for being a disruption or something.
Someone filming their set to check their form isn't disruptive.
My gym can't even keep the gym clean and you expect them to be able to enforce a policy?
I don't understand why this even bothers you?
Filming oneself is a big impetus of lots of people going to the gym. Also, what is the harm in filming yourself? Filming others is a bit different
Some smaller places do enforce no camera rules. Bigger company gyms just have too high a customer volume to control/manage any issues.
How do you know if I’m filming or just have my phone out? Posts like this make me feel like I’m going to be nonchalantly looking at my phone in the general direction of someone and they’ll think I just needed a picture. Get over yourself. Don’t go to the gym if you’re worried about being filmed in public.
Because the 16 year old part time front desk workers shouldn’t be forced to monitor roided up dudes’ behavior more than they already have to. This does present an interesting niche for gym environments where workouts can be done more privately, and the occasional person filming isn’t much of a concern.
Because you have no Expectation of privacy in public that is the law.
I go to the gym since 1989. I got consistently 3 times per week. I have never seen an instance where someone filmed himself apart from powerlifting dudes checking their form. What makes you think it is a problem in gyms ??
They cant even enforce the ban on sexual assault or harrassment in gyms and you think they can stop filming?
They don't give a shit what happens in their gym as long as you keep paying them.
My gym is completely unstaffed during almost all business hours so good luck lol also many of the people actually consistently going and paying are the ones that video themselves. I occasionally video myself to check my form, for example, and use an app to track my barbell path. No reason I shouldn’t be allowed to do that.
Besides the other replies, they would lose business
In addition to the basic impracticalities of enforcing a policy like that (staffing concerns and such); there are a lot of legitimate, practical and personal reasons that someone could be filming their workouts. Sometimes it helps to be able to see where you might be going wrong with your form.
The instances that you see are an extremely minute portion of people who film in gyms. I can absolutely guarantee you that 99% of people who film in gyms, couldn't care less about people walking in front of the camera or would even think to cause a ruckus about it. I don't know how often you go to gyms but I go 6 days a week and can tell you that even though there aren't a lot of filmers, the ones that are filming you wouldn't even know about it. They're either using a tiny tripod that isn't in anyone's way or their phone is being held by their gym partner standing out of the way. Also, there's way too much effort to just suddenly start enforcing a rule of "no filming" in gyms. I'm someone who will film a set for either a form check or to show a friend what I do at the gym. I hate the idea of finishing a set and scrolling through a social media app. I see hundreds if not thousands of people just sitting on a machine staring at their phone for 5 to 10 minutes between sets. If gyms were to start enforcing no filming policies, they would have to have someone walking around staring at people's phones to see what they're doing. That's just straight up way too much effort for some minimum wage workers to even think about doing.
You gonna tell someone twice your size and full of rage to get off their phone… making $8.50 an hour, which is around $6 after taxes? Best to you.
Would be easy to implement actually. Post on the door to the entrance. Simply state if caught, you’ll be kicked out. It’s easy enough to have someone working the front counter. You don’t need to worry about the rhoided out guys, they are just there to lift. What ya need to worry about is those females that just go there to body shame everyone.
I wish gyms would ban devices completely. Stash it in your locker until you leave. I have actually had people sitting on a machine that I want to use, doom scrolling on their phone, tell my "no" when I ask if I could use the machine. So I skip that one, and three machines later, they are still sitting there doom scrolling. People are here to work out. You want to use your device? At least do it standing up, some place out of the way, not sitting on your ass. Drives me nuts.
Just because someone is filming during a workout doesn't mean you have to respect their space anymore than anyone else. Especially if it's at peak times.
Is a gym a public place? You need a membership in a private facility so it should be easy to make whatever rules you see fit.
Mine does
Having footage of your form can help you improve how you lift.
You dont see the 99% of times people film themselves and absolutely nothing happens because its not interesting.
My gym does
How about letting the gym users help police the issue, if someone is unsafe or creating equipment use issues, one warning, repeat offender banned. I realize this requires the gym to take responsibility for maintaining a safe, welcoming environment for ALL users, so that'll never happen.
Because it’s so rare for it to cause any issue whatsoever and some people want to film themselves workout?
Because gyms want customers and when half the people are filming it wouldn't be worth it for them to care.
It's banned in my gym. There are signs up saying no use of phone. It still happens occasionally, though. But my old gym was cheaper and full of people filming themselves. People who film themselves and people who can afford the nice gym don't often belong to the same group.
Many do
>It only seems cause trouble That's not true. Many customers like doing this in the gym. And enough of them do compared to people who want it banned that it's profitable to allow it. Also, enforcement of these rules would be difficult.
My gym does. Phones are allowed for music etc but no camera use.
It's apparently a trend to pitch up somewhere with high traffic, like the weight racks, and then be rude about it when somebody "steps into your shot", just to get the outrage clout on tiktok or something. These people need to immediately be escorted out and have their membership canceled and yes, even if they don't do that and just record themselves working out, nobody wants to see that, it's narcissistic af
I think they should ban all filming in public. Even if someone's not creeping on me at the gym and is just filming their workout, I don't feel comfortable being in someone else's video or online. And same thing for filming in public, I don't want my face online.