Singer Ellie Goulding has spoken about feeling intimidated by men at the gym. Here Radhika Sanghani hears from two male fitness fans who reveal the dark truth about what really goes on.
Credit: Telegraph
In a world where everyone seems to be running a marathon or triathlon, the gym has secured its place at the centre of many people's lives. Large companies offer workout rooms in their buildings, big cities have one on every corner, and ‘at the gym’ is now even a WhatsApp status.
But half of British society still don’t feel particularly welcome at the gym. Clue: it’s not men.
Almost half of women are put off the weights area because of the 'type' of people there, according to a Cosmopolitan survey. While 14 per cent are intimidated by the thought of men judging them.
It’s so widespread that there’s even a name for it: 'gymtimidation.'
Credit: Telegraph
Celebrities get it too. Singer Ellie Goulding recently spoke about how she hates men staring at her in the gym and judging her for exercising.
“I’ll run up and down [at my local gym] and not a lot of women would do that,” she told Women’s Health. “And least of all me because I don’t want to draw attention to myself at the best of times.
“But the men stop what they’re doing and look at you with a smug smile and that bums me out so much. But I won’t stop. I won’t stop running up and down that thing just because they’re staring at me as if what I’m doing is out of the ordinary or unladylike. F*** that.”
Goulding doesn’t let it get her down - but that’s probably because she’s a famous pop star.
Not every woman has the confidence to do the same.
Credit: Telegraph
Friends tell me the thought of men staring at them has put them off trying anything but the treadmill in the gym. Some avoid the place altogether because they feel embarrassed by men seeing them in tight lycra.
“I go to the gym because I don’t have a good figure,” one tells me.
“That’s the whole point of going. But I don’t want people to judge the way I look when I don’t even like how my body looks yet. It makes me not want to go.”
It’s clear this really affects some women. But how much of it is deliberate intimidation, and how much is paranoia?
“I think it goes on without a doubt,” says Louis Durkin, manager of the men-only bodybuilding gym Muscleworks.
“There’s a problem. It does exist. My partner finds the guys try and intimidate her when she’s at the gym. They shout and scream. They won’t let the women join in.”
@WorldWithoutEnd @TeleWonderWomen Hahaha! A man once filmed me from behind while I was on a treadmill :(
— Van D'Eliza Doodle (@IwasGobby) May 6, 2015
@WorldWithoutEnd I was too intimidated to say anything. Stupid eh?
— Van D'Eliza Doodle (@IwasGobby) May 6, 2015
Tim Walker, founder of Evolution of Man fitness, tells me his girlfriend had a similar experience at a mixed gym in London: “She was trying to squat and a guy said, 'what are you doing here?' He was nasty about it and intimidated her. I’m quite angry about it.”
No wonder. These incidents are examples of the worst type of bullying at gyms, and would make anyone feel uncomfortable.
But they're relatively rare. Why?
Because most men don’t shout at women in the gym – they sexually objectify them instead.
“I find all the men flirt with the women and it distracts from their training,” says Durkin. “If a man thinks a women’s attractive, he’ll flirt. If the woman isn’t as good-looking and he wants to use the equipment, he’ll look at her unfavourably. It’s a caveman mentality.”
Read more at Telegraph.