Some guys really show questionable behavior at the gym.
Reflected
A man – who often came to work out with his wife – stared at me so much that I asked him to stop because it made me uncomfortable. Offended, he said he was only looking at me through the mirror, not "directly"! He was shocked when I told him that staring in the mirror isn’t okay either.
The Culprit
As a personal trainer, I worked with a very strange guy. At our first session, he said he brought his own food (scrambled eggs in a plastic container) and insisted on eating some during every break. I mentioned it wasn’t a great idea, but he was stubborn and also pushed me to "not hold back, really push myself." After the third machine, he threw up and blamed me for it.
The Repeat Offender
I worked night shifts at the gym’s front desk when a girl told me a guy seemed to be making "masturbation-like hand gestures" while watching her work out. I approached him but saw nothing, and he angrily denied everything. ("Maybe I just scratched myself because it’s hot here—is that a crime now?" ) The next day, two more people complained about him, and my colleague and I set a trap. I squatted in sexy shorts with weights in front of him while my colleague filmed him touching himself, so we banned him from the gym. (We also warned other gyms.)
Scent Sample
I saw a girl get up from a bench, and a guy quickly went over and started sniffing the spot where her butt had been. He even touched it with his fingers and then wiped them across his mouth. That moment made me lose all faith in humanity.
The Suspicious Powder
A guest brought a small bottle of white powder to the front desk, saying he found it by one of the machines. Suddenly, another man rushed over claiming it was his and that it was "special muscle powder, so don’t think it’s cocaine!" We said nothing, but the next week we had to call an ambulance because the guy had a heart attack while working out.
The Pose
As a trainer, one of my first clients was a middle-aged man who asked if I knew calf exercises. He explained that when he has sex with his wife and she’s in doggy style, his calves always cramp, so he wanted some exercises for that. Right there in the middle of a busy gym, he demonstrated the pose and movements that caused the cramps. I told him the wife should stay on the bed and he should stand beside it—no kneeling needed—and then I walked away.
Oxygen
I was making eyes at a cute guy in the gym. Even when I moved to another machine, I kept looking at him and ended up tripping over a medicine ball someone left in the way. I fell backward and couldn’t breathe for about half a minute until a sweaty musclehead thought my heart stopped, ran over, and started giving me mouth-to-mouth resuscitation! He kissed me three times before I managed to say I was okay. I never went back to that gym.
Floating
Only one handsome guy came to the gym regularly, and we sometimes exchanged glances. But the magic was broken when I first saw him on the treadmill. He wasn’t running but holding on with both arms and floating, meaning his feet didn’t touch the belt—he just flailed his legs.
Caught on Camera
Once I caught a young guy secretly filming me working out on the stair climber. I didn’t get worked up—just turned around, gave him the middle finger, and kept climbing.
Shaping Up
A sweaty man, at least 55 years old, came up to me while I was on the treadmill and pointed to his ear, signaling me to take out my AirPods. When I did, he said he’d been watching me for a while and my butt is shaping up nicely. I don’t know what reaction he expected, but my face involuntarily twisted. I’m 20 years old, this guy could have been my grandfather, and he thought I’d take it as a compliment that he’d been staring at my butt for months?!
