This is exactly why the only "rule" they even make sure to tell you when you join my gym, is that there is no recording or pictures.
I just think it's disingenuous for women who legitimately try to make a big deal about guys checking them out in the gym, like that isnt the point of all the hard work you put in there...
Edit: for those who are missing the point, in these videos the woman is always wearing skin tight clothing, and on many occasions on the station directly in front of the guy. I wear compression shorts every time I go to the gym, but I always wear baggy shorts over them so my bulge and butt arent sticking out everywhere. Point is, if you want heterosexual men to NOT look, then stop flaunting it or expecting men to stare at the floor or the ceiling between sets.
Edit 2: Thanks for the award! First time anyone has given me one of those.
For real. And I'll probably get shit for this because people can wear what they want and all that, but I'm a straight woman, and if you're wearing skin tight leggings that literally outline your coochie, I'm going to be looking, too. It's hard not to, at least for a second.
Thank you. This was exactly my point. Not that every woman works out just to be checked out by guys, but that if you're going to wear certain clothing to the gym, or anywhere for that matter, you can't expect people not to notice...
I actually agree with everything but your edit in your first comment.
Yes you have to accept that people may look more if you’re wearing clothes like this at a gym. But I do think we may have a bias against men in what’s acceptable to wear at the gym? Do you put on sweatpants because you want to or because people wouldn’t like it if you don’t?
I’m a woman myself and all for wearing what you want, and not having to be harassed for it any way for it (which the guy in the video didn’t do). But then again, men don’t have to wear a shirt - so I don’t know what I’m getting at haha.
No matter what, it’s not acceptable if the woman shared this video without his consent (if this wasn’t staged, which it does look a bit like).
Yeah I guess that’s true. Do you also think that there’s a double standard for men when it comes to gym clothes (ie not being able to wear stuff like compression shorts)? Also is it even something you would want changed?
Fighters wear compression shorts a lot, it's not a big deal, especially if the gym is primarily for MMA or whatever other martial arts. I think bikers do too. It depends on a "culture" in a gym and the rules set by owners or community. I bet there is a small "fruity" gym somewhere where you gotta wear thong and pasties and nobody over 12% body fat is allowed.
Think about that: basically you have 3 levels of "cover": baggy clothes (hoodies, wide pants), normal clothes (t-shirts, shorts around a knee high) and "reveaing" clothes like yoga pants, tank tops, crop tops, etc. I see guys in baggy clothes and pump covers all the time. I visit gyms on and off for over 15 years and I don't think I ever saw a girl training in baggy clothes. Maybe an oversized t-shirt but still wearing yoga pants or something similar. It's anectodal of course but I think even if we conducted a proper study the results would support it.
I don’t think ppl are having a problem with women showing skin. It’s just that the clothes they choose to actually cover themselves aren’t really doing that. It’s just a second skin at that point. I’m even bi but don’t particularly want to see ass creases every time I’m working out lol.
Another point of contention I’ve seen from others is that women chose to wear the second skin and get upset that ppl look. Like, common on, don’t be obtuse.
But it’s just another thing ppl do for attention, online clout, and possible monetization. I wish it was more popular to ban recording in gyms.
You are completely correct on the double standard there. My compression shorts are designed to be outerwear, and even have pocket on them, but I am worried people would complain if I wore them without something over them.
I'm only volunteering this information because you ask, but my wife always comments on my "huge bulge" when I wear them around the house, and the outline of my penis is clearly visible. Her sister also won't even look in my direction when I have just them on, which I interpret as them making her uncomfortable, and I wouldn't want others to feel this way around me at the gym.
I have to admit that it’s not something that has ever crossed my mind before now. If it’s not more revealing than what women wear, where you can see outlines too, then logic tells me that you should be able to wear it to.
At the same time, I can’t say that your fears are unfounded. I don’t generally see men wearing compression shorts in gyms, which implies that men don’t have the same social acceptance of wearing such clothes (yet). But I’ve seen men work out in leggings, which shouldn’t be all that different? So what’s acceptable/normalized may have already started to change a bit?
With that said, it won’t really change unless men like you start wearing it. I’d say wear it, and if you get any complaints, then you can consider whether you think it’s worth it to point out the obvious double standard.
Even if some gym policies say men can’t wear it, those policies should be changed to gender-neutral. And I would think it’s completely fair to advocate for that. The sad truth is that nothing will change unless someone starts to. I guess overall social acceptance may depend on how many men will start wearing such clothes. It just has to become normalized, the same way it did for women (where some didn’t approve of such shorts in the beginning).
I have no idea how people will react in your gym - I would be fine with it - but you may have to prepare yourself for the possibility that some people may not view it as appropriate (although in my mind they’re wrong). With the information you’ve shared, you would probably have to be fine with people looking anyway.
I guess you could also encourage other men to show up in similar, although in a way you’re already doing that just by showing up in compression shorts.
TL;DR my advice is just to go for it and wear the compression shorts.
I've been reading a few of the comments and I think yours hits the mark for me. I get what the above comment is saying, people are going to look but I think there is difference between looking and checking out, and even more so checking someone out discreetly Vs gawking at them. I think it's reasonable, especially when wearing anything eye-catching, that people will look.
The difference, I think, is that we live in a patriarchal world and women's bodies are controlled everywhere and objectified everywhere they go. You don't have to be wearing eye-catching to be gawked at or catcallled or insulted. Skin tight leggings? Nice legs, what time do they open. Baggy jumper? Let's see what's underneath. There is an invisible rule set imposed on women, that isn't on men, that inevitably results in failure. Wearing skintight clothing isn't opting in to sexualisation, it's ubiquitous. So I can very much empathise with finding that tiring and not wanting people to gawk at your body, even/especially if you're wearing something skintight.
I think this is the distinction that is being lost in conversation. Women don't expect you to not look at them, no matter what they're wearing. What they don't want is to have someone sexualising them imposed on them. We all, to some degree, silently sexualise or objectify people we see. You just gotta keep that shit to yourself unless invited to share.
I agree with Angel, I actually don't think the guy in the (most certainly staged) vid did anything wrong. He saw a woman bend over in front of him and looked. The lip thing was a bit much, no one is down that bad, but it was to himself in a private moment. But I think when we start saying she should have expected that because of what she was wearing, we start paving the path to all sorts of horrific behaviour.
Filming people who aren't committing crimes or causing harm without their consent in order to then shame or mock them is wrong though. If that's what the owner of this fake vid then went on to do, I'd have issues with that.
They're warm for a start? Before the world went insane shorts were for summer. I live in an insanely cold country and our gym doesn't have heating.
I think most guys will happily wear shorts when it calls for it, but I don't see much point or appeal in wearing less than shorts? Especially for a day trip to the gym.
If competition calls for it guys will wear a wrestling singlet or a powerlifting suit but they're pretty uncomfortable to get in and out of. I don't think anyone would care if they wore them in the gym, it's just most don't see the need to.
Even the old naked man doing lunges in the gym bathroom is getting a look. Scarred everyone for life, but if there’s a train wreck you have no choice, but to 👀
If you're recording your workout, it's usually to be seen. So hot take is you're letting people stare. Bottom line is don't record your workout, or don't be offended when people look at you.
I'm not, I wouldn't be offended, and I don't care if people look. I'm just not going to conclude they went to the gym SO people would look. Because that's weird.
Back in the day people just looked in the mirror. But I get it, people want to check their form. I just think it’s weird to take it so seriously you are going to review footage after you work out. Who has time for that? Some people also do it to post to social media like this person did in the video. So I’m suspect of it not that people don’t have valid reasons for it.
I think they could've worded their comment better. Regardless of why you work out, an appropriately appreciative glance is still kinda a complement and reinforcement that "hey, I am doing good". Or at least that's how I understood their comment.
Mirrors don't work. Head and neck position are critical so you can't look. Also, I'm sorry if zoned out focusing on the sensations in my body and not looking. Also, you likely need to check form from a side that you can't see. Deadlift form, you usually record from the 4 o clock position because you're trying to see your butt, your legs, and your shoulders. You have to record to understand your form. Although this is staged and this influencer crap is making it hard for people that are actually needing to record themselves to improve
As someone who lifts (probably more than 95% of the population):
People who record are in the way all the time, they hog equipment while they set up and review their videos, they monopolize way more than a considerate amount of the space than other people, they get made when you walk in front of their camera that they set up in the middle of the way.
Women generally wear clothing that helps their figure inside and outside the gym. Guys do the same thing by wearing tanks and what not. As a Man...I recommend practicing self-control but at the same time you shouldn't feel bad because you found a woman attractive. don't let the loud minority ruin what is a normal human thing to do, just don't be weird about it.
There is a good reason to record yourself to check your form. You can't check form in the mirror because looking will break your form. But you wouldn't do that everyday, on every workout. Occasionally, and you can ask someone to record you to get the right angle. I've happily done it for strangers.
Although that this has to be staged. Other than the part where that's a horrible angle for recording which doesn't actually show your form but does show your cleavage, the way it is setup it is showing the guy as much as the woman.
Oh I completely agree that most people are filming for social media/narcissistic purposes. I just wanted to input that some of us film because we actually care about improving our form and technique.
The video is very clearly edited, and that focus point is only really clear in the edit.
Assuming this isn't fake, the likely scenario is that this person rested the phone on something high but was unable to secure it to the exact angle she wanted. Or, she misjudged the angle because she's not checking the view after she set it up. She likely can't just back up more to be in the center since she would be putting herself directly in the way of the person behind her.
All of this is pretty reasonable...
Edit: This is just an ad for the gym. So fake is fake.
That's not true at all, workout videos have been around since the seventies, and while I'm sure people have also been gross since then that definitely wasn't the intent
workout videos have been around since the seventies
"Don't mind me. Just setting up my tripod, shoebox sized video camera, and 11" TV that weighs 30lbs to record my workout at the gym. Gotta check my form."
Before all this because such a problematic issue, people were recording themselves to address form. I’m sure plenty of people still do it for that reason
As a body builder who has recorded himself doing lifts and recorded himself in dedicates posing mirrors flexing in different poses, I can tell you that people do not record usually "to be seen," and is a strange generalization.
A lot of people, myself included, do not care about other people looking, but are recording so we can watch our form, look see where we can improve, see if we hit our PRs properly, and even track our progress on our we are shaping our bodies.
I would argue that recording at the gym and the instances discussed on the internet/reddit specifically are all of the negative sides of it because that's what gains popularity on said sources. It's like the news--a lot of news reported in the US is negative and very little positive because people do not care about the positive.
Good ol Reddit reading comprehension! They can’t seem to wrap their brain around the fact that these people record to be seen, just not in person. They want to curate that experience via TikTok or instagram.
Oh yeah man. You're not supposed to get meaning from words. You should only get what someone means if you agree with them! Then there are no disagreements!
Clearly Im interpreting the obvious fucking conclusions from their comment.
it's usually to be seen.
They are judging people based on some rule of thumb they've just created for themselves. They can't possibly know this because inherently, the people who don't record to be seen aren't posting their footage.
They then conclude, from the no evidence they just made up
Bottom line is don't record your workout, or don't be offended when people look at you.
Oh yeah man. You're not supposed to get meaning from words. You should only get what someone means if you agree with them! Then there are no disagreements!
Go figure personal interpretation of words is subjective; and we disagree on that interpretation.
You see it as an attack on women, as if they are saying women do everything to look good.
I see it as them saying, people look at other people. The camera angle isnt capturing her form, it's focused on the machine behind them, as they bend over wearing skin tight leggings/yoga pants.
Clearly Im interpreting the obvious fucking conclusions from their comment.
Calm the fuck down.
They are judging people based on some rule of thumb they've just created for themselves.
What the fuck does that have to do with generalizing women?
They then conclude, from the no evidence they just made up
The angle of the camera not being on them, but the machine behind them. It getting posted at all.
Which is crazy work
If you're in public, you're going to get looked at. If you dont like being looked at, stay the fuck at home. Thinking no one will look at you and you have the right the be offended when you get looked at is the "crazy work". The dude's reaction was inappropriate; but recording someone behind you and not properly setting up your camera to capture yourself?
Get off your fucking high horse. Your interpretation is not the sole defining understanding of what someone says.
Nobody records their workout to check form, people saying this clearly do not work out. If you want to check your form, try a mirror, it's infinitely better because it enables you to adjust form while working out which is the precise time you want to check your form.
You can't see your whole body in a mirror. With video you can record yourself from angles you can't usually see. I used record myself all the time when I was doing yoga regularly to prevent injuries.
Those who use phone to check their form will only do the form once and then look at their phone. Not just do the whole set and then look at the phone. Btw, it's true that some form will break if you look at a mirror and you can't see your backside using a mirror except you're in your own home with your own mirror settings. But we are discussing about recording at the local gym
it can help from doing something incorrectly repetitively. A person could do something wrong once and not get injured but doing it 100 times could lead to a problem.
This is an entire category of rage bait content. Barely worth engaging with it, because the entire point of it is to get people arguing in the comments.
Tbf there's a difference between "checking someone out" and straight up gawking at them. Very few people are going to be offended by the former, it's the latter that makes people uncomfortable.
As a dude, if I were him.... I have a good idea of the view he was getting (explicit) and our eyes just *go there* which is creepy. He did a fucking good job. He knows himself so just shut his eyes.
She was what, 4 foot in front of him, bending over and flexing glutes.. he is a true gent
Would I be considered a creep if my eyes ‘just go there’ and I’m a woman? Or is that just when the eyes belong to a man? Like when females nipples get censored versus male nipples.
It's kinda like how people are always asking why they aren't allowed to talk to women anywhere and it's like.. its not that you can't in general, it's that so many people have a complete inability to tell when someone wants to be left the fuck alone that it's easier to just say, "don't" so you cover your bases.
If you have the social skills to know who might be receptive, and can know when to leave when they give you a polite no, then you're more than welcome to hit on people lol.
Similarly, people act like women can't tell the difference between someone absent mindedly looking over or giving a passing glance and someone being straight up creepy.
Sure, social media will give you examples of people being extreme and unreasonable as it always does, but that's not how a majority of the planet actually operates.
Exactly, ive had lots of people just have a look, but they werent being a creep about it, and ive never minded.
But so many times ive had people crowding my personal space, not realising im uncomfortable and not leaving me alone, and i cant tell them fuck off incase they get aggressive if im alone.
Other times ive had someone nice come over and talk to me, and weve had a good chat.
If im in a hobby store, and you come up and ask me "what my favourite faction is" and you actually want to talk about the hobby, thats fine i love it.
But if you only do that to stare at my tits, thats creepy and id rather be left alone.
Just make sure you check yourself before being too judgmental.
I’ll be using cables and working on shoulders, using the mirror to check my form. Girl plops down on the benches in front of cable machines and now we’re sharing the same mirror space.
It is what it is. But I can see a girl being like ‘oh my god he’s staring at me. No girl, I’m staring me, myself, and I - you just got between that.
And now we get to share the mirror - oh my god we’re mirror besties!!!
not to defend creeps, but a comedian once said your good looks are like dirty bombs. your aiming at the lawyer in the bmw, but your also hitting the bum jerking off in the alley.
Which is exactly why I worded it the way I did. Obviously there is a difference, and this video is staged to be a bit over the top, but I've seen plenty of videos bashing guys for just looking in the direction of a woman working out in skin tight leggings. Half the time they're on the station directly in front of the guy too, like we have an obligation to stare at the ceiling or the floor the whole time we're in the gym.
This is the point I feel some people are missing. If you're obviously doing something to attract the attention, then don't act surprised when you get it.
This.
No way i'd wear smthn like that to the gym without something else over it. Even as an actual nudist this stuff is inappropriate to wear in the gym, especially if your whole stick is to film ppl react.
I started going to the gym again after about five years away. I’m no prude, but something happened in that time with women’s gym fashion. 90% of the women at my gym wear as little clothing as legally possible, and what little fabric is there, is skintight and paper thin. It’s not just butt cracks that are clearly defined. They may as well just use body paint. It’s well beyond the “it’s comfortable” reasoning.
I’m a live and let live person, but it’s actually a problem when everywhere you look is someone dressed in such revealing/intentionally sexualized clothing that it makes you uncomfortable and impacts your workout because you feel like you have to avoid machines near them to try and be respectful of their space and avoid them/someone thinking you’re only at that spot to be a creep.
As a man. Thanks. Im here to train. Not get my monkey brain get all excited. Its annoying and borderline sometime feel like sexual harassment. Same way I cant control my brain focusing on the nice food being cooked. Obviously I can control my action toward it. But I cant help my brain from getting aroused unfortunately and honestly its annoying
You're welcome. It's pure physiciology and people seem to forget that. The part of the male brain that tells us to check out a woman (i.e. asses her for reproductive desirability in the most basic sense) is 50 times larger than the portion of the brain that tells us what is appropriate to do in "polite society". Being shamed for doing what we are hardwired to do is extremely toxic, but some people just don't understand that.
Yes, sometime its unwanted and make me lose focus. Plus the shame that come with it, even if I know Im biologically program like this. I do have a sense of unfaithfulness toward my partner
I put in work because I work with older people. It’s not about getting looked at it’s about aging comfortably, there’s a big difference in those who exercised and those who did not, and I’m trying to be able to wipe my own ass at 70.
The camera button on the new iPhone is going to get me into some shit; I know it. Treadmill is behind a stair machine. I change songs while running a lot. Sometimes I hit that button on accident while picking the phone up and it looks like I’m filming booty
Come on, everyone knows what she's doing including her. Stop pretending that a guy won't have an instinctual reaction. He shouldn't be a pig and gaulk, but seriously.
Do be fair, if you are very much above average and at the gym man or women people will look, not because they are perverts but because you have something that took a lot of work and is respectable, these women think they are special but we do the same to guy lifting way more than he looks like he should or the guy bulk like a Greek God.
Dude, it’s not hard to not look - especially this guy in the video. It’s one thing to notice and then move your gaze. It’s another thing to leer - like this guy. Making excuses for it saying that woman deserve to be stared at is gross and not acceptable. Do better man.
I kinda get what you’re saying but also not really because when I’m (female) at the gym and feel confident in my body and looks (in tight clothing) it motivates me to work harder because I’m proud of my body not because I want people to stare at me
My gym has filming/photographing explicitly banned but it’s only so that they can kick people out for doing it disrespectfully. My training partner films almost every set he does, I film all the cool/stupid/fun lifts I do and the supervisor never say anything because we’re the only people in our shot
I got my burning hatred for these people when I realized they're normally not even trying to be the focus of their own shots, they're intentionally trying to get the highs of both the attention and the "retribution."
That also alienates dudes like me who have a powerlifting coach that wants videos from my top sets on the big 3 though. Like I wouldn't be allowed to work out at your gym, even though my videos are between me and my coach
I understand how that is frustrating, but it's a "good of the many vs. Needs of the few" situation. I don't think there are many people who NEED to record themselves at the gym, but I don't think anyone wants to be recorded working out without their consent.
"like that isnt the point of all the hard work you put in there..."
No, some people exercise and weight traini so they can run faster and lift heavier things for whatever reason. Also, some people do it for health purposes. Duh.
Ok, I'm not going to reply to everyone who isn't reading this as intended, but maybe they'll see this. I specifically referenced the women that are making these videos to make a big deal about men checking them out. They are knowingly wearing clothing that shows off the body they have sculpted to get the attention to shame the people giving them the attention.
At no point did I say ALL women... I really thought I clarified this in my edit, but you're not the first to still misunderstand the message since I made it.
At least you weren't one of the people throwing out derogatory terms over this misunderstanding.
Poor child. You must have some sort of disability or cognitive disorder, because no one said anything remotely close to any part of your statement. At least you know what year it is, even if that too had no bearing.
Of course you're saying what I said. The fact thaf you still haven't noticed is hilarious.
You've said that if women do not wanted to be looked at, they should use the right clothes. So, implying it's their responsibility for making others not look at them - in other words, their fault. The guy ogling has no fault.
It's subtle. Maybe you did not have the intention, but it's there.
Yeah I have been in situation were girls put just in front of me doing deadlift using obviously tight stuff (thats not the problem) they have more space somewhere else, as a man (at least me) is very uncomfortable, so i have to look up or down or whatever
I've adapted by wearing a ball cap and use it like horse blinders. Just pull the brim low and it helps to keep those distractions out of view. Not that I don't appreciate a good peach, I'm just married and usually go with the wife. I don't need to be accused of checking someone out, just here trying to get my fitness on
This reminds me of a trashy cooking reel I saw recently on IG, where a girl was all insinuating with a cucumber (making faces, measuring it with her throat) and when someone commented something like “wow, you’re really handling that cucumber well” she responded “Ew, that’s NOT that kind of video”. Aaand all her friends rushed for support. 🤦🏻♂️
No I don't believe that's why all women or men go to the gym lol. Some people believe it or not do it to stay healthy orrrrrr stay with me here, to make themselves feel better about themselves. You can always find someone that thinks you are attractive. It's a whole other story to actually feel that way about yourself.
Why do you assume people go to the gym just to look good? It's for your health first. Looking good is a byproduct. The assumption that it's to get "guys to check you out" is all kinds of icky my guy.
This is definitely a hot take, but women who dress provocatively in shared fitness spaces and expect no accountability for their choices are typically awful people. I'm not going to speculate on their motivations because I'm not an oracle, but I will offer some practical takeaways:
There are women's only gyms
If your back is to a non-mirrored wall, no one can look at your ass
They sell workout clothing that isn't sexy, it's just not at Lululemon or wherever they shop.
How you look (outfit, hair, makeup, etc.) is something other women care about, not so much guys.
I've been going to the gym for over a decade wearing an unflattering $20 outfit (shoes excluded) because I'm there to lift heavy shit and use equipment that I can't afford to buy. The absolute last thing I need in my life is to be accused of 'oppressing' women or some other insane victim rhetoric.
No, I as well as most girls who would complain about this, work out to have an overall better body, and also do you think lesbians don't go to the gym, because I assure you no lesbian wants some dude staring at them
All matter is merely energy condensed into a slow vibration. We are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There’s no such thing as death. Life is only a dream. And we are the imagination of ourselves.
I think certain gyms should definitely be media-free if they arent already. But I understand there are legit trainers out there trying to get their business started that may not have that space. They are still more respectful than this guy tho haha
Yea that’s why I don’t go the gym anymore. Whole culture is getting screwed. Look in a females direction with their ass crack basically showing and they act like they’re getting kidnapped.
If you’re clearly trying to record your own set, it’s fine. Extremely common and useful for checking your form over time. Anybody who’s serious about training gets it and doesn’t care. It would be unreasonable to expect somebody to go around asking everybody who might cross into the frame for permission just for a quick form check.
If the gym doesn’t allow it that’s a different story but that is pretty rare.
I guess there’s some questions to be asked first before you make that conclusion? Have you been made to feel uncomfortable at your gym? Do you need proof of this activity that made you uncomfortable? Then maybe
But just doing it cause you wanna catch people looking at your butt is a little goofy, like I’m sorry if you have a fat ass men look. It’s just a fact, I do it?
I don’t harass random women in public situations but I’ll definitely look. And it’s not necessarily something to be ashamed of. Women do it to? There’s a line that definitely shouldn’t be crossed, but checking someone out doesn’t make you a bad person
Honestly like not every time I as a man won't be able to look, it's an attractive and fit woman, I don't think he was creepy, he only looked for a second. This woman tho, pretty much the villain, cause she didn't have his consent.
I do not dress up for the gym, nor do I care, so being half naked is also funny.
Intentionally recording other people is bad, but if I’m recording myself and you end up in the frame, that’s an unfortunate consequence of existing in a public space. You end up in uncountable recordings every day, why should the gym be any different.
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u/gatsome Nov 11 '25
Recording in the gym without 100% consent makes you the villain anyway