‘Joey Swoll get this guys membership revoked’: Woman records herself doing pullups at the gym. Then a fellow gym-goer intervenes
A woman’s workout at the gym went haywire when a man unexpectedly intervened.
In the viral clip, which has amassed a huge 20 million views, fitness creator Yaz (@y4zfit) did what she always does: set up her smartphone camera to film her workout.
However, as she was doing pullups in the gym, a random man appeared and picked up her phone. He then turned off the camera.
Yaz then detailed in the video description what the man did next.
What did the man do?
“This guy took my phone in the gym, went down my phone, started deleting videos, took me a while to realise he even has my phone as I was focused on my workout,” she wrote.
“I record every single work out to track my form and I have online coaching and always do my best not to have people in my videos. Anyways, I was pretty shaken up and managed to grab it back and he continued to laugh and shout at me saying I shouldn’t be filming him.”
She continued, “Ironically when he grabbed my phone this was the only time [his] face [was] … in my videos. There were also six other men witnessing this and they did nothing, I think he did it purely for the fact I was on my own and I am small so I look young. I’ve contacted Pure Gym and had no response back. I’ve had people tell me they have experienced similar things in other Pure Gyms. Back to JD gyms I go.”
The Mary Sue requested a statement from Pure Gym. Yaz didn’t immediately respond to The Mary Sue’s request for comment via TikTok comment and Instagram direct message.
Commenters weighed in
“Why was it so mad?” one asked. “Joey Swoll get this guy’s membership revoked,” another demanded. “He can’t touch or use your property,” a third said. “Take this to the police. And he was harassing you!”
However, others claimed that filming isn’t permitted at PureGym.
“His reaction was over the top but PureGym do state no filming in their T&Cs,” a fourth wrote. While a fifth echoed, “PureGym have a policy of no filming. It’s in their T&Cs that you agreed to when you signed the contract. What response from them did you expect?”
In its rules, PureGym says that filming of other members isn’t permitted.
Also in the comments, Yaz shared an update. “I took it up with Pure Gym – and they only gave the guy a warning,” she revealed. “I am making this post public again so all women and girls can watch out for this man.. and hope that next time the men of the gym decide to speak up.”
@y4zfit This guy took my phone in the gym, went down my phone, started deleting videos, took me a while to realise he even has my phone as I was focused on my workout. I record every single work out to track my form and I have online coaching and always do my best not to have people in my videos. Anyways, I was pretty shaken up and managed to grab it back and he continued to laugh and shout at me saying I shouldn’t be filming him. Ironically when he grabbed my phone this was the only time he was face on in my videos. There were also 6 other men witnessing this and they did nothing, I think he did it purely for the fact I was on my own and I am small so I look young. I’ve contacted Pure Gym and had no response back, I’ve had people tell me they have experience similar things in other Pure Gyms. Back to JD gyms I go. @PureGymOfficial ♬ original sound – yaz
Do gyms have a female harassment problem?
A 2021 survey by RunRepeat found that 57.63% of women have been harassed when working out at the gym. This is 2.68x more than male gym members, with only 21% them also reporting harassment.
The survey, which was answered by 3,774 gym members, also found that 92.31% of cases of female harassment at gyms go unreported.
Moreover, of the female gym members who were harassed, 25.65% either stopped using gyms completely or switched gyms; 28.69% reported feeling unsafe or uncomfortable at their regular gym; 30.13% changed their gym routine/avoided certain areas of the gym, while 20.19% changed their clothes/appearance in response to harassment.
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