In 2007, The Anti-Gym made its appearance on Colorado television with commercials featuring a buff, aggressive “trainer” mocking overweight women saying “you’ll never get a hubby if you’re a chubby.” The Anti-Gym boasted techniques such as DJs, cage dancers, and hurling cupcakes and insults at overweight members while they walked on a treadmill. Sounds horrific, right? Well, they were mismanaged and unsuccessful enough that the Colorado branches went under pretty quickly.
Any gym that dares to treat an entire class of gym-goers poorly can’t be successful, right?
Enter Body Exchange in Vancouver: a gym that has a literal ban on thin people. The gym is exclusively for the overweight community, and the owners make absolutely no apologies for that fact. The Body Exchange website states “Canada’s Only Fitness and Adventure Company Exclusive to a Plus Size Clientele,” and encourages “fearless fitness at any size.”
There is a fair amount of rage being spattered throughout the internet about “reverse discrimination” and how unfair this is, but I’ve seen both sides of this and have to say that I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing.
I have been all over the map. I used to be overweight, then I was a personal trainer at a gym once I got fit, and now I write for Curvy Girl Guide and interact with amazing women of all fitness levels. I’m also a fitness junkie and spend a *lot* of time in my gym. My gym is very “aesthetically focused,” and I’ll admit that I do my sled drags and squats and kettlebell swings while wearing coordinated lululemon outfits and lipgloss. There is a distinct “see and be seen” vibe at my gym, and I buy into it. It doesn’t bother me; it motivates me to work harder, faster, longer. I’m one competitive beeyatch.
However, it can be devastating for people who are new to fitness. I remember the first time I walked into a gym: I felt scared and insecure and on display the entire time I was working out. Seeing girls in cute, tiny lycra outfits with swingy ponytails made me want to hurl myself into traffic, and then possibly into a McDonald’s for comfort fries. Having a hot, ripped trainer explaining fitness to me and pinching my rolls for body fat percentage was nothing short of utter humiliation. There was nothing motivating or positive about the experience whatsoever, and I left discouraged and returned only a handful of times. Fitness FAIL.
Had I been offered the opportunity to work out in a safe, judgment free place with people who looked like me and understood the struggles I was going through, I would have likely succeeded much sooner and learned to love the gym much more quickly. I applaud those who are overweight and want to make changes in their bodies to be healthier and stronger. I doubly applaud those gym owners and trainers who are creating safe, motivational environments for overweight individuals who are ready to start working out. I think we should do whatever we can to make fitness fun and accessible to every population.
To those who are already “fit” and believe that they’re now victims of reverse discrimination? No. Just…no. Some people think being thin and fit can mean cuter clothes, more positive attention from the opposite sex, less embarrassment on airplanes, being able to sit and eat a sandwich in a restaurant without feeling like you’re being picked apart by everyone around you, better paying jobs…you name it. There is an entire world waiting to reward thin people just for being thin, so I don’t even want to hear the word “discrimination” in regards to someone who is a size 6 and physically fit. High-five yourself for rocking that bikini and start being encouraging to other people, even if it means they get a separate gym and some needed motivation.
I might seriously consider a gym if we had that kind around here. I am very overweight and out of shape, I hate exercise and it hurts, but I LOVE water and actually enjoy water exercises but there is no way in heck I would go swim at a pool full of skinny folks!!!
I’ve seen what the skinny chicks are talking about, and what the fitness buffs are talking about, and it’s shockingly NOT about heavier people so much as it is about other thin or fit people. People tend to compare themselves and criticize folks who are very close to them in body type. Like, that girl has a flatter stomach? FINE! I have bigger boobs. Or that girl is running 10 MPH on an incline? FINE! My outfit is cuter!
The mompetitions at my gym pool are disgusting. Six pack abs on 45 year old mothers of triplets? Freaks of nature. Lucky them. I’m sure they work incredibly hard for it, and I’m just jealous. But know that they’re thinking about themselves much more than they’re criticizing you for being at the pool being a little heavier. So go! With confidence! It’s your summer too, and you deserve to cool off and get fit in the water, even if you’re surrounded by supermodel-thin chicks!
I’d consider doing pool aerobics if you like the pool. It’s usually heavier women who are looking for low-impact aerobic activity to begin their fitness journey. I did it when I was pregnant, and found them to be kind, inclusive, effective, and really fun!
This is so true. Please go to a water aerobics class and enjoy it. You’ll be cooler while you sweat, and the women in these classes are usually quite inclusive.
Great points of view on both sides.
Yeah, I hated the gym. Its why I find it much easier to workout outside, where I feel less judged. I get nice appreciative smiles from the thin people on the trail. Its good encouragement and not at all like going to the gym.
Hell, I just want those fancy workout underwear that wick.
I think it is so easy for people who are fit to not realize the barriers that exist to getting there. From the cost of healthier foods to the availability of plus sized workout clothes. What I wouldn’t give for some cute matching Lulumon.
I hear you on the barriers to fitness. When I lost my excess weight, it was by running outside in too-small sneakers (lost a toenail), wearing athletic shorts from the men’s section at Ross, wearing cheap cotton t-shirts that didn’t wick anything, eating packages of frozen veggies for dinner, having friends sneak me into their apartment gyms, and just generally trying to get what I could done on an EXTREMELY limiting budget. I couldn’t afford a gym, fancy clothes, new shoes, or a personal trainer. Having had that experience, though, I am a little less forgiving on the “I can’t afford to be a healthy weight” thing.
I know there are areas in the US where there LITERALLY aren’t grocery stores, so certainly there are people for whom the barriers are pretty high and horrendous. And there are people who come from cultures or backgrounds where they literally don’t have access to the education to make life changes. McDonalds is what children are taught to eat as a valid meal plan. That’s heartbreaking. But I also know there are places in the world that don’t have fancy gyms or shoes or lululemon, and people in those places are fit because they participate in a much more active daily lifestyle.
The point here is not “that’s wrong” so much as just “anyone can do it!” And if you end up doing it without having access to the nicer things that some people have? Then double points for you for overcoming adversity to be your best, healthiest self!
so what happens if a gym member loses weight, and they’re no longer overweight? Do they get the boot, too?
As someone who is overweight, I stilly think this is, at best, silly. Striving to be inclusive by being exclusive just doesn’t make sense to me.
This was my first thought as well. When do they decide you’re “too thin” and when that happens do they just say you’re not welcome there anymore?
This and also, who are the trainers? The instructors? Even if you have trainers and instructors who are plus-sized, by virtue of the activities in which they are engaging, they are going to lose weight. What happens where they are no longer plus-sized? Are they then fired because they don’t look a certain way? That IS discrimination. And no different than the post you wrote not that long ago about being fired because of your boobs.
In my running class I go to (which is not run through a gym, but through a running supply store), they specifically offer classes to those going out and taking their first steps in fitness. The instructors for those classes tend to be bulkier whether it’s because of weight lifting or just how they’re built. Point being that they’re not skinny, tiny little things who will make the newbies feel insecure inadvertently. The only downside is when they have those instructors teach the general classes (as in people who are everywhere from ‘just starting out’ to people who ‘have been into running for years’) they tend not to push the people who have been running as hard as they should.
I just started going to Planet Fitness in May and the only time I really feel neurotic is when I go up to use the weight machines. It isn’t the thin girls that freak me out… it is the more muscular guys. But I actually got a compliment last night from a male stranger that didn’t make me want to go home and never come back. He said “So many girls think they don’t need to do weights cuz they might get bulky. You come up here and do 90 frigin pounds on a pulldown then another 45 on the shoulder press. Great job.” I know I couldn’t do any of this at the Y.
Strong is the new skinny, right??
I understand both sides of the story (everyone likes to rant that they are “discriminated against”), but a gym for overweight individuals really does make so much sense. I have started speaking my mind at my gym — I cannot tell you the number of bitchy college girls who make comments like “I can’t believe I have to wait for a treadmill while that gross fatass is just walking.” Yes, it’s always annoying to have to wait, and sure it’s a little more so when you want to get in a good run and someone is taking a stroll, but I always want to slap people with comments like that and ask them how, exactly, the “fatass” on the treadmill is supposed to build up fitness if people don’t think he/she should be allowed to use the equipment?
Ignore the catty bitches. IGNORE THEM. Everyone has equal right to use the equipment, and if I see you working hard? I’m just happy for you. College girls can be REALLY judgey, but it’s because they haven’t experienced much of life. They don’t know what it’s like to have your metabolism slow down in your 30s, or to pee your pants every step you take on a treadmill (I’m raising my hand here) or to deal with mobility/joint issues, or to battle against genetic predisposition to obesity. I highly recommend smiling at them, shrugging your shoulders, and saying “I know it’s tough to share gym equipment, but I’m really trying to get in shape and this is my first step. Thanks for being patient.”
Kill the kitties with kindness, right?
It’s never been in response to me – but rather, overhearing other people comment about others in the gym. I’ll admit that it is a little frustrating when I’m waiting to use equipment for other people who aren’t even breaking a sweat, but I’d never comment on it, since everyone has to start somewhere! But while I wouldn’t feel the need to join an “overweight only” gym because a normal gym does not intimidate me, I 100% understand why other individuals would rather train in a gym that solely caters to those who are overweight. My gym, at least, is 65% skinny college girls, 30% male college varsity athletes who throw around a lot of weights, and 5% normal people (like me – neither skinny, nor college aged), and I definitely witness a lot of bullying from girls commenting that others are too fat or guys commenting that others are too weak.
Wow. You’re way nicer than I am. I would give them the Icy Glare of Death and then lecture them on respect and common decency.
hmmm…. I’m not too sure what I think about this, simply for the reason that thin people die from heart disease too. Being thin certainly doesn’t always mean healthy. If a thin person went to the gym with the intention of being healthy, why should they be turned away?
Although I do love the idea of people that are intimidated by the gym would now have a safe and comfortable place to go and be understood.
You’re SO right about this. But every regular gym caters to thin people wanting to get fit. Being “skinny fat” or unhealthy but thin aren’t as visible for criticism from other gym goers. Does that make sense?
Hell yeah. I think it is a good idea, maybe not the “you’re so skinny and we don’t want you hear,” but the idea of an environment that encourages people of all sizes is great. Plus I just really love the way you wrote this post.
And OMG I can not believe I used the wrong here/hear. Sheesh. Sorry about that.
I’m so glad you commented (here or hear works for me!). It’s sometimes difficult to tackle weight issues on a website called “Curvy Girl Guide” because obviously this is a site that accepts all body types as beautiful and valuable, and we want to make sure that we’re not making people feel like they need to change. It’s especially difficult when it’s me writing it, because I’m not overweight right now. But my history of being overweight, having lost a parent to obesity, and having a training and nutrition education puts me in a unique position to understand the different sides of the coin. My hope is that when I write about weight/fitness/diet, that it’s seen as balanced, informative, and judgement-free, because that’s exactly how I feel.
Well you are doing a good job because that is definitely how it comes across.
I think it’s a great idea. I also think trainers & gyms could see serious business if they offer mini versions of Biggest Loser-style training. “Can’t drop out of your life for 3 months or maybe you’re not 250 lbs over your goal weight, but still want a super intense, extremely tailored workout? Sign up here.”
Maybe I’m just not familiar enough with services provided by trainers but I’m sure there are people that want something like what BL contestants get, but can’t afford to leave home for months at a time, or aren’t big enough to even try out for BL.
I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of that, surely some savvy person started doing it after the first season of BL. But just in case they haven’t, that shit was my idea!!!
Great article, Kristie! I have to admit, I was annoyed when I first read about this gym, and I also wondered how it planned to stay in business, because once members get “fit” won’t they be excluded? However, you bring up some great points, and the fact of the matter is, I failed to see the other side…the insecure, awkward feelings of those who feel they don’t belong at just any old gym.
the bottom line is, people need to do what works for them, and if this works for people, then good for them!
I would LOVE to have one of those gyms near me. Hell, I’d drive 50 miles to get to a gym like that! Working out, either at the gym or outside, feels like nothing more than an exercise in humiliation. I feel like everyone must be looking at me, thinking how disgusting I look–all fat and sweaty. Some of that is in my head, no doubt, but the idea of an atmosphere where I could actually feel more relaxed is beyond wonderful.
I go to a gym that sort of provides this without an actual ban on the skinny. Viquest Center, which is run by our local hospital, is a gym/rehab/community center. They do outpatient physical therapy so there are a ton of elderly people who use it once they get through with their PT. Hospital employees get a discount so I’m often on the treadmill next to a 75 year old surgeon who just wants to keep his heart going or a heavy girl just starting her weight loss. They offer nutrition and cooking classes, dance classes for couples, all sorts of activities that appeal to people who aren’t the traditional “gym rat”. There are people of all sizes and shapes and its a very judge free environment.
I don’t go to a gym, but do any of them offer cooking classes/nutrition classes/etc. as part of your regular gym fee or do you have to pay for the personal trainer and/or nutritionist to get information like that? I think it’d be good if the gyms offered things like that as part of your regular fee (or the cooking classes might have to be an additional fee for materials/supplies).
My dad one year said that he wanted a gym membership for Christmas, but he only ever went a few times because he felt that he was looked down upon because he was overweight. The following year he wanted a treadmill which my mom dutifully got him. He only used that a few times before he said that he felt he couldn’t use it because I always had friends over at the house and he thought he’d be looked down upon there are well. So I think a gym like this would be something he’d be interested in.
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