I was the recipient of unwanted advice from a random man today.

[Pollydonia]

..and actually remembered to say " thanks Random Man !" He just looked confused but another woman near by burst out laughing.
It was in the gym, I was doing my own thing , he tried to tell me to do it " his" way .
Seriously though, I'm 49 so I'm less likely to be intimidated by shit like this. I've also emailed the gym as a heads up .

It. Is. The . Gym. Policy.

It can't be policy to prohibit people speaking to each other
You may be interpreting the word "approach" slightly differently to how it was intended.

Such a bizarre post. I don’t understand why “thanks random man” is amusing or empowering? Or why OP would email the club about an isolated occasion when someone spoke to her?

I find a terse “I know what I’m doing” normally sorts out any officious bystanders.

Nicely done, OP. 😂😂

Unless OP is about to injure him, he should mind his own fucking business. When I want advice on my form, I'll pay a professional for it.

@Lolliepoppie I would have advised you to find the original Random man thread which was brilliant but the search function is now so fucked you wouldn't have a hope of tracing it!

No, I don't think she is. I think this was very much the kind of thing the gym had in mind, i.e. women working out alone being at best annoyed and at worst intimidated by men telling them what to do and how to do it.

This!

This bloke is obviously a sex pest. Needs locking up!

Yes, because random men always know what they're talking about, so women - who are always fuckwits who know nothing - should just follow a man's advice. Right? 🙄

@InternetRandom exactly this.
They can check CCTV and see if it's part of a pattern of behaviour. As I said in a previous post they have lost members over this issue and are now very proactive.

Well done and thanks for the laugh today.

FO Random man!

A man once came up to me when I was pregnant to tell me I must breastfeed and how to do it so that it would definitely be successful. He was a friend of a friend so not quite ‘random man’ but if ever there was a moment of male ‘knowledge’ arrogance, that was it. I was floored.

It’s so common that these absolute goons think they’re entitled to tell us silly little ladies how to do things, and the worst bit is, when you rightly tell them to fuck off they act wounded because they were ‘only trying to help’.

Also, OP, I wear a huge pair of headphones in the gym. Keeps people away.

I didnt say he was a sex pest, but he was a moron telling me to leg press 120kg ( not asking, Telling) I've got nerve damage in my back and hips and my gym program has been made specifically to meet my needs.
But y'know, he owns a penis so he must know better than me.

Maybe he's foreign and in his culture it's perfectly ok to talk to strangers especially if you're trying to be helpful? I think your reaction was very disproportionate.

Clutching at straws there . He was english from his south east accent, I'm Irish . No massive clash of culture, just a knob being a knob.

Well done!!! You are a Mumsnet hero. Random man can fuck off

Maybe he's foreign and in his culture it's perfectly ok to talk to strangers especially if you're trying to be helpful?

It’s pretty normal to talk to people you don’t know in my gym, male or female. They don’t have to be foreign. Different sort of gym with different clientele maybe.

Eeesh the man hate is strong on this one, must be hard for you all… life and all that

Would you have said thank you random woman and emailed the gym if a woman had approached you?

Why on Earth are people making excuses for him??!

There's a difference between respectful communication, and getting up in someone's space when they're clearly in their own zone doing their thing, and telling them what to do when the teller knows nothing about that person who was minding their own business not asking for advice.

It was the right thing to do. He's a dick for behaving like that. I can understand if people nod or smile hello politely. But getting in your space - no. Leaning on the equipment you're using - no. Unsolicited and uninformed advice - no.

Hopefully he'll leave you be I'm the future.

OP "but he was a moron telling me to leg press 120kg ( not asking, Telling)"

I think I know the type. Did he frame it as "you can do so much more"? And expect you to be flattered?