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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think we need fat only Gyms

142 replies

TaylorQuifft · 07/08/2015 21:00

I feel really demotivated and pathetic when i'm on the running machine doing a walk and the fit women next to me is practically sprinting 5K.

I think its a great business plan. Aibu

OP posts:
GwendolineMaryLacey · 07/08/2015 21:02

Fat only swimming would be fabulous.

Original poster
TaylorQuifft · 07/08/2015 21:04

Agree Gwen

OP posts:
OhBertha · 07/08/2015 21:04

YANBU. Larger myself and would love this idea. No doubt it would be considered "fat shaming" by some though and open up a can of worms which is probably why it doesnt exist

Original poster
TaylorQuifft · 07/08/2015 21:07

How is it fat shaming if they were optional though.

OP posts:
GenevaMaybe · 07/08/2015 21:07

We've got them near us - Curves I think they're called

RainbowFlutterby · 07/08/2015 21:07

Who decides what's fat? I'm a size 12, but I'm wobbly round the middle and not fit enough to run so I'd be walking too.

GoodbyeToAllOfThat · 07/08/2015 21:09

Definitely. There was a programme on Radio 4 not too long back about this. Gyms are fantastically intimidating places, we need to reduce barriers.

yetanotherchangename · 07/08/2015 21:10

That would be great. I'm going to try to think of a good name for it.

ToadsJustFellFromTheSky · 07/08/2015 21:11

Who decides what's fat?

^This.

Fat people can be very fit too so even if there was a fat only gym then there is a chance you still might end up next to someone practically sprinting 5K.

MozzchopsThirty · 07/08/2015 21:11

But no one cares!

I sprinted 5k today whilst the lady next to me walked. I couldn't tell you if she was black, white, fat, thin, naked Grin
I'm just concentrating on not having a stroke GrinGrinGrin

Lurkedforever1 · 07/08/2015 21:13

Yanbu if you wouldn't be offended if an equal number were to operate as 'slim only'. If however you'd feel insulted by a gym/ swimming session saying to you 'sorry you're not slim enough to join' then yabu.

ToadsJustFellFromTheSky · 07/08/2015 21:13

Gyms are fantastically intimidating places, we need to reduce barriers.

They're intimidating for a lot of people, not just fat people.

IME super fit people are the minority in gyms.

GGabcd · 07/08/2015 21:14

Stop worrying about her, she's not giving you a single thought.

GoodbyeToAllOfThat · 07/08/2015 21:16

I don't think you really even need to set entry criteria, just saying a gym is fat-friendly would be sufficient.

I'm not particularly fat, I'm a size 10 but I recently started Pilates and it was intimidating as hell.

Original poster
TaylorQuifft · 07/08/2015 21:16

It would not bother me slim only gyms.

OP posts:
Jedi1 · 07/08/2015 21:17

They already exist...

PiggyBeekman · 07/08/2015 21:19

YABU to assume fat people can't be fit. I'm fat, can run a half marathon and am training for a triathlon. Would I be allowed in your gym?

I've been in all sorts of gyms, no-one gives a monkeys what size the other people are.

Annapurnacircuit · 07/08/2015 21:19

Gyms are intimidating and I'm a size 6!

Everyone seems to know what they are doing, striding around from bit of equipment to the next bit of equipment. They run faster and lift far heavier weights than I can.

I feel a nit in the gym and try and go on Wednesday afternoons when the older folk go and I don't feel as self conscious for some reason.

ememem84 · 07/08/2015 21:20

I'm intimidated by the gym. I'm a size 10 with a v wobbly stomach that I desperately want to sharpen up. I have (on my used to be a pt husbands advice) joined a new gym. It's an old one. Hardly anyone goes. It's quiet.

I'm still intimidated. But. It's working. in the sense that I'm going at least

Original poster
TaylorQuifft · 07/08/2015 21:20

You cant really be fat fat and be fit. Fitness comes from nutrition and exercise. I am currently aiming to lose weight. I do not wish to ever sprint 5km I want to be healthy.

OP posts:
Original poster
TaylorQuifft · 07/08/2015 21:20

This is why their is a gap in the market.

OP posts:
RonaldosAbs · 07/08/2015 21:21

Curves is women only not "fat only".

This wouldn't work, what would happen? People get thrown out as soon as they start to make people feel insecure? Where does that end? I lost 9 stone years ago, I was borderline phobic of the gym, then I realized, it wasn't a fat thing, it was a self esteem thing. I improved that, and I was able to go. It's your insecurity that is the issue, not the people in the gym. People arent judging, they're getting on with their workout.

GoodbyeToAllOfThat · 07/08/2015 21:23

As I understand it, they are entirely self-selecting. There's no minimum weight criteria or anything. I would guess that the kind of people who make bigger people feel uncomfortable in a gym wouldn't be interested, no need to set restrictions.

Original poster
TaylorQuifft · 07/08/2015 21:27

why would anyone who was not fat want to join a fat only gym though.

OP posts:
ShadowStar · 07/08/2015 21:28

So, let's say that a really, really fat person decides that they're going to lose weight, and alongside the weight loss diet, they join the fat only gym.

How thin do they have to get before they get kicked out for being too thin? Will people on the borderline between fat and just a bit overweight be regularly weighed to make sure they're not too thin for the fat only gym?