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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:
RJnomore · 07/08/2015 21:29

I think this is a terrible idea.

For a start, define how you choose who is fat enough to join please?

EgyptianSnow · 07/08/2015 21:30

It wouldn't work because who is to say what is fat and what isn't. Doctor told me I'm over weight and I'm a 10-12 size in pants

Lurkedforever1 · 07/08/2015 21:31

What kind of people make bigger people feel uncomfortable? And why would a gym named 'curves' be something that wouldn't interest them?

chiruri · 07/08/2015 21:31

YABU. To echo PP, do you get kicked out if you dare to get fitter or thinner? The other people in the gym couldn't care less about you; they're far more interested in themselves (this is coming from a relatively thin and fit gym-junkie).

RJnomore · 07/08/2015 21:31

And I can see lots of insecure "thin" people deciding to join it because they'd feel less under pressure.

I could go on and on and on about why it's a terrible idea, but I will try not to.

AuntyMag10 · 07/08/2015 21:32

You can solve this problem yourself by worrying about your own business rather than the person next to you. A silly idea.

GarminGirl · 07/08/2015 21:32

bloody ridiculous idea

EgyptianSnow · 07/08/2015 21:32

Would be better if body builders and fitness fanatics had their own gym and then normal people who just work out every now and then have one but then someone will probably kick up a fuss

GoodbyeToAllOfThat · 07/08/2015 21:33

Wow, am I invisible?

As I understand it, they are entirely self-selecting.

RJnomore · 07/08/2015 21:33

Body builders do tend to have their own gyms. Serious ones anyway.

Normal people who just work out every now and then aren't really very likely to be a sustainable business model, are they?

WorraLiberty · 07/08/2015 21:34

Great.

So at what point does someone pull you out by the ear and tell you, you're now too slim for the fat only gym? Grin

"Oi you! Yes you skinny minnie! We can see your ribs now so FUCK OFF!!"

Grin
Newlywed56 · 07/08/2015 21:35

What happens if you join fat, then the gym works so you get thin.... Do you then have to get a new gym ? Confused

ToadsJustFellFromTheSky · 07/08/2015 21:36

Yes you can be fat and fit.

If someone was sprinting 5K beside you in the gym but that person was also fat would it still make you feel bad? Or is it just because she was fit and (presumably) slim that has made you feel pathetic?

YeOldeTrout · 07/08/2015 21:36

What happens if you slim down as a result of going to the fatty gym.
Do you have to leave? Wouldn't that be some kind of skinny-discrimination to make skinnies leave?
Not sure OP thought this thru.

WorraLiberty · 07/08/2015 21:37

YeOldeTrout can you imagine the lost revenue in refunded subscriptions?

Not to mention the support group/friends that person would be forced to lose if they lost weight first.

BikeRunSki · 07/08/2015 21:38

It's not really a great business plan though is it - fat person joins fat only gym. Starts excercise regime, possibly changes diet too, loses weight - gets too thin to belong to gym.

BikeRunSki · 07/08/2015 21:39

X post several times!

OTheHugeManatee · 07/08/2015 21:39

I think lots of people would avoid a 'fat only' gym or session because they don't think they're fat. And skinny people with body dysmorphia would turn up believing they're fat and make the actually fat people feel uncomfortable. That would prompt bunfights about who was 'allowed in' when fat people tried to get the anorexics banned.

Unless you set the entry criteria as people with above a certain percentage of body fat, it would effectively be a gym for people who believe they are fat. So effectively a gym for people with poor body image / heightened self-consciousness.

Also, what happens when you join a fat only gym and lose weight so you're not fat any more? Do you get kicked out if you succeed in doing what you joined the gym to do?

I think the idea of not being shown up by the lithe athlete on the next treadmill is very tempting to a lumbering fatso like me, but the complexities of a fat-only gym are both unattractive and unworkable.

Twinkie1 · 07/08/2015 21:40

Why in gods name do you think the fit woman cares what the hell the woman next to her looks like?

I can sprint 5k after bloody working hard after having DD, at what stage would you decide I no longer fitted in at your fat gym and had to move to a 'thin' one.

Thin/fit people have at some stage probably not been that way and really don't care less what you look like other than to think well done.

Original poster
TaylorQuifft · 07/08/2015 21:43

But would the former fat people be a good ad for the gym. I was etc and now I have a below 25% bmi.

OP posts:
lilacblossomtime · 07/08/2015 21:47

Well I think there could be something like beginners room in a larger gym, with a smaller range of equipment, lighter weights and so on. Friendly instructor on call who will explain things patiently.

Lurkedforever1 · 07/08/2015 21:48

I'd love to hear the outcry if the reverse was set up 'yeah, we don't give a toss about your fitness or experience, we just don't let fatties in so fuck off'
I'm also interested in what the fat criteria is op, average height untoned size 10? Size 24+? Anyone who thinks they're fat?

YeOldeTrout · 07/08/2015 21:49

So the model is the fatties-turned-skinnies could stay members after all? At what point would the new fatties find the old fatties intimidating?

Maybe you could reframe it as 'Take it Easy' Sessions. Or 'Beginners' or some other marketing ploy to lure in the insecure who might include TOFIs after all (Thin on outside but fat on inside), because TOFIs are a very unfit group, too.

hstar1995 · 07/08/2015 21:50

Thing is though, I'm not sure it would actually solve anything. I do understand the feeling self conscious at the gym, I used to in the beginning but after a while of going I learnt no one else cares what I do/look like (provided I wipe down machines I've sweated over etc), and that actually, people are generally really nice. It can be good having people who are ultra fit there - some people I know have advised me on how a machine works, how best to pace myself when running. As for fitness, well unless you're a top Olympic champion there's always someone out there who's fitter than you so don't stress over it Grin

I feel a 'fat' only gym would do more harm than good - enabling self consciousness and negative self belief. As an aside, when a user was no longer 'fat', would they be kicked out / membership revoked? because I love my gym, and the people there and find the trainers really helpful and encouraging. I'd hate to join a 'fat only' gym, enjoy it, make friends etc, only to slim down and be told to join a 'normal' gym. It would mean joining another gym, making new friendships etc. For someone who's joined that gym to feel comfortable, is perhaps anxious around fitter/slimmer people, it could be extremely nerve wracking having to make the switch?

RJnomore · 07/08/2015 21:50

Well you wouldn't be allowed in the gym Taylor. And I don't think it's a great ad to say, here is an ex user but they aren't allowed in now!

And who are you going to employ to work there?

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