Fitting in at the gym
WHISPERS, disapproving glances, catty comments. Often, the fear of encountering these situations keeps overweight people from the gym.
And who could blame them for thinking they wouldn’t be welcome? Most health club advertisements feature ultra-fit models or celebrities, not double-chinned women or love-handled men.
Yet health clubs can be supportive environments for the overweight and obese, say fitness experts and psychologists. That’s not to say that a snarky remark never passed the lips of a member, but most gymgoers are there to get through their workouts, not to knock someone who’s got pounds to lose. Still, the perception of the health club as an unsupportive, even humiliating, environment persists among some people.
“It’s one of the biggest barriers I deal with in working with overweight people,” says Keith Valone, a Pasadena psychologist. “There’s a terror and shame projected into the gym, much of which is transferred from childhood gym experiences,” such as ruthless teasing.
The reality, Valone says, is that most fit people who see an overweight person in a gym have “feelings of respect and admiration and encouragement: ‘You’re one of us, good for you that you’re here.’ ”
Gyms in Southern California, he says, may be especially supportive. “I think people are so fitness-conscious, and there’s a high value placed on anyone trying to get fit,” he says.
“I have yet to overhear people being particularly rude,” says Delf Enriquez, personal training manager at Equinox in Pasadena. “If anything, we’ve had some people who have had significant weight loss. As they start to show a change, people will come up to them and say, ‘You’re looking great.’ ”
Enriquez was overweight before he became a trainer. He says he never experienced any disrespectful behavior as he tried to get in shape. He can understand the concern, however. “It depends on the kind of environment the people at the gym are creating.”
Some gyms are more accommodating than others to an out-of-shape member’s plight. The Sports Club/LA in West L.A. has a small gym next to the women’s locker room for people who want a more secluded environment. Six months ago, this club and others in the chain instituted a concierge program to help new members ease into gym life; the concierge will even take a new group exercise class with a member.
“I think that someone who’s heavy might think about [being stared at] not just when they go into a health club but when they get on a plane or go into a store,” says Nanette Pattee Francini, Sports Club’s founder and executive vice president. “But it really comes to a head in this situation,” she adds, when the atmosphere includes bright lights, copious mirrors and body-baring outfits.
Advertising bolsters the myth that gyms are the territory of the young and the fit. That may be one reason for the success of Curves, a national chain of circuit-training clubs that caters mainly to older women trying to lose weight or get fit. The gyms, often located in mini-malls, have no locker rooms, making them less intimidating to navigate.
Recognizing the rise in the rate of obesity in the United States, some gyms are trying a different approach to woo members.
A new advertising campaign by Bally Total Fitness focuses on foibles that encourage weight gain, including the lure of fast food and having several different clothing sizes in one closet.
“As an industry, we have created this environment where some people felt as if they had to work out before they went to the gym,” says Jon Harris, Bally’s vice president of media development and communications. “But when you’re dealing with 66% of the country being overweight, and children who are in worse shape than their parents, we clearly need to show people that fitness is fun and there’s no judging involved.”