Often women share their negative experiences at the gym, from being filmed or photographed without permission to receiving uncomfortable comments and being harassed.
But one woman has gone viral after posting a video about a positive experience she had at the gym, praising a man for not checking her out while she was doing a squat workout.
TikTok user Libby Christensen (@libbychristensen) was filming herself doing squat exercises where a man can be seen sitting behind her in the corner of the video, staring at the floor before proceeding to do a workout of his own.
“I just need to shout out this man who was behind me while I was hack squatting,” Christensen wrote in overlay text while The Golden Girls theme song played in the background. “I was so uncomfy that I was being stared down but very thankful that my booty was not his focus.” After watching the video back, she confessed the guy’s actions made her feel “at ease.”
Since sharing her positive gym experience, Christensen’s TikTok has received 4.5m views, nearly 425,000 likes, along with thousands of comments from people sharing their thoughts.
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There were men who noted how they try to avoid making women uncomfortable in the gym.
One person wrote: “That’s called the “ah yes the floor is made of floor.”
“When I’m in this position at the gym I have to move in fear of the woman thinking I’m a creep. The uncomfortable feeling goes both ways sometimes,” another person said.
To which Christensen replied: “Most definitely feel you here! It’s hard to gauge peoples intentions especially when we all walk around in silence!”
Someone else added: “There’s more guys doing everything they can to make sure it’s very clear they’re not staring at women in the gym.”
As with any viral video, there were some negative comments telling Christensen to concentrate on herself, and questioning whether the guy wants to be filmed and even berating her outfit.
One person said: “Maybe just focus on your mind-muscle connection instead of what everyone else is doing and you might make gains.”
“Do you not think he’s “uncomfy” with u filming him,” another person wrote.
But there were plenty of people who defended the TikToker in response.
One person said: “Why are we focusing on her clothing. people still get harrassed or assaulted in things other than ‘skin tight’ attire.”
“I feel like some of y’all won’t be satisfied till females are wearing sweats & a turtle neck to the gym,” another person wrote.
