No Grunting at Planet Fitness
 

Ok so it seems Planet Fitness and a few other gyms are instituting this "no grunting" policy.

If you grunt while lifting or drop heavy weights on the floor the "lunk head alarm" will be set off and the individual is basically publicly humiliated and his membership revoked on the spot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ6OrO1f610



The reasoning behind this is that it makes for an "intimidating atmosphere" at a gym




Now as a general rule I dont see many men complaining about this kind of stuff (intimidating atmosphere) therefore in my mind is to keep the female cardio bunnies and yoga practitioners in their little safe calm zone.




Since this is the only exercise forum that has a large female membership i am here to ask you what do you think about this "no grunting policy"?

Seems a bit extreme. But the guy thinks we're idiots if he wants us to believe it embarrassed him, but he's talking about it on TV. Yeah, I believe he didn't swear and yell at the gym manager.

I can't give you an opinion on this because I'm still struck by the phrase "female cardio bunnies."

Give me a few minutes to think about this, because I'm pretty sure it offends me.

We do have female lifters here. They often show up & give excellent advice. Ladies who lift, do you grunt and cry out like you're giving birth when you handle weights? Is vocalization at that moment common throughout the human species, or is it purely a male tendency?

I can't get over the 'cardio bunnies' comment either and I do think its offensive.

A gym should be a place for everyone as everyone had paid their dues (hopefully). I think many of us have dealt with the stupid grunting and weight dropping that occurs in the free weights section. I always was amused by it and never understand why someone would like to grunt other than "oh look at me, I'm mr strong man, this weight is so heavy that I need to grunt". I've also been amused by the men that are obviously doing exercises poorly in bad form.

Oh and I saw the video. What he explained he was doing doesn't sound like grunting but I'm doubting that he was doing it like that if they kicked him out. Although the sign in the video says "No Deadlifts"?! I couldn't read the entire line but huh?

I'd basically read the rules of the gym and if you don't feel like you could follow them, then don't join. There are certain gyms that cater to certain clientele. There is a gym near me that has a very small free weight section and lots of other stuff, "state of the art". I could tell it wasn't for me.

That is beyond nuts! Next thing you know there will be no grunting in the delivery room either!

Yeah, the "Cardio bunnies" line isn't very friendly. There are strong women, who lift, who train, and who work HARD, who are annoyed by grunting at the gym.

When I was at a gym, I had problems with it, but not because it was intimidating. It was DISTRACTING. Just like many other distracting things that were banned at gyms I used (like talking on your cell phone, or wearing strong perfume). It intrudes on people's space (which they are paying for, just like you are)...many times, I could hear these LOUD grunts through my headphones. If my headphones don't drown you out, you're too loud, whether you're gabbing with your friend on the treadmill next to me or lifting weights so heavy you have to grunt/scream. It's not an issue of being intimidated, it's an issue of being irritated.

I belong to Planet Fitness and I deadlift every single time...no complaints from anyone.

I appreciate the fact that there is no screaming at PF. Another rule is dress; no do rags, workboots, jeans, etc. PF wants to create a place where everyone from all walks of life can feel comfortable, instead of feeling intimidated. Those who want to grunt and scream should do it where grunting and screaming are considered okay.

What exactly is offensive about "cardio bunnies"

Girls that go and run on the treadmill for 2 hours and then walk out, never touching the weights therefore not knowing the amount of effort it takes to do a 550 pound deadlift.

That's what is generally regarded as a cardio bunny in the lifting community, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Didnt mean to offend anyone by it

There's grunting at my Crossfit gym, when somebody is lifting at or near their max, or on their last round of the metcon-from-heck. It's the norm there, though, so it's not disturbing anybody. Nobody grunts at our gym just to grab attention, though, because there are plenty of legit reasons to grunt and drop heavy stuff on the floor.

The guy in the video looks like a BBer, so he'd probably be more comfortable at Gold's, where I'm pretty sure grunting is allowed. There are different types of gyms for different types of workouts and personalities. I say, go where they do the kind of lifting and/or exercise you like. If you're the only one doing what you do, it will probably turn out to be a bad fit at some point.

I would say as long as it's not excessive who cares? I mean heck I sometimes would grunt when trying to lift a weight- it's not easy!

Seems like a dumb rule to me- unless the person is going overboard I don't see what the big deal is...

Well, the term "bunnies" sort of implies a lack of respect. For the women doing the workouts, as well as their method of working out.

Sort of like if they referred to all lifters as "lifting lunkheads". It's a widely used term, just not very polite.

I suspect the rule is not because all grunting is bad, but because it's much, much easier to enforce "no grunting" than to enforce "no excessive grunting." That would be a nightmare to negotiate. I still think the rule is a bit much.

I agree. It's like you're saying that cardio is not as important as weight lifting. On the other hand, to imply the cardio is better than weight lifting isn't good either. i think they are both important and people who do them are INFINITELY better than the people sitting at home, watching TV, and not being active AT ALL. You could say "cardio bunnies" and be derogatory, but the reality of it is that THEY are the ones who are being active (as compared to the rest of our nation of couch potatoes). They shouldn't be penalized for being active, even if their way of being active is different from other people. Just like if someone wants to ONLY lift weights, that's fine too. It's a personal choice, and they don't deserve to be called a "lifting lunkhead" either (though I personally think a mix of cardio and weightlifting would be most ideal, it's really just a personal choice in the end).

I swear, we could eliminate so many rules if people just used politeness and common sense. But it is so uncommon in some settings!

Clearly all grunting during a workout is not distracting or obnoxious, or interferes with people who are working out, which is why the rule is excessive. But I have heard, been distracted by, and found obnoxious "excessive" grunting by people lifting, making noise loud enough to hear through my earphones with music going, which has resulted in injury at least once I'm aware of (the man lifting next to this one guy who would just let rip these incredibly loud grunt/screams during lifting was not expecting the loud noise and dropped a weight on his foot. Not pretty). Dropping heavy weights makes a similarly loud, startling noise, which can result in injury and distraction, even to those doing cardio (I also saw someone fly off of a treadmill after she turned her head to see what happened after the loud crash of a guy dropping a heavy bar).

If the grunting is loud enough, or the bar-dropping loud enough that it startles people, it's dangerous, as humans have automatic startle reactions (looking up, flinching, etc) that can be dangerous in gyms where people are lifting heavy things or using moving equipment. Beyond the annoyance factor, it can be a safety issue, and I think that putting limits in place is reasonable. Obviously all grunts don't fit this description, but without having a decibel meter in the lifting sections, how does one set the standard without using some common sense.

I too have been irritated, but not intimidated by grunting - and some of it from women (one college aged gal in particular). My gym recently added on a two story addition. Upstairs is a spinning room and downstairs is a really nice WL area. Has some sort of rubber padded floor, platforms for lifting heavy that give when you drop a heavy weight. Best of all it has AC! (as does the spinning room above). I use it because it has most of what I need, and I drag the rest in there (DBs and bands). But because it has all the heavy lifting equipment, it has the grunters. But I also expect it for that reason. I could work out in another free weight part of the gym, which has no heavy stuff, but it also has no AC and not as nice a floor. :)