Canadian Gym Bans Skinny People

[missmeow 156]

Canada has a new gym, Body Exchange, that caters exclusively to plus-sized women. They even go so far as to ban skinny people because they “bring down morale” of the overweight clients. Some say it’s a great way for overweight people to feel comfortable enough to exercise, but it’s really reverse discrimination at its finest.

Touting themselves as the “only fitness and adventure company exclusive to a plus-size clientele” Body Exchange offers fit camps and personal training that combine strength training with cardio workouts in a “welcoming and supportive environment.” As founder and CEO Louise Green told TheProvince.com, it’s a ”safe haven.”

Safe haven from skinny people, it appears.

Green said that they strive for plus-sized groups where people feel they are with peers:

Many of our clients have not had successful fitness pasts so I can see the anxiety before we get started and I can see the relief and happiness after we finish. People are often too fearful to become active. There wasn’t a model that offered camaraderie. I used to walk into fitness classes where nobody would even say ‘Hi.’ This has got to be fun or it’s not going to work.

So skinny people are rude and unfriendly?

As one client, Lisa Schaffer, put it, in other gyms there were “tiny little Lululemon people running around.” At a size 22, she didn’t feel she was represented.

Body Exchange clients are screened over the phone, and those who don’t fit the plus-size criteria are not accepted and told to go elsewhere, according to Green:

The presence of that person in our program will bring down morale.

The presence of that person? Isn’t that just outright discrimination? Like any other gym would be able to screen and ban obese people because they didn’t fit in or they might be too distracting? Come on.

I certainly understand that people like to work out with like-bodied peers sometimes. And no one wants to feel judged or discriminated against because of their size-especially at the gym where we are often at our most vulnerable and unclothed state. But to go so far as to ban skinny people is just wrong.

In addition to stereotyping that skinny people are just “tiny Lululemons” who are rude and distracting and serious morale suckers, what happens when these women lose weight? Are they kicked out of the program and told they are then too thin to come back? And what about the instructors? Are they also only allowed to be fat?

This brings up a lot of questions, but mostly, it just reeks of reverse discrimination. And we’re never going to win the body wars if we continue to divide ourselves and pit one group against another.

Read more: http://blisstree.com/live/obesity/canadian-gym-wrongly-bans-skinny-people-because-they-bring-down-morale-721/#ixzz1yZJjFwT0

[missmeow 156]

I don't see anything wrong with a gym that caters to plus-sized clientele. When/if they lose weight, they can go to a "normal" gym where they will fit in.

Fat people are discriminated against. It is not enabling to seek out people who are in similar situations as you and who understand where you are coming from. That is why everyone is here, right?

No one wants to go someplace and be stared at or pointed fingers at or made comments at. People want to go to the gym and exercise and maybe get some nutritional advice. We have men's gyms and women's gyms built around the premise that being around similar people is less distracting and/or more comfortable.

Obese people getting into fitness have special needs to consider in their exercise routines are larger sizes that just are not considered by your typical gym rat trainer. Meeting these needs in a supportive environment is a good thing. A lot of people, thin or fat, will avoid the gym just because of the meat market, holier than thou atmospheres at some gyms. It only takes one bad experience to turn some people off for life. If fat people can get the equipment and the fitness programs they need in a manner that will keep them coming back and keep them at their healthiest, then more power to them.

And I contest the idea that the only reason a fat person works out is to get thin. You can work out regularly and not get thin. I know several people who are fat and work out all the time for their health. They just like to eat and have crappy metabolisms. They're in better shape than most people.

ETA: I don't particularly like the tone or stereotyping of thin people in the article, which might also be what is turning people off.

[cookies 56]

I like the idea of a gym that "caters" to plus-size people. For one, I'd love to work with trainers that are familiar with the physical limitations that some obese people have and trainers that want to work with the obese.

That said, reverse discrimination isn't really the solution. I think it's fine that they are very clear about their mission and their target clientele, but if a skinny gal comes in, looks over the gym, is told that the gym "specializes" in working with the obese and still wants to join? Well then, join they should.

And Butterthebean, I'd love a list of bikes that would work for the very large. I'm close to 400 and didn't think bike riding was an option. I'd love to when I'm cleared to exercise (I'm currently on "rest" due to a blood clot). I have bad knees and lots of walking isn't working for me.