Too distracting? Choa Chu Kang gym allegedly bans members from posing for mirror selfies

After an hour of pumping irons at the gym, you might be keen to flex your muscles for the gram.

Just don't do it at Anytime Fitness Choa Chu Kang Centre though, after it allegedly bans their members from posing there.

In a TikTok video shared on Sept 13, Dorlisa Leong, who goes by the username Endoraphin, said that she had found out about the alleged ban that was imposed at the gym along Choa Chu Kang Ave 4.

While admitting that "she doesn't really care" about openly showing off her physique since it's too awkward for her, the 23-year-old student questioned why the Anytime Fitness outlet would prevent others from doing so.

The avid gym-goer said: "If a girl were to wear booty shorts and you can see her a** when she's doing squats… In order to make yourself feel comfortable [or not distracted], you won't look at her right?

"So isn't it the same thing [as people posing at the gym]?"

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@endoraphin/video/7142487384695770369?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7138311614314890753[/embed]

But it's understandable why others might feel intimidated when seeing those "who are really big", Leong said, while adding that "people can just look away".

The posing ban might be introduced to attract more pretty girls into the gym, Leong claimed. "They're not going to want… or they might feel uncomfortable with seeing a guy taking off his shirt.

"If the gym is filled up with lots of pretty girls, more guys will want to sign up. So I think that's pretty smart."

After giving her take in the two-minute video, Leong wonders if the alleged ban will cause Anytime Fitness Choa Chu Kang Centre to lose more members.

"Those people, who pose in the gym, usually do it when there're not many girls around," she said.

In the comments, netizens gave their own opinions about flexing their muscles at the gym.

"This is so weird," a netizen said, while another pointed out that it's just "general courtesy" to refrain from posing at the gym.

Speaking to AsiaOne on Tuesday (Sept 20), Leong said that while the information board at the gym stipulates the "no posing" rule, she hopes for more clarity on what exactly it means.

She also found it weird that several members had to sign a "no shirtless" agreement or they would be banned.

"I hope that the gym can change the rule to what they actually want people to follow," Leong said.

AsiaOne has contacted Anytime Fitness Choa Chu Kang Centre on whether there is such a ban and why it was enforced, but the centre would only say that "we do not have any comments about this". 

Several gyms here, however, told AsiaOne that they do not enforce such a ban at their premises.

Lester Ng, the co-founder of Homeground Gym at Farrer Park said, said that he has no "hard and fast rule" to prevent members from taking mirror selfies although "gym patrons might feel uncomfortable with shirtless people in the gym". 

Teh Chong Nye of Grityard Fitness Studio with outlets at Outram Park and along Cecil Street, on the other hand, felt that there's nothing wrong with posing as long as it doesn't cause inconvenience to others.

"If posing helps to reinforce that they have an aesthetically pleasing body and what they're doing [in the gym] works, then that's up to them," he said.

Over in Sydney, a gym removed its mirrors and banned its members from posing for selfies, Daily Mail Australia reported in 2015. 

The owner of the now-defunct Lift Performance Centre said at that time: "It certainly bleeds into the idea people are just there to have a good look at themselves."

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chingshijie@asiaone.com