Young Turks: Gym Kicks Out Obese Woman!!!

[CherylK]

Run time: 03:17 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQNGX8Oz124   Posted on YouTube: June 05, 2010 By YouTube Member: TheYoungTurks Views on YouTube: 301   Posted on DU: June 08, 2010 By DU Member: CherylK Views on DU: 1343

 
http://www.aolhealth.com/2010/06/04/gym-bans-too-fat-woman-from-using-equipment/

[Wizard777]

1. They're not "gyms" anymore. They've become sex clubs.

[donheld]

8. Sex clubs? I must be going to the wrong gym.

[Chubb Rock]

10. No doubt...

My local YMCA seemed harmless enough, who would have known it is actually a den of orgies?

[Wizard777]

12. Maybe meat market would be a better term?

They rarely have sex right there in the Gym.

[liquid diamond]

15. lol.

[customerserviceguy]

2. Sounds like an ADA lawsuit in the making

Some lawyer is going to get rich off this, I hope this woman has enough money left over to be able to outfit her own home gym.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. Maybe the ADA suit should focus on the equipment manufacturer.

As the equipment wasn't made to hold a 385 pound person.

This video account doesn't match another OP I read on this subject where it was indicated the member was informed, at time of sign-up, there was certain equipment she WOULDN'T be allowed to use due to weight limits. I believe the equipment in question was a stationary bike. If that is the case, it changes the entire landscape of this story.

Either way, certain equipment DOES carry weight limits. That's a fact that can't be glossed over. Believe me, it's not fun to be on a piece of equipment when it fails - I had the unpleasant experience of standing on a brand new cheap 6 foot ladder when it failed. I was twenty pounds under the 200 pound limit but didn't take in to account the probably 50 plus pounds of pressure I was exerting on a piece of wood I was forcing in to place over head when one of the legs buckled sending me six feet down flat on my face.

I supposed a stationary bike seat adjustment bar buckling wouldn't be any more fun for the woman in the OP. If the equipment has a 250 or 300 pound limit, her 385 pounds isn't gonna fly no matter how embarrassing the situation.

[izquierdista]

3. Gym never should have taken her in the first place

She needs a medically managed weight-loss program. She's so morbidly obese, any gym that takes her as a member is opening themselves up for a wrongful death suit when she keels over after working out.

[rpannier]

7. Agreed. The gym didn't have to accept her membership

They did and they handled the situation very poorly
They'll pay her a bunch of money in a cash settlement and probably fire the person who signed her up

[liquid diamond]

16. Gyms usually make you sign a liability waiver to prevent such

law suits.

[mwrguy]

4. exercise bikes and treadmills are rated up to a certain weight

iirc 350 lbs is common.

If they had let her continue and the bike failed under her weight she would have sued them for that.

[Quantess]

5. That gym handled it all wrong.

They humiliated the poor woman, obviously. But whether they had good reason to not let her use the equipment, they handled it in the wrong way. Did she at least get her membership refunded?

[MissMillie]

11. or maybe offer up some training sessions

using the equipment she CAN use.

I don't know why fitness equipment isn't sturdier. (Well, maybe sturdier equipment is available but Madamoiselle didn't invest in it. :shrug:)

A good gym would help this woman. End of story.

[jennied]

6. "Mademoiselle Fitness Center"

1. It sounds like it's a gym aimed towards women, so I don't see how this gym could be one of those gyms that are like "sex clubs".

2. As long as the woman has consent from her doctor, I see no problems with her working out. But even without consent most women that have a child, like her, and can handle raising a baby and running around would still be able to workout.

I knew a man of almost perfect health, and he had a heart attack AT the gym. So that is such a BS comment above, I don't even know where to begin. The woman wants to be healthy. If she can't workout at a woman's club, where the hell can she work out?

[Bitwit1234]

13. What would have satisfied all involved

is - and it could be confidential. Those over a certain weight should be started on a weight loss program to bring them down to the required weight that the equipment could handle. This is probably what they do on the TV program Big Looser. Then when the equipment could handle them they could have free reign. If the advertised a weight loss program as part of the membership the really large people could be satisfied that the gym is looking into their interests.

[messiah]

14. Most exercise bikes have a weight limit of 200-250 pounds

[Demstud]

18. Really? There should be a sign then

LOTS of people at gyms using the equipment are pretty big.

[onlyadream]

17. The gym was at fault

b/c they failed to post the weight limits on the machines (they do this at amusement & water parks) AND they informed the woman in a horrible manner. This could have been avoided.

[droidamus2]

19. More complicated

From what I have read about this situation it is more complicated than TYT makes it out to be. As somebody else stated she was informed at the time she signed up that there was certain equipment she wouldn't be able to use. With the caveat that I don't always believe what a business says, their claim was that they had asked her not to use the equipment a number of times. If, and only if, all those are true the woman was refusing to follow the rules she agreed to when she signed her contract and it sounds like the people at the gym just got tired of dealing with her. I still think they should have taken her behind closed doors and told her that she was being released from her contract (no add charges and return of all money paid prorated to the time she had actually been a member) and left it at that. Humiliating her in public was not a good idea no matter how irritated they were.