Is this 'lust-free' Christian gym the final battlefield for the gender wars?
Surrounded by the loud clunks of iron, a multitude of machines and the smell of sweat are millions of Americans working out in gyms across the country, and while most tolerate the crowded ebbs and flows of co-ed commercial gyms, some men who find this setup distracting are seeking out "lust-free" gym alternatives.
"[The] lust side, that’s just a small piece of what the gym does," Jeff Hambrecht, owner of Proverbs 27:17, a Christian men’s-only gym in Oklahoma City, told Fox News Digital.
"The idea of a lust-free gym, it's not like we're a bunch of guys who can't control ourselves and we stay indoors. If you're an alcoholic… and you're trying to get out of that circle, you're probably going to avoid drugs and alcohol. So why would lust be any different? If you're struggling with pornography and lust and women, why would you keep going to a place over and over and where you're going to keep getting yourself in trouble? So I just eliminated that," he continued.
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Hambrecht, an addict who recovered from his battles with drugs, alcohol and pornography through repairing his relationship with Christ, says his gym is an attempt to help men find community, remove stigmas and open up conversations around mental health and other struggles for modern men.
"I just saw this gap of there's no place for guys to go and just be vulnerable and get closer to God with other men chasing that same thing," he added.
"We're taking away the temptation of, hey, you're coming to a gym, whether you're single or married, and you're going to focus on what needs to be focused on. And then, yeah, obviously you're going to go out in the world and there's going to be females. That's part of the deal. But the goal is you start re-looking at relationships and women and females and life in general from more of a biblical sense… that's my goal in a nutshell," he continued.
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Kim Abt, the owner of PWRGRLS gym in Sherman Oaks, California, a women-only gym decked out in a neon pink color scheme with palm trees reminiscent of the 80s, said that men wanting gender-secluded gyms is "fair."
"[I] never thought about it, but I do hear it all the time. Guys complaining about, you know, being distracted by [women in particular workout clothes]. So I respect it," she added.
Abt said that most of her classes were filled within a year, and that 80–90% of her clients sign up because they feel intimidated walking into a regular gym. She also noted that past harassment is another "main reason" women join PWRGRLS gym, citing that "the community aspect is huge" for most members.
Brad Jensen, better known online as "thesoberbodybuilder" with decades of experience in the fitness industry, weighed in on the discourse surrounding Proverbs 27:17 gym.
"I've seen the pushback, I've also seen the praise of it. I actually understand more and have more empathy why women would want a women-only gym," Jensen said.
"I would almost understand more if they said, hey, we're going to create a Christian gym where there's a little bit of a dress code, but we're all going to bond together… Where maybe they do create a dress code, and they have Christian values for this gym, but they don't exclude the women who also might want to work out in an environment with like-minded people… I can see that making more sense," he continued.
"There is a fine line sometimes. There ha[ve] been some outfits where I've seen people wearing where it's probably a little too far on the other side," he added.
"I've also seen a rise of people on social media that do ‘Only Fans’, promoting that at public gyms in really, really wrong ways. That's absolutely going too far," he continued.
"I think there's a line that we can cross where it's disrespectful to the other people. And if we're making people feel uncomfortable… by our action [and] it's very obvious that we're making half the gym feel uncomfortable. I think that's where we're crossing a line too far," Jensen said.