'This one absolutely disgusted me:' Man puts gym influencer on blast

A personal trainer has been praised for using his platform to call out self-entitled 'gymfluencer' behaviour.

Every so often, a viral GymTok clip would make the rounds on the platform – and sometimes it's ugly. Some clips show TikTokers mock an unsuspected gym-goer for their form. Others show gymfluencers get frustrated because a person unintentionally 'ruins their video'.

In another instance, a TikToker accuses a man of staring at her when he simply glanced in her direction for a millisecond. While this isn't to say harassment in gyms doesn't exist, false accusations like this can take away from the real-life issue.

TikTok user Joey Swoll (@thejoeyswoll) has garnered 1.6 million followers, declaring himself the 'CEO of gym positivity.' His page is filled with helpful advice for gym-goers, including meal inspiration, workout routines and motivational talks.

But now, his attention has turned to call out disrespectful behaviour and schooling people on basic respect and gym etiquette. Subsequently, most of the original clips he has put on blast have been deleted by the original creators.

In one clip that racked 18.5 million views, a gymfluencer posted a clip of herself working out before a fellow gym-goer walks over to her space to collect a weight to take back to her area. The TikToker overlayed the clip with audio that called the woman a "c***" and gave her a dirty look.

Joey slammed the video and said it "absolutely disgusted" him.

"First off, having a lot of followers on social media doesn't give you priority over other people in the gym. It's a public space; it's a shared space," he said.

"You should do the opposite. Be a leader, be humble. If you're going to film in a public gym, that's fine – but you should be respectful of other people.

"You should mind your own business and be better than that."

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Thousands of people flocked to Joey's clip to applaud him for his candid and openly honest approach to making the gym a better space.

One said: "The look she gave that poor lady too. You shouldn't have to go to the gym and worry about looking for cameras so you don't "ruin" someone's video", to which Joey replied: "Imagine how the lady would feel seeing this video. She looks great obviously loves the gym and she did that to her. Disgusting."

Another quizzed whether the influencer clips were actually real, adding: "They're too embarrassing to be real."

A third highlighted that "this did is making 'influencers' turn their profiles to private." He joked that "everyone needs to think 'what will Joey say if I post this."

Joey was quick to change the narrative, saying: "It should just be "Should I even record or post this or mind my own business." People shouldn't post stuff simply because they want to be decent."

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