A couple weeks ago, a Missouri State University student, Stephanie Holdmeyer took to her social media accounts to very kindly and eloquently tell off judgmental people at the gym. It wasn’t because she felt belittled for not being able to do certain things, rather, Holdmeyer was judged for being half of that “buff couple” who apparently think “they’re hot shit because they wear their [lifting] belts all the time.”
Holdmeyer knows that when she and her boyfriend, Chris, first began to work out at their current gym, they were “judged hardcore.” Someone even took to Facebook to make snide remarks about their gym practices.
Rather than lash out, Holdmeyer simply corrected the criticizer: “This was about two months after my back surgery & I did indeed wear my lifting belt during almost all of my workouts for support,” she wrote.
She continues by gently reminding everyone to not judge others, saying the action is one that stems from a lack of understanding, and proceeds to list off numerous examples of people who might be wrongly stereotyped and judged at the gym.
Everyone from “that overweight guy” and “that guy with the skinny legs,” to the “girl with really bad form” and “that old man doing strange exercises and talking too much” comes to the gym with their own story and background.
It’s unfair and unkind to “jump[] to conclusions.”
“Take a moment to consider someone else’s perspective,” Holdmeyer concludes. “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
