Gyms crack down on grunters
Date: 27-12-2006
Posted by: Anabolic Info TeamUnited States |
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Some facilities discourage loud grunts when exercising.
Mark Peters grunts when he bench-presses more than 300 pounds.
We don't mean he breathes out forcefully.
No, it's more of a grizzly growl. A sound "somewhere between a human and a Rottweiler," to use his own words.
"I've had some looks," admits Peters, 44, of Macedon, Wayne County, who works out at the YMCA on Monroe Avenue in the city.
The exercise grunt is part of the culture at some gyms, especially those that attract lots of serious weight lifters. But it repels others. Some say it's a fading trend.
Grunting isn't physically necessary to lift weights. It's more about getting attention, although tennis players, shot putters, martial arts practitioners or bodybuilders may grunt to psych themselves up and to intimidate opponents.
Many gyms gently discourage grunting. One fitness chain goes as far as to ban it.
At Planet Fitness — which opened a location in Greece in March and plans to open one in Gates — grunting can trigger an ear-rattling siren and flashing lights. The so-called lunk alarm on the wall over the free weights has a sign explaining the term: A lunk is someone who grunts, drops weights or is judgmental of other exercisers.
The chain is serious about its no-grunt rule. Albert Argibay, a bodybuilder and state corrections officer, was kicked out of a Planet Fitness in Dutchess County in November after allegedly giving a loud "Uuuunh!" while lifting weights. The linebacker-sized man allegedly shouted and used profanity to dispute the manager's claim, at which point police officers were summoned. No charges were filed, but Argibay's membership was canceled.
After that incident, all Planet Fitness locations removed their 75-pound dumbbells. The heaviest available now are 60 pounds. But the weight machines still allow members to lift much more.
John Medrano, manager of the Planet Fitness in Greece, says the no-grunting policy is intended to make the average exerciser feel comfortable. The clubs also ban jeans, work boots, bandanas and doo-rags for their "intimidation factor," says Medrano. The no-frills, $10-a-month club intentionally attracts mostly members who haven't been working out.
"I think it's a good rule," says Andrew Coleman, 17, a senior and baseball and basketball player at Greece's Odyssey Academy. He works out at Planet Fitness every other day, using the free weights and elliptical trainers. He's glad to not to be in the company of huge guys who feel imposing.
Does he grunt? "I try not to," he says. "Obviously I can see the lunk alarm."
Researchers believe that monkeys and apes grunt as an involuntary response to an emotion, says Michael J. Owren, an acoustic primatologist at Georgia State University. Humans grunt on purpose.
"It's a guy thing," says the 250-pound Peters. "I think bigger guys that have a lot of weight on grunt more."
A grunt is partly an expression of the exertion. It's partly to say look at me. "I think it helps us get back to our humble beginnings as a Neanderthal," says Peters.
He says he's heard women give higher-pitched grunts while doing pushups.
"I could not do it. But the full experience, grunting, helps," admits Peters.
Chuck Valente, a certified personal fitness trainer who holds 12 natural bodybuilding titles, says he used to train at a hard-core gym where "you could hear us down the street."
As a full-time trainer at his own gym, Maximum Fitness in East Rochester, he advises clients to exhale on the exertion. Of grunting, he says, "Some guys get carried away."
The bigger concern for that air expulsion, he jokes: "Hopefully it's out of the right end."
Besides potentially annoying others, grunts can irritate the delicate vocal chords, warns Dr. Clark Rosen, director of the University of Pittsburgh Voice Center. He's treated recreational weight lifters for throat problems brought on by grunting.
Lifters can develop calluses or lesions on the vocal chords, like a person who screams or sings. Rosen's advice: "The breathier the grunt, the better."
Garlan Fletcher, personal training director for the Gold's Gyms in Irondequoit and Webster, says most lifters don't grunt these days. Gyms today are larger and have more people, so grunting is just too disturbing to others.
"There's a difference between exerting yourself and grunting so everybody notices," says Fletcher. "They can lift the same amount of weight without grunting."
Exercise physiologist Craig O. Mattern agrees. There's no physical benefit to grunting, says Mattern, assistant professor at State University College at Brockport. It's good to exhale with exertion, but that doesn't require any vocal sounds.
Michael Washington says that when he regularly lifted more than 300 pounds years ago, grunting helped remind him to breathe. But grunting wasn't expected at the University of Rochester Medical Center Fitness and Wellness Center, and doctors exercising nearby would approach him. "They were concerned I was hurting myself," says Washington.
Now a certified fitness specialist at the center, Washington doesn't grunt as much because he's lifting less weight. He says that for most of his clients, breathing out on the exertion — without vocalizing — is enough.
