Influencer exposes man’s vile gym act caught on video, explains why it can make women uncomfortable

A social media influencer has taken to TikTok to expose a vile incident that occurred at her local gym.

Hannah Trenches posted a video this week of herself reading a book on a treadmill at a public gym.

Hannah was filming because she was intending to post a video about how many pages she could read in an hour. However, upon watching the footage, it was the two men behind the treadmill who instead caught her – and the internet’s – attention.

The men in the video can initially be seen chatting to one another, seemingly harmlessly. One of them, however, turned the interaction sour, appearing to make a disgusting gesture.

“I’ve had mainly really good experiences in gyms so I was a bit in disbelief when I was editing this back last night,” Hannah shared in her video’s caption.

“When I film in the gym, it’s always on my back camera so I can’t see what was going on at the time.”

Hannah, anticipating the negative comments minimizing the man’s actions as ‘harmless banter’, explained exactly why this wasn’t okay.

“No woman should go to the gym and worry that men will do that behind her back,” she asserted.

“Surely these men have wives, daughters, nieces who would feel disgusted if this happened to them? We go to exercise, build good habits, help our mental health. Not to be sexualised!”

Hannah said she felt it was important to share the downsides of being a woman in public gyms, emphasising the importance of women-only spaces.

“It’s reasons like these that women prefer women-only spaces,” she said.

“Not because they want to ‘exclude men’, but because some men have made them feel uncomfortable to be there.”

Commenters on the post were incredibly supportive, thanking Hannah for sharing her – unfortunately common – story.

“The way even the other man looks slightly uncomfortable but obviously won’t call it out. Makes him just as bad. I’m sorry this happened to you,” said one person.

“Thank you for being brave and sharing. I actually have a fear of going to the gym because of the constant sexualisation of women in sports. This needs more attention and it needs to change,” said another.

“Love your message on this. We aren’t trying to exclude men, we are trying to make ourselves feel safe and comfortable. What a sad world we live in,” a third agreed.

Many even encouraged her to come forward and confront the man, or report him to their gym.

“The coward would never have done that if he knew you could see him. I’m so sorry. Have you reported it to the gym? Hopefully they can be banned!!” one commenter asked.

“Show the gym this footage! And if you’re feeling strong enough, confront him in person. He’s typical of a weak man, he’s trying to make the other guy laugh because he has no self confidence. He will crumble if you confront him,” another suggested.

Hannah’s story is one many women know all too well.

Hashtags like #GymWeirdo and #GymCreep have each amassed millions of views on TikTok, with users like Mav taking to the app to share their experiences.

Mav shared footage of a man hopping on the elliptical right beside her earlier this week, despite the rows of empty machines around them.

“He knows I’m recording him … there are so many empty ellipticals and you pick the one right next to me,” she said.

“What was the reason?”

However, her attempt to call out the “gym creep” backfired – just as Hannah thought hers would – with thousands of viewers accusing her of overreacting and unfairly shaming the man.

A 2021 study found that 76 percent of women feel uncomfortable exercising in public due to harassment. Another survey by Run Repeat reported that 56 percent of women experienced harassment during their workouts.