Employee speaks out after gym bans women aged over 24 from training in peak times

An employee at the gym which went viral for banning women aged over 24 from training during peak hours has spoken out.

Bodies in Motion, based in Pendle, has come under fire after it changed its membership policy recently.

The gym, which was women-only from 9am to 7pm on weekdays, has now restricted women aged under 25 from training there between 4pm and 7pm. During these 15 hours, only women aged 12 to 24 may work out there.

The policy came to the attention of social media users after a woman shared a screenshot of a text from Bodies in Motion to Mumsnet.

Writing on the social media forum, the anonymous woman said: “I’ve just had this email from them [the gym] and I’ll be cancelling as it no longer fits in with the times I can go, but this is ridiculous, right?”

via Mumsnet

The original poster further commented, saying that members are still being charged the same fees, despite losing 15 hours of access to the gym.

Since the post went viral, employees of the gym have spoken out.

Speaking to Metro, one unnamed gym-worker said the new policy is “only for really old women above 50”, but explained that they didn’t know the gym’s motive for the change.

The employees also noted that they didn’t know how the policy would be implemented, suggesting membership cards still work during the restricted hours.

They further added that they weren’t sure whether ID would be needed to verify the ages of the women upon entry.

However, the new policy has faced severe backlash on social media.

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Speaking on Reddit, one user wrote: “This is literally harmful for most women’s security, since women above 24 (who also go to gyms and experience harassment, obviously) no longer have women-only hours outside of standard work hours.”

Another also commented: “How does that make any (business) sense… surely there are many more women over 24 being able to afford a gym membership because they have jobs… which would mostly allow them to use said gym at those hours?”

Others had concerns over the fact children will be allowed to train without parents.

“Someone needs to watch those younger women. Who’s gonna do that if the older women are banned?…This is terrifying actually,” one Redditor posted.

“Ah yes! Much safer now the 12-year-old girl can’t go with her mother/older sister anymore! Perfect,” another added.

Bodies in Motion has been contacted for comment but has not yet responded.

Featured image via Canva