The gym’s controversial rule to ban members from filming themselves has sparked a global ‘crush’

An Australian gym owner who controversially banned members from filming themselves working out has sparked industry-wide change as other fitness facilities around the world followed suit.

Melbourne-based Doherty Gym founder and owner Tony Doherty has spoken out about the fallout from his decision to ban members from recording their fitness routines after he noticed his gym had turned into a “circus”.

After completely outlawing tripods at all of Doherty’s gyms – there are three in Melbourne and one in Perth – in February, Mr. Doherty has now opened up about the effects his decision had on the fitness industry.

– Honestly, [tripods] I was getting my head in,” he told the Dos and D Podcast recently.

“One day I went to the gym and there were seven people using crutches in a room and I’m like, ‘I need to close that thing and wrap it around somebody’s head.’

“It was out of control. There were juniors, there were seniors who were like, “I have to film it for my coach and send it to them,” and I just said stop it.

He also said he wanted to protect his celebrity clients too, saying “no one has the right” to share an image of someone “sweating with their feet in the air”.

“We have a high court judge who works out at my gym, I’m sure he doesn’t want to be in someone else’s movie and so on and so forth,” he continued.

“I could go on for an hour about why people deserve privacy.

“It happened after Covid because everyone has to film their workouts at home and it just snowed.”

While critics claimed that Mr. Doherty was set to lose members, he said the move meant his business “gained” new customers, stating: “sometimes there are good consequences to difficult decisions”.

Despite some being left “offended” by the ban, many gyms around the world have followed suit, particularly in the UK, where there has reportedly been a “crackdown on selfies and videos in the gym”.

PureGym, which has more than 340 facilities across Britain, said it introduced the rule to ensure customer safety and privacy.

“Security is an obvious concern; equipment on the floor can be dangerous. Beyond that, the distraction factor is important, said Erin Blakely, a fitness instructor. The Guardian of the increasingly popular ban.

“There’s a tendency to focus more on getting the ideal looks than working out, which defeats the whole purpose of being in a fitness studio.”