Gym Tells Woman She's Too Fat for Workout Equipment

[The Straight Story]

Gym Tells Woman She's Too Fat for Workout Equipment


OKLAHOMA CITY -- A metro woman said a gym she joined told her to stop using certain equipment because she was too overweight.

Five months ago Sandra Ruiz gave birth to her son but with that came some extra weight she wanted to get rid of.

"I'm tired of being fat because when I go to the store, I can't find clothes that fit me. I haven't worn jeans in a year," Ruiz said.

Ruiz joined Mademoiselle Fitness Center in south Oklahoma City. During one of her visits, Ruiz said a worker approached her while she was on a stationary bike and told her to get off.

"The lady said I couldn't get on the machines because we are overweight," Ruiz said. "Everybody was watching seeing what was going on, and I got very sad because I'm so emotional about my weight right now."

http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=12593024

[Dorian Gray]

1. Wow.

Poor woman. Trying to fix her problem and then made to feel horrible.

[depakid]

2. Rest of the story:

The owner of Mademoiselle Fitness Center said Ruiz had been informed from the start that there were certain pieces of equipment she couldn't use for her own safety, and also because of the equipment's weight limit. Ruiz said she was never told that.

The owner said they also made up a workout program specifically for her including water aerobics, but she was "like a kid in a candy store," saw all the equipment and wanted to try it all right then.

The owner said two weeks ago he had already decided to let her out of her contract and now because of the unusual circumstances, he's also waiving the cancellation fee.

If the equipment had broken and/or Ms Ruiz had been injured, the owner and his insurer would have been exposed to liability.

[Bucky]

4. Goddammit, I hate it when objective context interferes with my cynical worldview!

Why couldn't you have just kept quiet and let me feel vicariously oppressed?

[adamuu]

9. hah

[Lochloosa]

6. Thanks for the "Rest of the Story"

[JNelson6563]

10. Yeah, so much for the "straight story"

Just another crap OP (zero to do with politics)nthat would guarantee lots of attention. Lots and lots of attention. Oy.

Julie

[AngryOldDem]

8. Yeh...funny how some facts get conveniently left out.

And if she is that heavy, then her best course actually is to get with a personal trainer and get a regimen set up. Otherwise, she's just asking for injury, frustration, and disappointment.

The business does have a right to set terms and conditions for use of its facilities. If Ms. Ruiz can't follow them...there's the door. I'm glad the owner is not making much of a stink and is basically letting her out of the contract. A lot of places would be charging out the ass for that.

[depakid]

14. Could also be that the media involvement helped with the cancellation fee

It's been known to do that with these consumer reports.

[eilen]

12. Wow, she must have gained quite a bit of weight

I see very big people on equipment at my gym all the time.

Maybe she should start out at a physical therapy gym. I think there should be equipment designed by bariatric professionals for those over 300 lbs.

[Statistical]

13. Stop clouding up the rant with facts.

What an ebil owner he was to:
a) avoid injury
b) try to prevent a lawsuit
c) give her alternatives
d) let her out of the contract w/o penalty.

Grrr... He is just so mean.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

15. Another epic fail of an obvious outrage generator

[donco6]

20. It is getting really old.

At least it wasn't about public schools this time. Though the day is young.

[Johonny]

16. interesting,

[donco6]

19. And she'd have sued their asses off. n/t

[Obamanaut]

3. Many pieces of exercise equipment have weight restrictions. For

examples, I googled 'stationary bicycle weight restriction' and here is just one of the many sites that popped up, and it has a whole list of various items from stationary bikes to treadmills http://www.tgeller.com/fat-and-fit/

The customer may well exceed the limit for safety on the machine she was asked not to use.

[DrDan]

5. manager is cancelling contract and waiving cancellation fees

and apparently she was told there was some equipment she would not be allowed to use.

[howard112211]

7. This stuff can be painful. I saw a girl once at an amusement park

who was told she could not ride a certain type of boat ride because she was too overweight. Naturally she was upset. Unfortunately though, the laws of physics don't bend to comfort our needs.

[sailor65]

11. I see this at Cedar Point a lot.

They have test seats outside the line entrances, but people will still get pulled off because the safety bars won't drop over them. The reactions range from quiet sadness to downright hostility (More so the former).

[dugaresa]

17. a dear friend of mine broke her treadmill because she was too heavy for it

it was quite sad and made her feel worse. here she was trying to lose weight and then she buys a treadmill because she didn't want to go to a public place to work out. when the treadmill broke, the repairman came out and fixed it but then said "how much do you weigh?" and explained to her that due to her being well over the weight limit she had to lose weight to use the equipment safely.

it was self-esteem crushing

[eShirl]

18. with today's flimsy manufacturing, it's important to check weight limits, esp. on home equipment

even if one is near the upper end of what's considered "normal"

Would your friend consider using an inexpensive alternative to treadmills? There is a series of exercise videos called Walk Away The Pounds that is very good (I recommend starting with the one called "Get Up And Get Started"), and similar ones under other brand names.

[lumberjack_jeff]

21. Because she was. n/t

[DavidDvorkin]

22. Her photo makes me think

that at this point she'd be far better off with a healthy diet and walking than with joining a gym.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

23. The water program they purportedly designed for her would be excellent as well

[DavidDvorkin]

24. Good point

Water exercises are far easier on the joints of severely overweight people than walking.