How Loud is Too Much
If you frequent the gym a few times a week, you’ll probably be familiar with the sound of hog-like grunting.
Grunting, the guttural noise people typically make when lifting weights, annoys a lot of gym goers. It’s such a contentious subject that a Planet Fitness member was kicked out of the gym for breaking a no-grunting rule, and one Montreal man was even attacked by a fellow exerciser for being too loud.
But according to Sergio Pedemonte, a personal trainer and co-owner of Toronto’s Your House Fitness, grunting is a normal part of lifting weights — it just doesn’t need to be super obnoxious.
“You’ll find some people overgrunt, and that’s a no-no,” he told Global News. “You can kind of tell if a person is making more of an effort [to grunt].”
Pedemonte said he sees people in his gym every day lifting heavy weights, and the noise they make is reasonable. The trainer said he understands why people find loud grunting annoying, but thinks folks in commercial gyms, like GoodLife Fitness of Planet Fitness, might be more bothered than those who spend time in weightlifting-specific spaces.