Sorry for the long post I am just really upset!

I am a person who likes to go to the gym because I want to be stronger. But some people there REALLY don’t understand the concept that you can be healthy and fat at the same time. Weight lifting is one of the things I really enjoy, despite comments from fatphobic “friends” that I am getting fatter/bigger. (Like thats a bad thing!)

Yesterday I was at my local gym doing lifts to build strong muscles that was built by a fellow person of size (Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe for those who would like to explore this amazing program!) Needless to say the amount I am able to lift has gone up tremendously and I am experiencing great gains. But one guy at the gym has ruined all my confidence.

I am doing my routine trying my hardest and the last thing I have to do is squats. This helps build strong leg muscles and power. So I start to walk over to the squat rack. From across the gym I see your typical (white male) frat bro-looking person. He first looks at me. Then he looks at the direction I was walking. I don’t know what was going on in his narrow-minded brain. Perhaps he didnt think a fat person can be healthy or that a fat person would be lazy and take too long. But he literally sprints to the squat rack that I was about to use and starts putting weight on the bar front of me.

Since I am finally getting some confidence lately because of my gains (and this site!) where normally I would be silent and accept this. I muster up the courage to ask him politely how long will he will be using it for. He literally looks at me and replies like I am some subhuman scum of the Earth “a while.”

The worst part of the whole thing was he started doing lift called Overhead Press in the squat rack. A lift that is not even supposed to be done in the squat rack! In fact in the UK (where I am from) it is actually considered extremely rude to do OHP in the squat rack and you will be asked to stop immediately. I literally think he just wanted to deny me it just for his own personal satisfaction!

So here I am the fat person now standing around waiting in the gym for him to leave the squat rack. And instead of letting me use it after he was done he started doing another lift! He started doing curls! By this time I had been standing waiting for 15 minutes and I could hear the snickering of others. (God forbid a fat person stand in the gym for even a second when they could be exercising. /sarcasm) I had to leave the gym because this guy and the snickering of others was starting to send my mind into a tizzy.

Thin Privilege is being able to do the exercises you want. Thin Privilege is not having people literally sprint to take something away from you. Thin Privilege is not having people make fun of you for getting bigger even though you are getting stronger. Thin Privilege is being able to stand around doing nothing for a few minutes without people making jokes about you. Thin Privilege is not being shamed at the gym.