Go to the gym and you will see them everywhere: the talking heads on CNN and Fox News, as ubiquitous as sports coverage in bars. But one fitness chain has cut them off, implying that cable news coverage is not conducive to a “healthy way of life.”

Life Time, a Minnesota-based company with 130 locations in 27 states, decided recently to remove cable news — both left- and right-leaning stations, including CNN, Fox News and MSNBC — from the large-screen TVs in its gyms. The new policy took effect this month.

The decision “was based on many member requests received over time across the country, and in keeping with our overall healthy way of life philosophy and commitment to provide family-oriented environments free of polarizing or politically charged content,” Natalie Bushaw, a Life Time spokeswoman, said in an email. She added that local news stations would still be shown.

An official statement posted on Twitter last week drew a response as polarized as the political content on the discarded channels. Some people praised the removal of what they described as a source of “negativity,” and thanked Life Time for making it easier to use the gym as an escape from the world. But many others expressed anger and accused the company of censorship. Members who object to particular programming can simply choose not to watch the screens playing it, they said.