Gym etiquette: is it OK to take videos?

13 comments

1. I only know about the gym I go to and they explicitly say no pictures or videos allowed. I can’t say if that is the norm though.

2. Please don’t bring that culture here. Remote coaching, check my form…

3. If you are going to pay for a personal trainer, get someone in person. A lot of gyms have them. It is a lot more valuable, and you wont have to be filming your whole workout.

4. You’re not allowed to film on private property without authorisation despite people doing it anyway.

5. It is NOT OK at the big chains, Anytime or Golds. I’m also pretty uncomfortable with pretty much every video filmed in a gym on Reddit, 95% of people there are presenting in a relaxed, private way, and it’s not really good to record/publish them, or make them think they might be being recorded. People already feel self-conscious enough at gyms. Also, anyone talking on the phone at a gym. Please don’t do this.

6. Seen one guy do it at my gym to check the form. But he asked anyone within his vicinity if it was okay. It was just me and another dude so it was fine but that’s the only time I’ve experienced it.

7. You can’t do an online session in a commercial gym.

   1. Most gyms don’t allow filming/recording/photos (except in certain areas).

   2. Commercial gyms have their own personal trainers so you can’t bring your own, physical or online.

   Your best option would be to rent a private gym but at that point you may as well just get an actual personal trainer and pay for 1-on-1 sessions as they will be way more beneficial and probably cheaper

8. Chocozap allows you to film or take pictures of yourself there as long as nobody else gets in it without permission.

9. Gold’s don’t allow it. You’re not allowed to use your phone in the changing room either although I see people breaking that rule sometimes. Pretty sure most gyms in Japan are the same.

   It’s still easy to discreetly put your phone somewhere and record the odd set or two, but it sucks doing it on the sly. Funnily enough though, a trainer at Nijo once saw me doing it and said nothing. You could go to Anytime and do it outside of staff hours, but if you’re not discreet a member might take issue.

10. It depends on the gym. The Joyfit I used to go to had regular announcements explicitly saying that it is OK to record yourself but to be mindful of the people around you. Ask the staff before you sign up, or, if they don’t have signs posted around screaming at you to not record, just ask the people around you if they don’t mind you filming your set.

11. Having a video call is definitely out of the question and it would be so inconvenient. Imagine setting up the angles and also bringing a tripod.

    Apart from that, online personal trainer sounds like a waste of money. Most gyms have a personal trainer option so I recommend you do that. I can’t imagine a personal trainer giving good and effective advice remotely.

12. My husband does that – he works with a personal trainer in out home country and takes videos. That set up works well for him because he’s very fit, has specific needs and meshes well with that trainer.

    But he visits the gym when it’s pretty empty anyway and makes sure that no-one else is in the video. Idk what the gym rules are but anyway there’s no staff when he’s there.

    I feel like it’s possible to film yourself but you have to be cautious because Japanese people really care about privacy and filming yourself isn’t nearly as commonplace as it is in the west. I’ve seen Japanese people snap the odd selfie at the gym we go to (Anytime Fitness) but people don’t seem to routinely film themselves.

13. Thank you everyone for your input! I appreciate it. I will stick with home trainings and then go to the gym when i’m comfortable enough.