Toning and shaping of the bodies is not the only thing that takes place in the gyms. Of course, it is the primary goal and the reason why people come here in the first place. But sometimes things go unexpectedly and you end up becoming famous or infamous overnight. Can't understand what we are talking about? Check out this gym story that changed the lives of two people and not for good in both cases.
If you go to a gym, you know weird things happen there on a daily basis. Crossfit is still a thing, free pizzas are offered by planet fitness, people fight over petty things one of which could be one stranger getting angry on another for not deadlifting right. Yep, today we'll show you the video that went viral in gyms across the nation and the world of lifting.
Let's begin at the beginning. As most of you must know deadlift is a weight training exercise, quite common as it is one of the basic exercises to build those muscles and gain strength along with bench press and squat. It works the arms, legs, shoulders, back, traps- what do you want to work? The deadlift works it.
While building these alpha bodies is goals, the deadlift exercise can just seem to have one side effect if you may call it. To execute the deadlift exercise properly one needs to bring the weights down to the floor as close as possible before leaving it and even then, when those iron plates hit the ground they tend to be a bit (alright, a lot) noisy.
Obviously, no one likes loud noises unless it is an EDM or a death metal concert, especially at a place where you have come to exercise and focus on the body with undivided concentration. But nothing justifies what this gym member did with this teenager who was really just deadlifting, albeit loudly.
Apparently, most gym goers are quite sensitive and deadlift has been awarded as the mood killer noise radiator of the gym world. Deadlift is so much of a villain that Planet Fitness does not permit deadlifting and not only that, they do not even have loose barbells! Oh come on, Planet Fitness, no one plans to play frisbee with those.
A few days ago, a video, which is attached ahead, went viral. It triggered a fresh debate on the topic of deadlifting and touched a chord with all those associated with it. Within a few days, lawyers have been involved, apologies have been issued but nothing makes up for the fact that things could have gone terribly wrong.
At the Buzzfit gym, one of the clients of Pete Rubish, who himself is quite a famous powerlifter, had been warned twice for being noisier than he needed to be while deadlifting. This teenager was told to put padding underneath the weights while lifting the next time. As can be seen in the video ahead, the teen did exactly what he was told.
In the video ahead, the teenager named Charles can be seen following the warning and using the mats while deadlifting. The noise is still pretty loud but this is the maximum Charles could have done, even after the warning. 40 seconds of the video goes by when we can see a man walking in Charles direction, on purpose.
The youtube account of Pete Rubish that posted this video attached in the next slide gives this account: "The backstory is that the staff at a Buzz Fit gym in Montreal, Quebec have given my client a hard time in past weeks about deadlifting too loudly in the gym. They said he still could, but he had to place mats underneath the plates."
The account continues- "So he did as they asked. A random bystander, not a staff member, (wearing an Animal shirt of all things: my sponsor) took it upon himself to confront him after he deemed his deadlifts to be too loud and watch what ensues." Ahead is the video of the entire episode but things did not end there, legal help was sought.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJmVlt98FLA
Here is the video. The person who came to Charles was not a member of the staff. He is a stranger and he kicked Charles WHILE he was lifting the weight.
It is one thing to come and ask a person politely to be not noisy, it is completely another to interrupt them in the middle of an exercise and kick them. Charles could have lost balance or hurt himself with the weights or worse, both. The incident happened on the 2nd of August and since then the video has gone viral like a wildfire.
In 4 days the video has gained 2 million views already and the numbers are increasing by the minute. The social media platform of every fitness community has something to say about the incident. Right now, if you search 'deadlift' on Google, it won't show you it's meaning first. It will show you this video. But what about the guy who played macho?
According to the Montreal-Gazette, the 19-year-old Charles Lalonde was doing a deadlift of 350 pounds when this happened. When the man assaulted him, it ripped Charles' headphones who himself was in temporary shock and pain. The man with the little temperament kept shouting- “You’re out, you’re out.”
While the big man was shouting-“Did you understand what I just said? You’re out!”, Charles replied with, “You’re f***ing nuts! Let me take my s***. What the f*** is wrong with you?”
Meanwhile, a small crowd can be seen watching the drama unfold before their eyes, not in the least interested to interrupt. The repercussions for the big one were not really great.
Obviously, the big guy is now banned from the Buzzfit gym. Along with that, a member of the staff has been suspended (can't really understand why though). The gym has found every opportunity to let the viewers know that the man who started the ruckus was not a staff member. The Facebook Page of the gym apologized too.
The apology is pretty visible, the gym covered all the formalities on its part and all became well between Charles and the gym. The biggie is probably in big trouble as the news is that Charles is going to press charges, there has been no confirmation of the same though. What about Charles, well his life has changed for the better.
Omar Isuf is a quite a famous lifter on the internet and in his post online he offered this poor guy, Charles money so he could go to a better gym. People are offering him MONEY to go to the gym, what could be better for him you'd think? Well, let us tell you.
So after the whole drama, the Buzzfit gym contacted Charles to offer him a free of cost lifetime membership. But this is what the Youtube update reads- "Charles is grateful for all of the support and is pressing charges against the man. He has been given a year-long free membership to his dream gym in Montreal: SSP Barbell Club".
You know, Charles got media attention, he got a free membership in his dream gym club, he probably got lotta girls coming to sympathize with him. But instead of being jealous one should probably be thankful for the medium of the internet which allows bullies like this big guy to be brought to shame and justice.