A Gym Without Judgment? Yes Please!

After a request from female Muslim students, Harvard University recently created women-only workout hours. According to a representative from the Harvard Islamic Society,

These hours are necessary because there is a segment of the Harvard female population that is not found in gyms, not because they don’t want to work out, but because for them working out in a co-ed gym is uncomfortable, awkward or problematic in some way.

Sounds reasonable. Harvard is facing some heat from their male population, but that is to be expected. In the spirit of this Ivy League move, I would like to do them one better. I am proposing special hours for Non-Gym People. Allow me to explain.

In what will later be called a temporary bout with insanity, I am currently training for a triathlon for charity.

I am not athletic. Far from it. Thanks to a crippling cocktail of embarrassment, fear and laziness I’ve stayed away from the gym at school for the better part of college. But with the triathlon quickly approaching, I’ve been forced to face the building and people I’ve feared.

My first impression of the gym? I don’t belong here. Gym people are very particular. They are creatures of routine and discipline. They need certain machines, protein shakes, cute clothes. I immediately felt out of place. It wasn’t devastating to my psyche, but pretty darn close.

So what am I proposing? Just a few hours without the fanatics. No fierce-former cross country runners glaring at me on the treadmill for not running a six-minute mile. No giant dude masking his ‘roid rage in the weight room. No chatty girls yakking away on their cell phones…while on the elliptical. Just me and a handful of my closet chubby friends who are trying to do right for ourselves. Whether we’re working off some ice cream, training for endurance sports, or just trying to stay healthy.

This may not be popular in the fit-people community, but they can eat it…a sandwich that is.

They probably need one anyway.