Ask a Trainer
Two elite 24 Hour Fitness Trainers tackle your most burning in-the-gym questions.
What’s with people grunting when they lift weights? Is this really necessary?
-- Anne, Memphis, Tenn.
We have a lot of power lifters in our gym, and they definitely grunt. They do it for concentration, not to annoy anyone. But it might be uncomfortable for some people to hear because they associate grunting with…other things.
Well, I’ve seen a lot of people lift very heavy weights without making a sound. So it is possible. Do I think grunting forcefully is something you should do in a co-ed environment? No.
The reality is, they need to get oxygen to their muscles, and breathing forcefully—in and out—facilitates that. The people who are grunting are usually lifting really heavy weights. We call them the screamers.
[sighing] I’ve jokingly told people, “This is a no-grunting zone.”
I know of one gym where the actual club policy disallows grunting! At our gym, people just generally laugh or they’re curious, like Anne. They’re not hugely bothered by it.
To my mind, it’s all about the environment: If you’re going to an old-school, all-guys gym where people yell and scream, that’s one thing. But if you’re going to our gym [in Texas twang]—shuuuut uuup.
Meet the Experts
Two trainers, both with impeccable credentials but very different styles.
Brandy Bachmeyer, 28, a former Olympic weightlifter, is a rare amalgam of brains, brawn, and perkiness. Sort of like a cross between MacGyver and a local TV weatherperson. In a good way. An elite trainer at San Ramon Supersport Club in California, Brandy regularly puts in 12-hour days, sometimes joining them as they train for half-marathons—even surveying the contents of their sub-Zeros.
Scott Nunes, a trainer at the 24 Hour Fitness in Escondido, California knows firsthand that getting fit doesn’t just happen. “I used to be a bona fide couch potato,” Nunes avows. When Nunes was in his mid 20s, he had back surgery, developed arthritis, and found himself weighing in at 260 pounds: “When my one-and-a-half-year-old son raced me to the top of the stairs and beat me, I started doing pushups and sit ups that day,” he recalls. Nunes, 37, got in great shape, which helped him raise his son, who’s now 14.
COMBINED WISDOM Try not to grunt, scream, or otherwise vocalize more loudly than your average Olympic power lifter unless you really are an Olympic power lifter. Bothered by neighboring grunts? Try cranking Beyoncé on your iPod.
