Do you think this fitness club went too far?

Albert Argibay of Beacon New York, ended up being escorted by police from a gym earlier this week. Why? Because he was grunting, which is apparently against Planet Fitness’ rules. The club wants to maintain a non-intimidating atmosphere. Planet fitness markets itself as a judgment free Zone.

This is recent trend in gyms and fitness clubs – no hogging of machines, can’t wear flip flogs, and no grunting.

Argibay, who is a 40 year old corrections officer, stated “Perhaps I grunted, perhaps I didn’t. It’s open to interpretation”. He’d had his headset on when he was lifting 500 pounds on a squat machine.

Posted in the gym are rules that state that members cannot wear bandannas, grunt or bang weights on the ground. If an offender is spotted a lunk alarm sounds to warn the member. There is at least one expulsion every two weeks across the locations, said Mike Grondahl, CEO of Planet Fitness. He said grunting and dropping weights are the most common offenses.

The gyms general manager, Carol Palazzolo, said that the grunt that Argibay emitted Monday evening, a peak time for gyms, could be heard from across the room, even though “the place was a zoo.”

“He was looking directly at me and he did it four times,” she said. “I’m not a doctor, but as far as I know, a grunt is a noise that comes out of one’s body that is loud and is intimidating.”

When the manager confronted him an argument took place, and the police were called in, Argibay was escorted out of the gym, but no charges were filed.

“It’s an embarrassing situation to be in, over a grunt,” Argibay said.