You’ve likely seen TikToks videos, Reddit posts, or Instagram reels of women calling out men for being creepy at the gym. You might have even experienced a situation like this firsthand. Most recently, Los Angeles Sparks forward, Cameron Brink, is bringing attention to the fact that maybe men and women just shouldn’t train together.
In a post on X on March 9, the Sparks, a WNBA team, put out a call looking for male practice players for the 2025 season. It’s safe to say the comments did not pass the vibe check. Take a quick scroll and you’ll see things like “trying to let Cam post me up” or “having to sign a waiver to get The Brink’s Truck backed into you is diabolical work.”
There were comments about other players on the team, too, like “I’d be the gym punching bag for free just to get close to Rickea” and “Katie Plum can dunk on me all day.”
Sure, some of the commenters expressed genuine interest, but they were mostly, well, gross. And Brink had some thoughts. “I’m really icked out by the potential new practice players,” she said on her “Straight to Cam” podcast that she co-hosts with Sydel Curry-Lee. “Usually, we use [USC] college guys that also do it for the women’s team at USC. All the comments are, like, ‘Let Cameron Brink back me down’ or something about Rickea or something about Kelsey….Who are we trusting coming into this gym?”
The Sparks put out a statement, given to TMZ Sports, saying their players don’t have to attend or participate in practice squad tryouts and anyone selected to the practice squad would undergo a thorough background check.
“The Los Angeles Sparks are committed to fostering a safe and respectful environment for all our players and want to emphasize that player safety remains our top priority,” the statement read.
This begs the question women have been asking for ages: Why are men always giving women a reason to be afraid of them? It’s no coincidence that 76 percent of women say they’ve felt uncomfortable when exercising in public spaces, according to a 2022 MyProtein survey. And 6 in 10 women have been harassed at the gym and 2 in 5 women avoid the gym because men make them feel uncomfortable, per a 2021 Origym survey.
What’s more, 92 percent of women are concerned for their safety when they go outside for a run, according to a 2023 Adidas survey. The aim of the survey was to “drive greater awareness of the realities women face every time they go for a run, and to encourage men to educate themselves on the issue.”
Sure, women’s-only gyms are a thing (and they’re great, don’t get us wrong), but women should be able to exist in the same spaces men do without being bothered – or worse. So, men, if you’re reading this: Stop being weird and stop giving us reasons to not want to work out with you. Seriously.
Danielle Zickl is a freelance writer who has 10 years of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition. You can find her work here on PS and in many other publications, including Self, Well+Good, Runner’s World, Outside Run, Peloton, Women’s Health, and Men’s Fitness.
