A pregnant woman has claimed she was asked to leave a gym or cover up due to a “crazy” issue with her activewear.
Emi said upon signing up to a membership at a bodybuilder gym, an employee informed her about a new dress code: No sports bras.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Woman’s fury over her gym activewear.
Stream the world’s best reality, entertainment and true-crime shows free on 7plus
“They don’t allow sports bras… I thought it was a little strange for a bodybuilder gym but I was like, ‘Okay, that’s fine.’ I don’t need to wear a sports bra,” she said.
As she’s five months pregnant, the gymgoer said she was already having a “hard time dressing” up so she opted for a tank top and a pair of leggings to do her workouts.
Emi said she had been going to the gym regularly until her most recent visit.
The American mum claimed she was left humiliated after the owner’s wife took particular issue with her top.
“I’m wearing this tank top and the owner’s wife is staring at me the whole time I’m working out,” Emi claimed.
“Halfway through my workout, the owner walks over, making some small talk… And then he’s like, ‘Listen, my wife has an issue with what you’re wearing right now. We don’t allow sports bras’.”
Stunned by his remarks, Emi told him she was well aware of the dress code — but pointed out she wasn’t wearing a sports bra.
“He’s like, ‘No, see, I agree with you but my wife, it’s really hard to differentiate what’s a sports bra but you’re going to have to either leave or put on a top’,” she claimed.
“I was kind of shocked and a little bit embarrassed because I’m just like, what am I doing wrong, you know?”
Emi said she then looked around the room to check what other gymgoers were wearing.
“I look over and there’s other girls in super tiny short shirts, which is fine, I have nothing against that but they have their whole stomachs out,” she claimed, adding she hardly showed any of her stomach.
“I told him, ‘I just feel like I’m not wearing a sports bra so I don’t understand what the problem is here?’ He just kept saying, ‘My wife has an issue with it’.
“I almost cried when I was defending myself. I like choked a little but kept pushing it off because I was embarrassed.”
Clearly confused, Emi said she didn’t understand why she was being singled out for wearing a tank top because she noticed there were posters around the gym showing female bodybuilders in bikinis and men in underwear.
“They have tons of photos of competitors up… it is basically all over the gym, which is cool. I used to compete, so I feel really inspired by all that,” she said.
“I said to the owner, ‘You’re a bodybuilder gym, you have all these photos up… but I can’t wear a tank top? I don’t understand.’ I was trying to be respectful, but it was honestly, pretty offensive.
“He’s like, ‘Whoa! Basically that’s completely different because they’re bodybuilders and these photos are okay’.”
‘Craziest thing’
Emi said she had no problems with what bodybuilders wear — but she thought it was strange she was being asked to leave due to her tank top.
“I thought it was the craziest thing,” she said.
“The owner ends up just being like, ‘Maybe you don’t need a membership here.’ I was like, ‘Okay, I don’t want to work out where I feel like this anyway’.”
After the experience, Emi went straight to her car to share her story on social media.
“I got dress coded at the gym… It was just the most awkward, uncomfortable encounter,” she said.
“I’m honestly shocked by it. So crazy.”
Her video has been viewed more than four million times, with many agreeing Emi’s outfit was “beyond appropriate”.
“I’ve seen people wear almost nothing to a gym — your outfit is so appropriate,” one said.
Another suggested: “The wife didn’t have an issue with your outfit… She had an issue with you being unbelievably gorgeous.”
One savagely added: “Who else instinctively rolled their eyes as soon as you heard ‘owner’s wife’ — it was a TANK TOP.”
For more engaging lifestyle content, visit 7Life on Facebook.