Apparently, the greatest threat to leg day at the gym is… yoga pants.
Gym culture has given us plenty of things over the years. Tiny shorts. Impossibly attractive trainers. Protein obsessions. Entire relationships that started beside the dumbbell rack. Now, it’s given us something new: lust-free men’s only Christian gyms.
We’re just as surprised as you are.
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In Oklahoma City, Proverbs 27:17 Fitness was founded by Jeff Hambrecht as a men’s only fitness and Christian Center to “build strength, build faith, and build brotherhood.” Hambrecht has openly discussed his struggles with addiction, homelessness, spiritual emptiness, and a pornography addiction that lasted nearly twenty years.
He also believes the gym can be dangerous territory for married men.
“One of the No. 1 places affairs and infidelity occur, cheating, is the gym,” Hambrecht explained while discussing the inspiration behind the fitness space.
Meanwhile, Denver’s Remnant Gym is scheduled to open next year with founder Mitch Parsons citing similar concerns. Parsons says he quit four different gyms because he was tired of having “nakedness shoved in my face every time I walked into a gym to train.”
He described feeling forced to choose between honoring his faith, honoring his wife, guarding his eyes, or training his body.
“He called me to create a different kind of space… where men can grow stronger physically and spiritually, without the distractions of lust and temptation.”
Which raises an admittedly fascinating question. Is the greatest challenge facing modern masculinity really… women in matching workout sets?
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Mind Over Muscles
Both gyms take inspiration from Proverbs 27:17:
“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
Their focus is on creating spaces where Christian men can train, strengthen their faith, and sharpen one another in brotherhood.
Naturally, the internet immediately noticed the irony.
After all, self control is generally understood to be a mindful choice, not something that can be left in the parking lot with your Planet Fitness membership. And if lust is the problem, some commenters couldn’t help but wonder whether replacing a co-ed gym with a room full of muscular, sweaty men was quite the solution they thought it was.
The jokes practically wrote themselves.
A men’s only space where physically fit men gather daily to strengthen their bodies, sharpen one another, and build intimate brotherhood? The gay internet has seen this genre before.
The Girls, the Gays, and the Comment Section
Naturally, social media came prepared.
“Finally dudes will be free to be themselves and work out with other dudes, just like the Ancient Greeks intended,” joked one commenter.
“Seems like a Grindr account would be cheaper,” wrote another.
Others questioned why women have once again become responsible for managing men’s temptations rather than teaching men how to manage their own behavior.
Perhaps our favorite irony of all is this: two men’s only gyms built around bringing attractive, physically fit men together to sharpen one another in brotherhood have accidentally become the gay internet’s favorite news story of the week.
Listen, we’re not saying anything. We’re simply observing that history has a tremendous sense of humor.
Because if there’s one thing pop culture has taught us, it’s that temptation isn’t a place. It’s human nature.
And no amount of gym equipment can do your self control reps for you.