Gym etiquette prevents chaos and keeps everyone sane. But in the age of social media, some privacy lines can get quickly blurred, fuelling the ever-growing filming debate in public spaces.
This has recently been highlighted by a fitness influencer who slammed a woman recording herself and a passerby.
In a now-deleted video that went viral on TikTok, Alejandra Muro, a personal trainer, recorded herself working out. Captioning the video: “POV (point of view): When you have haters at the gym.” She also caught a glimpse of another woman appearing in the background.
In the video, the woman, who passes as a person of white ethnicity, was seen noticing the camera and getting visibly annoyed as she shook her head before picking up her belongings and leaving.
Fitness influencer Alejandra Muro was called out by Joey Swoll after recording herself and a passerby at the gym
Image credits: Joey Swoll
“They don’t want to see me win. Say no to racism,” Alejandra, who has identified herself as a Latin woman born in Peru, further wrote in her video’s caption.
“Not wanting to be in someone’s video at the gym does not make you a hater or racist,” Joey Swoll, an internet-famous bodybuilder, replied upon seeing Alejandra’s video.
In a video response, Joey said that the woman who appeared in Alejandra’s clip was there first, working out and minding her own business. He continued: “And you come along and set your tripod up with her directly in the background of your video, so she grabs her stuff and she leaves.”
Upon reading Alejandra's “They don’t want to see me win. Say no to racism" caption, Joey slammed her for filming a random woman in the background
Image credits: Joey Swoll
Image credits: alemurofit
According to Joey, the woman had every right to be frustrated and not want to be in Alejandra’s video. He added: “You have to understand that just because you’re comfortable filming yourself to pose on social media does not mean that everybody else is too.
“And then you call her racist for this? I hope the gym sees this and kicks her out.”
Amidst growing backlash piling up against her, Alejandra posted a response video on TikTok in which she claimed that she had seen the woman in question before and that everything Alejandra was doing at the gym, “camera or no camera,” appeared to be “unpleasing” to her.
Amidst growing backlash piling up against her, Alejandra posted an apology video
Image credits: alemurofit
Image credits: alemurofit
The fitness influencer also said that the woman was someone she had seen “all the time” at her gym. “I didn’t bring my camera to record her,” Alejandra clarified.
Alejandra went on to justify the presence of her camera at the gym as part of her job as an online personal trainer, and therefore, “people are just gonna pass by.”
The personal trainer alleged that the woman she had caught in the background of her initial video had already annoyed her prior to recording her video. “She’s only like that around me,” she said.
She apologized for calling the woman racist, who appeared annoyed to be recorded in her initial video
Image credits: alemurofit
After Alejandra turned the comments off on her response video, she went on to upload another video on Tuesday (February 20), this time apologizing and leaving room for people to reply.
In her new video, Alejandra exclaimed: “In the midst of the chaos, there’s always good,” before admitting she had falsely accused the woman of racism and saying she was “very sorry” for posting the initial video.
“Taking accountability. Good job,” a person commented on Alejandra’s apology video.
Another individual wrote: “Just [keep] in mind, people go to gym for different reasons, and making friends may not be one of them.
“It’s not for us to assume their state of mind as most regulars like to be left alone.”
“Taking accountability. Good job,” a person commented on Alejandra’s apology video
This isn’t Joey’s first time prompting adverse reactions against female fitness influencers recording themselves at the gym.
Back in January, Joey, who is known across social media for calling out bad behavior in gyms, called out a woman after she shared a video of herself posing in the gym to admire her muscles when she spotted a guy looking at her as he walked by.
“Filming your a** for the entire internet to see, but you’re upset when a guy walking by looks in to see what you’re doing?” the bodybuilder exclaimed at the time in a reaction video on his popular social media channels.
The fitness influencer went on to argue that as a result of Joey’s response video, she had been at the receiving end of his fans “spewing hate” at her, and linked her experience with a previous article that addressed a video the bodybuilder had made against another woman, who ended up receiving death threats.
Alejandra's initial video provoked more critics
