He just wanted to get his workout in before work, not accidentally end up in someone else’s content.

But when a fellow gym member kept recording near the mirrors and he repeatedly showed up in her shots, a simple request to adjust her camera quickly spiraled into a much bigger conflict.

Read on for the story.

AITA for telling a woman at the gym to stop filming because I kept ending up in her videos?

I (31M) go to the same gym most mornings before work. Its a normal chain gym like no one of those influencer gyms but people still record sets sometimes. There are signs about not filming other members without consent but its not like it never happens.

A few weeks ago this woman (I’ll call her Jenna) started setting up a tripod near the cable machines, I didnt care like i’m not trying to police anyone I just did my workout and stayed out of the way.

But then I kept noticing I was showing up in her videos anyway in the background.

Uh oh.

One day I was doing lateral raises and her phone was pointed straight through the mirror so you could see a big chunk of the floor behind her. I only noticed because I could literally see myself in the mirror on her screen when I walked past.

I’m not saying she was doing it on purpose but I also dont want to be in some stranger’s videos at 7am when I’m half awake and sweaty.

The first time I said something I tried to keep it casual. I waited until she was between sets and said “hey, I think I’m in the background of that, would you mind adjusting it a bit?” She sighed, moved it slightly and said she was just recording her form.

Sounds appropriate.

A week later it happened again and this time I said more directly “I’m not comfortable being in your videos, can you point it away from the main floor or keep it tighter?”

She got annoyed and said if I dont comfortable I can work out somewhere else cause its a public gym.

That’s when I got frustrated, I told her its not public, its a private business and I’m not the one filming. She rolled her eyes and walked away.

Rude.

So I went to the front desk and asked what the actual policy is.

They told me filming is allowed but if someone doesnt want to be in your shot you’re supposed to adjust and staff can step in if it keeps being an issue.

I told them I’d already asked her twice. They went over and spoke to her.

So, there.

After that she concerned me near the lockers and said I was a creep for “watching her”, that I’m trying to control women at the gym and that now she feels targeted and anxious to come in.

Now I’m sitting here wondering if I escalated it to far. I just dont want to be in somebody’s content. But I also get how how going to staff can look like a bigger move than just letting it go.

AITA?

Redditors are now debating the idea between between personal privacy at the gym and the reality of filming in shared spaces. But the verdict? He is NTA.

This person says she woman is manipulative.

This person says OP wasn’t trying to be a creep and handled it well.

And this person offers a scenario if the tables were flipped…consensus: Still NTA.

If you’re filming your workout, you don’t get to cast unwilling strangers as background extras.

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