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Nobody wants to be approached by a stranger at the gym, especially when said stranger spouts unsolicited advice about how to optimize your workout routine. Take it from <\/span>this Redditor with an invisible disability<\/span>whose sweat session was seriously sourced by an entitled gym bro.<\/span><\/p>\nUser Dani21002 took to the <\/span>\/AmITheAsshole SubReddit<\/span> for a gut check on a recent gym encounter that rubbed her the wrong way. The Reddit user has a chronic illness called <\/span>Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS<\/span>, a blood circulation disorder that severely limits the kinds of exercises she can safely execute. \u201cThe whole reason I started to exercise in the first place was not to lose weight or gain muscle, but to hopefully manage my condition better,\u201d she wrote. \u201cUnfortunately, a lot of ‘gym rats’ don’t seem to get that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nMore from SheKnows<\/strong><\/p>\nDani21002 was flagged down by one such gym rat during a recent workout. She’d seen him multiple times at the gym, but it was her first time interacting with him. As she was getting ready to leave, he came over and started to critique her routine, insisting that \u201cyou’re not gonna get much results from just doing that every time, you need to add more cardio and weight training.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nClick here to read the full article. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just kinda stared at him for a moment before telling him that I appreciated his concern, but I wasn’t interested in his advice,\u201d she recalled. \u201cHe just doubled down, started grilling me about my diet and suggesting different workouts to add so I can lose weight quicker. I got fed up rather quickly and snapped at him, saying ‘What makes you think I want to lose weight?’\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThe gym rat was surprised, but the Redditor kept going, incensed by his presumptuousness. She explained that she is \u201cdisabled\u201d with a condition that \u201cprevents me from doing most forms of exercise and severely impacts my quality of life.\u201d Her supposedly ineffective routine was recommended by her team of medical professionals to help manage her chronic illness. \u201cSo think about that next time you give someone your shitty ‘advice,’\u201d she added, calling him some \u201ccolorful words\u201d before storming off.<\/span><\/p>\nStory continues<\/button><\/p>\nThis Redditor isn’t alone: \u200b\u200bAn estimated 42 percent of Americans <\/span>have a severe disability<\/span>, and more than 90 percent of them are invisible to the naked eye. And besides, everyone has different fitness goals. You can never really tell what someone is working toward by what they’re doing at the gym or how their body looks.<\/span><\/p>\nStill, Dani21002 expressed some residual guilt for telling off a total stranger. She called up her sister, who suggested that she could have been nicer to the well-meaning gym bro. However, commenters were firmly in every corner.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cAbsolutely NTA,\u201d one person wrote. \u201cHe came over and gave you unwanted, unhelpful, and dangerous ‘advice’. You shouldn’t have to reveal your health condition to be left alone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cFellow ‘invisibly disabled’ person here, and just, NTA,\u201d another commenter added. \u201cThe thing is, it wouldn’t have mattered if you were able bodied or not. He invaded your routine to shit out unsolicited advice, and dug his heels in after the first time you told him you weren’t interested. <\/span>There shouldn’t have needed to be a first time telling him you weren’t interested.<\/span><\/i>\u201d <\/span><\/p>\nBefore you go, check out our favorite at-home workout gear (guaranteed to not come with unsolicited comments from randos unless you let them into your house):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n