Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 19, 1993 TAG: 9310190021
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DANA WOODNEW YORK TIMES SYNDICATE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
In full view of about 30 people, two classmates at a popular West Side fitness establishment in New York were squaring off.
The trigger? Floor space, plain and simple.
Before it ended, not only would the class itself come to a crashing halt, but the scuffle would grow so heated that the police would be summoned to provide an escort home to the more battered individual.
Sound ugly? You better believe it. But in aerobics classes everywhere, intelligent people are occasionally knocking the stuffing out of each other, all in service to their hips and thighs.
"Fighting is very common," says Alix Redmonde, aerobic director for Better Bodies Cross Training Center and instructor at the Printing House, Vertical Club, Molly Fox and Sports Club L.A. "It happens all the time in crowded classes."
Talk to a few sports psychologists and fitness experts, and you quickly learn a strange fact about human nature - that for myriad reasons, civility often gets left at the gym's front door. Just the atmosphere itself can inspire strange behavior.
"Let's face it, the gym is a very weird place," says Audrius Barzdukas, a sports psychologist and program administrator for the sports science programs of the U.S. Olympic Committee. "People are running around half-naked, lifting heavy objects and jumping around. It's just not a normal environment."
A prime trouble spot is the weight room, says Edward Jackowski, CEO of Exude, a New York fitness company that employs a battalion of personal trainers.
"At the beginning of every Nautilus circuit there is a sign that clearly says, `Please start at the beginning.' And a lot of times, fights start when some guy just tries to jump in. It's really rude."
But line crashers aren't the only problem. Says Jackowski, "In every gym, there are always cliques clustered around the same machines, and they'll often try to intimidate a new person from using them."
And that's nothing compared to what goes on in aerobics classes, where confined spaces and flailing limbs can spell slugfest.
"There's a personality type that's very territorial," says Cathe Thompson, program director at Molly Fox and an aerobics instructor for 20 years. "They want a certain amount of space around them wherever they are, whether it's on the subway or in aerobics class. And if there are too many of those types in one class, there can be trouble."
In addition, there's plenty of female psychology at work, and women comprise the bulk of the student body at Aerobics U.
"Women can definitely go at it at the gym," Redmonde says.
"And as a woman, I really hate to say that."
"Women are very conflicted about competition - much more so than men," says Richard King, who maintains a private psychotherapy practice here and is affiliated with New York University Medical Center. "Women are still oriented to please others, and can be unsure how to conduct themselves in a competitive environment. That's why they often have a raw response to competition and can fall apart."
Some people would rather cancel a club membership than deal with bad vibes, not to mention bruises.
One former member of an all-women's club took advantage of a three-day escape clause for just that reason. It seems that when she encroached on another patron's space, that woman just flung her arms out and scratched hard enough to draw blood.
Given that a cubic foot of space on a gym floor can inspire people to haul off and sock each other, some instructors are getting mighty creative in circumventing scuffles.
During a recent stint as aerobic director of East Side Fitness, for example, Redmonde took matters into her own hands.
"In my second month I designed a floor plan," she recalls. "I got down on my hands and knees and measured and numbered each and every space. There's a corresponding sign-up sheet, and they're given a number ticket. Otherwise, they'll cheat."
Most fitness buffs, say the instructors polled, tend to pick a spot in class and guard it with their very lives. And it often doesn't even matter if someone arrives late. Their spots are their spots - end of story.
And then there is the strict, albeit unspoken, protocol that is adhered to in aerobics class: If you have even a remote bent to klutziness, hie thee to the back of the room.
"You have to understand that the front row can't be penetrated," Vindics says. "I'm only there because I've been doing the circuit of clubs for two years and I know everyone. But it's definitely an inner sanctum. And if you don't know the routine by heart, or if your body fat is higher than 2 percent, it's best not to go anywhere near us."
Aerobics enthusiast Mona Hanna is the embodiment of a "don't-mess-with-me" front-row gal, but says she likes being there simply because she gets a better workout.
"It's really not an ego thing," Hanna maintains. "I just don't like somebody blocking my view."
With a little prodding, however, Hanna reveals that she's a "type A personality - an overachiever in virtually every facet of her life.
"Work is so competitive, life is so competitive," she allows. "It's sad."
And that's the mindset she takes to the gym, although she claims to have mellowed with time: She's pared her fitness schedule from 15 to 10 aerobics classes per week.
No matter what the catalyst - the jockeying for prime floor spots, simple overcrowding or a mass outbreak of endorphins (despite the positive buzz attached to them, a few fitness experts say endorphins can actually spark aggression) - most aerobics brawls start out as minor disagreements.
"There are always incidents at the club, but they usually stop with a verbal confrontation," Vindics says. "It doesn't always lead to a physical battle." Provided, she adds, that one party "backs down."
Frequently, it's up to instructors to ensure that one participant in a potential tussle - preferably the one with fire in his or her eyes - gives in.
But it's not always easy.
"As an instructor, you often don't know who is doing the antagonizing," says Henry Hidron, who teaches at Jeff Martin and other New York fitness boites.
And occasionally, scuffles get out of control within seconds.
Hidron describes a recent incident wherein "the aggressor felt the aggressee wasn't moving with the flow of the class. So she just punched her. And it became a fistfight. But I think the aggressee was in shock that something like that could actually happen. I was in shock that something like that could actually happen."
Without a doubt, when push comes to shove at the gym, the effects can be devastating for everyone involved - including innocent bystanders.
Vindics says she was shaken, disturbed and found it impossible to sleep after witnessing the incident last winter.
"It was a very depressing sight," she says. "I was embarrassed for them. For that matter, I was embarrassed for all of human nature."
by CNB