A personal trainer from Michigan let her audience know that she won’t be taking on any male clients in the foreseeable future. That’s because after feeling like a male client was pushing her boundaries, she ended up quietly letting him stop booking appointments. Then, after multiple sessions where he asked invasive questions, he came up to her at 4:30 a.m. and asked why she hadn’t been scheduling their training sessions.
TikTok content creator Erika Lynn (@erikarolston85), the owner of Wellness with Erika, posted her video describing the entire experience to TikTok, which has since gotten 1,900 views.
Personal Training Client Starts to Ask Invasive Questions
Lynn says a man reached out to her on Facebook about training, and she took him on as a client. At first, there weren’t necessarily any red flags. But she says that as their sessions went on, she noticed the client felt more and more comfortable asking invasive questions.
Some of the questions revolved around her dating life. She says he started asking about her exes, if she was single or seeing someone, or if she had a date later in the day. Lynn says that at one point, he was texting in the middle of the night to ask these questions.
So, she says she set a professional boundary and let him know that she didn’t want to be contacted in the middle of the evening. She also didn’t want to be asked whether or not she had a partner in her life, as she was just this client’s personal trainer. The TikToker says the client reacted with hostility, blocking her online for a full week before coming back around and saying he wanted to restart his sessions.
At one point, Lynn decided to drop a hint that she wasn’t single. She says she casually mentioned that she had a boyfriend, and the client canceled their appointments for the following week the next day.
The Relationship Continues to Be Uncomfortable
Despite him canceling his appointments whenever Lynn expressed her boundaries or disinterest, she says they continued booking appointments from January all the way until February. Lynn says that throughout this time, the client continued sending her messages throughout her day, asking how she was doing. She adds that he also tried to add one of her friends on Facebook. She says the client did not understand how inappropriate that was when she expressed that he had crossed a boundary.
Lynn says she had to shut down multiple of his attempts to contact her. Eventually, she hit a point where she had had enough. She had been training him at 3:00 a.m. for three days a week. And that, alongside the fact that he would not leave her alone, was starting to get to her.
She didn’t follow up with him to book appointments for the month of March. Instead, she decided to let the professional connection go entirely. He didn’t seem to notice, so she thought that they had genuinely just let the training go. Then, six days into March, she says he walked up to her in the gym at 4:30 a.m. and asked why she wasn’t showing up to their March appointments.
Client Confrontation
Lynn says she was working out with a friend when the man approached. She says she tried to keep her interaction with the man cool and composed, but she felt somewhat tense as he walked over.
The TikToker says the man walked up to her and asked what had happened on Tuesday, presuming that they had an appointment that day. She immediately asked him what he meant, as they hadn’t ever discussed having an appointment that day.
She says he let her know that he had emailed her from her website’s contact form. Confused, Lynn says she emphasized that she hadn’t seen an email from him and that if he messaged her again, they could figure out an appointment. She says she briskly apologized and tried to go back to training.
Lynn says she later examined the issue. She remembered that the man didn’t even live in the same town as her. He also apparently worked at 4:30 a.m., which is why they always had their previous sessions at 3:00 a.m. That’s when something clicked. She realized that he may have deliberately come in at 4:30 a.m., knowing she’d be there with a friend, to ask her about his training.
And she realized that the email about their Tuesday appointment had been sent to her that day. She says he had come into the gym to confront her at 4:35 a.m., and he had sent his message around 4:31 a.m. That’s why she didn’t see it yet.
By that point, Lynn realized the man had deactivated his Facebook entirely. There wasn’t necessarily another way to contact him. So, he mentioned that he would wait for an email from her to book an appointment.
“He could have reactivated his Facebook and messaged me. He could have waited for that email, but instead he drove to the gym when I was working out to confront me,” she said.
The Michigan Trainer Decides to Only Train Women
Lynn decided at that point that she would only be training women from then on. She says the man messaged her again at around 6:00 a.m., asking whether they’d be rescheduling, and she sent back a professional response letting him know that she can’t train him anymore at 10:00 a.m.
“I email him back after much thought, and I said, ‘Listen, I’m gonna only train women from now on. This is the direction that my professional career is gonna go. I’m gonna be a women’s fitness specialist, so I’m no longer gonna train you, but good luck with everything.'”
She says the man emailed her back and asked why she didn’t just tell him that in the morning. Then, within 15 minutes, he replied to that message apologizing for his behavior.
“Erica, I’m really sorry,” the woman reports reading. “I looked forward to us training together… I love everything you taught me, and I’m sorry if I ever did anything. I’m sorry if I did something wrong.”
“Why would you say that? Unless you know deep down that you did something wrong,” she questions.
She says he then reactivated his Facebook account to let her know again that he was thankful for everything. She found the entire thing incredibly unusual and felt borderline harassed for setting boundaries with him.
Gym Harassment Is Common for Women
Lynn isn’t the first personal trainer to get harassed by a client. Other personal trainers, like Lori Calloway, have shared that they’ve faced sexual harassment from clients. Those experiences are cited as reasons why some trainers leave the profession entirely.
While it’s an issue that doesn’t only affect women, over 61 percent of women report being sexually harassed by a man at the gym. That’s one reason why Lynn and others like her might move toward training only female clients.
Commenters agreed with her decision, saying that he was likely looking to date her from the start of their appointments. Other viewers added that his behavior seemed deeply creepy and that they weren’t fans of it.
AllHipHop reached out to Lynn via TikTok direct message and comment for more information. We’ll let you know if she responds.
@erikarolston85 I don’t train men. I build strong women. 💪🏽💕 #creep #boundaries #storytime ♬ original sound – Erika Lynn