Heidi Aragon, an American personal trainer, has found herself in the social media spotlight after posting a video in which she was defending herself against an alleged creepy person while she was exercising.
Personal trainer Heidi Aragon goes after “creepy old guy” in viral video.
According to Aragon, who is from Orange County, California, the man initially tried to deny that he was doing anything wrong. However, she countered his claims with a video which she was recording.
Apparently, she was recording because she wanted to take a video of herself doing squats but accidentally noticed the man staring at her during the filming.
The woman then alerted her husband, who came over and attempted to intimidate the onlooker to no success. Finally, the trainer decided to confront the man and made the exchange public on her social media.
Aragon said in the video: “This creepy old guy at the gym kept coming over and staring at me. So I told my husband, and he came over and worked out next to me.”
She continued: “I decided to stop working out and stare back. I thought he got the picture. I told him if he’s going to work out in this corner, he needed to stop staring and making me uncomfortable. I’m just looking around.”
The young woman also shared: “I then told him I record my workouts, and I have him on film. He shut up real quick. Don’t sit there and tell me you’re not doing something when I have proof.”
She has received a lot of support from many women sharing their own stories of people creeping them out during their workouts.
@fit_with_heidi Don’t sit there and tell me you’re not doing something when I have proof. 😡 #gymtok #fittok #influencer #viral #trending #tiktok #fitness #gym #gymgirl #fyp #fypシ #foryou #foryoupage #gymcreeps
Critics call her an attention seeker, as most women back her.
However, at the same time, there has also been a vocal group of critics who have been openly disapproving of the whole situation, claiming that the woman could have very well twisted events to make things seem different.
A few critics say the whole controversy is ironic. They accused the woman of seeking attention by posting her workout videos online, but at the same time, she gets upsets when someone gives it to her in real life.
Some of those conversations also steered into more general topics like the popularity of the “cancel culture” right now.
But in the end, it seems like most people support the personal trainer and have praised her for voicing her concerns over something that many other women have to face on a daily basis.
The video, which was posted in November, was viewed over 21 million times. Aragon thanked critics for pushing her views higher and bringing more new followers to her TikTok account in a follow-up video.
TikTok user reveals “hickey hack” to keep creeps away at the gym.
The social media personality has been sharing more content with her new supporters. Aragon is not the only woman complaining about so-called “creeps” at the gym on social media.
A TikTok user by the name of blackmarketbagelsociety0 says that she uses “fake hickeys” at the gym to get less attention from men. She smears brown eyeshadow on her body to look like love marks.
She explained that men have come to her less often with gym advice since she started doing this. Some commenters say that it takes a lot of effort to keep creeps away.
@blackmarketbagelsociety0 Guess my form is just better this week also shout out to my team mate for this idea #howdy #gymhack #lifehack #gym
This is becoming a real problem like gym anxiety. Some women have given up going to the gym because of unwanted attention, and others are opting for all-women gyms altogether.
Experts say, like in most situations, bringing awareness to the issue is a big step forward.