Life
Why it feels so good when sparks fly across treadmill row.
The first thing he noticed was her smile and her solid squat form.
Theyd run into each other at the gym, then spend hours chatting and exercising together.
Soon, gym sessions turned to hangouts, and eventually dates.
Its just so crazy that we met at the gym, Alexis says.
Its that cute person or people!
you regularly spy across the weight room and whose presence serves as a highlight of your otherwise mundane workout.
Sometimes these crushes are reciprocal; more often, theyre not.
A gym crush can strike any person of any age, sexuality, or gender identity.
(Some people sayneverto talk to them, while others insistyouhave to do the talking.)
Its almost like Im a human again, Cassy says.
Youre so used to being bombarded by people online if you are on dating apps.
It makes sense, then, that people would develop feelings for someone who shares their routine.
I was walking by and turned to him without thinking and said, Oh my God, hey!
It was 0% smooth, 0% flirty just pure delusion that I knew this man.
Sadly for Max, his gym crush returned only a confused look, then kept walking.
While sparks may not be flying for everybody across treadmill row, they certainly are for some gymgoers.
Some of what makes gyms such ripe locations for crushes comes down to science.
In psychology, this phenomenon even has a term:misattribution of arousal.
Some gymgoers take peacocking more seriously than others, of course.
I want to look good for myself, but also I want to be noticed, Cassy says.
Gym crushes are more fun from a distance, she says.
I dont actually want to speak to them.
The idea of them is more fun.
Its almost like having multiple gym crushes is your own little fantasy universe, Cassy said.
95% of the time nothing is going to come out of any of it.
But he said his marriage is secure enough that he and his wife frequently talk about their workout crushes.
Shes not concerned correctly that I would do anything, he says.
She was particularly interested in [hearing about] the hot guy who I see all the time.
Though for someone like Maya, a 24-year-old in Texas, these mixed bags of intentions can be confusing.
I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.
But Mayas bummer didnt end there.
Think of it like a man in uniform, Maya says.
Theyre attractive in their uniform, but once theyre out in regular clothes that attraction is gone.
We have worked really hard to be that workout power couple, Alexis says.
We are a ride-or-die team.
