Each time Onyeka Nnaji leaves for the gym at Klub O42 Gym Centre in Enugu State, he has only one intention: to exercise his body.
But the sight of busty ladies and women with tight dresses at the gym often ‘steals’ his attention and focus.
“It is a challenge. But you cannot tell them (women) not to visit the gym because of the distraction they cause,” Mr Nnaji, who visits the gym frequently, said of the distraction caused by women at gyms.
Despite the distractions, he still finds a way to regain control of himself quickly.
For him, men completely distracted by the sexy women at gyms are not intentional about their goal of visiting gyms.
“I am a man. We see things here. But I control myself by being disciplined,” he says, grinning.
“But I can tell you that some men come here to see such women. Even some women come here because this is mainly a men’s space.”
Mr Nnaji is not the only man who suffers temporary attention loss at gyms because of the presence of women in tight dresses.
Obiora Ugwu visits the gym at least four times weekly, often alone.
Mr Ugwu told PREMIUM TIMES he loses focus “for some seconds” each time his eyes flicker to women in a gym.
“There was a day a girl at the gym was trying to push a heavy iron. She made a soundtrack. It was a bedroom kind of soundtrack.
“All the men there, not just me, got distracted,” he recalls.
Mr Ugwu, however, believes that the presence of women with sexy dresses and tight clothes at gyms is a source of “entertainment and motivation” for men.
Unlike others, Tochukwu Udeh, another gym-goer, says he hardly gets distracted by such women.
Mr Udeh told PREMIUM TIMES that he avoids distraction by working out only in the male section of the gym he visits.
He acknowledged that the tight dresses and sights of cleavage at gyms could be distracting, but maintained that he often stays focused.
“My major aim for gymming is to be physically fit and to reduce my potbelly. So, I often stay focused,” he said.
‘Loads of distraction’
Another gym-goer, who identified himself as Dennis, says he visits the gym at least five times a week, occasionally with his male friends.
Dennis said he experienced “loads of distractions” each time his eyes darted to busty ladies and women with tight dresses at the gym.
The 23-year-old recalls a particular incident.
“There was a day that I got here (at a gym), there was a girl beside me.
“She was supposed to face me while squatting, but she backed me while squatting. I noticed that her buttocks were showing,” he narrated.
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“It was very distracting. I literally lost focus. But I usually remove my mind from it to get myself under control.”
Advice from relationship expert
Esther Nwogwugwu, a psychologist and relationship expert, told PREMIUM TIMES that gym-goers, including those with “seductive” clothes and revealing dresses, have varying intentions for visiting a gym.
“When people go to the gym, some are there to lose weight. Some are there to gather attention, probably, or even to seduce people or meet new friends and hopefully meet the bone of their bone and the flesh of their flesh,” said Ms Nwogwugwu, based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Ms Nwogwugwu said men must be disciplined to stay on course when they see women wearing revealing dresses and tight clothes.
“I will say this to anyone who goes to the gym. You’re going there for a purpose. If you’re focused, you’ll see all these women as distractions.
“So any man who falls for a woman because of what she wore means he probably did not know why he went to the gym. It calls for the need to be disciplined,” she said.
“I know it’s not easy for men. But they can overcome this (distraction) with discipline.”
