Male personal trainer called out for repeatedly inappropriately touching female trainee

A female personal trainer took to her Instagram account to publicly call out a male personal trainer who was seen to be inappropriately touching his female client at a gym in Prinsep.

In an Instagram post on Monday (Aug 3), Cheryl Loh, another personal trainer at the same gym shared a video of the incident.

She wrote: “When the other party is not comfortable with such action, this is considered a case of sexual assault. It is a very serious offence in Singapore, and unfortunately this has happened way too many times with coaches abusing their position and authority to do things like that”.

Referring to the act as ‘molest’ in her post, Ms Loh explained that the trainer was not an employee of the gym, but a freelance personal trainer conducting his own sessions. She also added that she reached out to the man’s client.

She noted that when she spoke to the client “it turned out this was indeed her first time having a coach, facing such situation for the first time. ??? ???? ??? “don’t touch my butt” a few times over 7 training sessions”.

The personal trainer said that he had to touch her, citing that “checking muscles” as was something he needed to do.

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❌ ???? ?? ?????????? ????????????? ?? ? ?????/??????? — ????? ???? ??? ??? — ❌ When the other party is not comfortable with such action, this is considered a case of sexual assault. It is a very serious offence in Singapore, and unfortunately this has happened way too many times with coaches abusing their position and authority to do things like that. I personally consider this more despicable and disturbing than molesting a stranger – this is using the student's trust to commit such an act, which can really mindfuck a person for a long time. The coach in this video is a freelance trainer working by himself, and is not an employee of the gym. I have reached out to the client (swipe to second image) to let her know that it is NOT normal for such physical interaction during training, it is very unprofessional, and that she can speak up if she have felt uncomfortable about her coach touching inappropriately and groping during some exercises. Also spoke to her (not on text), and it turned out this was indeed her first time having a coach, facing such situation for the first time. ??? ???? ??? "don't touch my butt" a few times over 7 training sessions, but he still went ahead to do so, using "checking muscles" as an excuse – which many trainers will know that's complete BS. ?????? ??????????? ??? ????? ??????? ??? from using the gym space to conduct his own PT sessions – with effect from 2 August – and the client has now stopped training with him. She will not be making a police report, but she has given me the permission to share about this as she also wants all women, girls, or even guys out there to know that this behaviour is not acceptable and that nobody should put up with any actions that make them feel uneasy, uncomfortable, and disrespected. Anyone that feels this way should speak up and not let the perpetrator has his/her way. #ShareThisPost I am very glad that @apeirolife doesn't tolerate such behaviour, and I'm happy to be conducting my PT sessions in a safe, fun, and professional space with other likeminded professional trainers. _

A post shared by Cheryl Loh | Personal Trainer (@cherylfit_sg) on Aug 3, 2020 at 4:34am PDT

Ms Loh continued, “?????? ??????????? ??? ????? ??????? ??? from using the gym space to conduct his own PT sessions – with effect from 2 August – and the client has now stopped training with him”.

However, she added that the female client will not be making a police report.

“I am very glad that @apeirolife doesn’t tolerate such behaviour, and I’m happy to be conducting my PT sessions in a safe, fun, and professional space with other likeminded professional trainers”, she wrote.

In her Instagram post, Ms Loh not only shared a video of the incident, she also shared screenshots of her conversation with the female client.

The video showed the back view of the female trainee who was carrying out exercises, and the male fitness trainer in a mask who repeatedly touched her rear with his hand.

The male trainer’s face was obscured as he was wearing a face mask.

The gym subsequently responded to the incident via an Instagram Story, adding that it had “taken action” against the trainer. /TISG