Jeff Hambrecht had a problem with regular gyms. The Oklahoma City-based Christian fitness influencer says the gym was the setting for an affair in his previous marriage, and that experience convinced him something needed to change.
His solution: build a gym without women in it.
Proverbs 27:17 Fitness, named after the Bible verse “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another,” opened in Oklahoma City as a men-only, faith-based gym designed to help Christian men stay physically and spiritually strong without what Hambrecht describes as the temptations of a regular gym environment.
“In a nutshell, one of the number one places that affairs and infidelity occur, cheating, is the gym,” Hambrecht said. “Byproduct is someone who had an affair in my previous marriage. Doesn’t work out well for you fellas.”
The gym’s website describes it as a space “for men tired of lukewarm faith, men who know they were made for more, and men ready to train hard, pray harder, and walk boldly.” Hambrecht has also spoken publicly about a history of homelessness, addiction, and a pornography addiction that lasted nearly 20 years.
A second men-only Christian gym, Youth Group for Men and Remnant Men, is set to open in Denver later this year. Its founder, Mitch Parsons, describes it as “a place where a man can train his body without having nakedness shoved in his face.”
That detail caught the attention of Baptist News writer Rick Pidcock, who noted that Denver gym policies already require members to wear shirts at all times, and that public indecency laws in Denver prohibit the exposure of genitals in public.
The “nakedness,” in other words, appears to be women in workout clothes
A Christian Gym for Men Only Opens to Help Members Avoid “Temptation”
