When word got out that a handful of Christian men were opening men-only “lust-free” gyms, the irony was not lost on the internet: It wasn’t much of a stretch to think of the “YMCA.”“MAGA Guys Are Going to Men-Only Gyms to Avoid ‘Distraction.’ Welcome Back, Ancient Greece,” a headline from LGTBQ news site Them.is read last month. “Well, it seems the Baptists have this whole ‘lust at the gym’ thing sorted. Make it a men’s-only environment,” one person wrote on Bluesky “’Well done, there!’ replied gay men of America.”Some women joked that they were fully on board with the idea: “Men going to men’s only gyms is my favorite thing that’s happened in 2026,” one woman wrote on Threads. The independent Baptist publication Baptist News Global was the first to bring attention to such gyms, singling out two locations in particular: Proverbs 27:17 Fitness, a gym that offers strength and conditioning classes as well as Bible study in Oklahoma City, and The Remnant Gym, a planned gym that will similarly offer fitness classes and spiritual guidance when it opens in Denver.Proverbs 27:17 Fitness ― which takes it name from the biblical verse “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”― was opened in part to help men avoid infidelity.“One of the most common places affairs and infidelity begin is the gym. I’ve lived that reality,” owner Jeff Hambrecht wrote in a post pinned to the gym’s Instagram page.“It broke things in my life but God has brought redemption in so many areas since I surrendered my life to Him,” he continued. “He called me to create a different kind of space… where men can grow stronger physically and spiritually, without the distractions of lust and temptation.”proverbs2717_fitness/theremnantmen/InstagramJeff Hambrecht, the owner of Proverbs 27:17 Fitness in Oklahoma City, and Mitchell Parsons, the owner of The Remnant Gym in Denver, have used social media to promote their Christian-based men-only gyms.On the Instagram page for The Remnant Gym, owner Mitchell Parsons shared his philosophy for opening a men’s-only Christian gym. “Christians are fed up with the explicit, unapologetic, sinful culture every gym in this country drags us through,” he wrote in the caption of a recent video. “The nakedness shoved in your face. The way every space we walk into asks us to compromise something before we even get to the first rep.” In an interview with HuffPost, Parsons delved deeper into his plans for the training center, which he and his business partners hope to open by next summer. “Oftentimes when we leave church on a Sunday, it is the last time that we are around like-minded people, especially in Denver,” he said. “The standard of modesty is different based on what you believe, and I believe in the Bible.” The big-box gyms Parsons has tried — four in total — didn’t meet his expectations, so he quit all of them. He said other Christian men in the social media comments have told him they feel the same way.“I am not asking normal gyms to meet those standards, but I am creating a space that will hold that line,” he said. “How I lead my life, my family and my business are all shaped by my faith, and there is immeasurable value to being surrounded by men who are all training for the same goal under the fear of the Lord.” “Culture as a whole has slowly moved closer to nakedness being the norm, and gyms amplify this.- Mitchell Parsons, owner of the planned The Remnant GymParsons said he’s taken the derisive headlines and online comments in stride, but he does take issue with people who assume that men who are interested in gyms like his must lack self-control or are simply trying to avoid being creepy toward women.This isn’t solely a gym problem, he said, “it’s a culture problem.”“Culture as a whole has slowly moved closer to nakedness being the norm, and gyms amplify this,” he told HuffPost. Some say the gyms unfairly put blame on women for men’s lustful thoughts.While women’s-only gym space are common ― think of Curves and Lucille Roberts, the women-focused health club chain founded in 1970 that’s dwindled to one location, in Forest Hills, Queens ― men’s-only fitness clubs have been harder to come by. In the 2000s, the men-only gym chain Cuts Fitness strived to emulate the success of the Curves fitness model, but it’s now shuttered. Critics of these new men-only gyms don’t necessarily believe that single-gender fitness spaces are inherently problematic. (Though there have been controversies when women-only spaces exclude trans women.) Nor is the spiritual bent of these Christian gyms the issue for most critics. Instead, it’s the marketing of these fitness centers as “lust-free” — or barely clad women-free — zones that critics say unfairly place the blame on women for men’s thoughts and behavior.Referring to the gyms as places where married men can train “without nakedness shoved in their face” shifts the focus away from privacy or comfort and toward a particular view of gender relations, said Steve Roberts, a professor of sociology at Monash University in Australia and the co-author of “Schooling Misogyny.”“The message isn’t simply ‘train with other men,’ it’s that women are distractions and that protecting a marriage means reducing contact between men and women,” said Roberts, whose research focuses on the manosphere and masculinity. For some, the way these gyms are being promoted ― pointing fingers at women in floozy yoga pants ― feels manosphere-adjacent. Anti-feminist “alpha male” influencers like Andrew Tate often promote narratives about women being to blame for modern social, economic and romantic challenges faced by men.South_agency via Getty Images“The message isn’t simply ‘train with other men,’ it’s that women are distractions and that protecting a marriage means reducing contact between men and women,” said Steve Roberts, a professor of sociology at Monash University in Australia and the co-author of “Schooling Misogyny.”In many ways, the thinking of Christian men-only gym owners is similar to the trad men online who say they want to date “Pilates girls” in part because there’s rarely men in the classes, so their girlfriends won’t be ogled. “They’re really two sides of the same coin, reflecting the broader gender politics found across manosphere and tradwife communities,” Roberts said. At the core of both is a renewed emphasis on men and women occupying distinct, complementary roles and social spheres, he said, often explicitly echoing older ideals of the man breadwinner and woman homemaker, just expressed in a more contemporary way. Whether you’re celebrating women who exercise in female-dominated spaces or creating “lust-free” gyms for married men, the underlying logic is the same, Roberts said.“It’s the message that good relationships are maintained by organizing men’s and women’s lives so they have fewer opportunities to interact, rather than by emphasizing trust, mutual respect and personal responsibility.”There’s a desire for gender-segregated gyms, especially among young people.It remains to be seen whether these gyms will catch on or go the way of the now-defunct Cuts Fitness for Men. But there are signs that interest in single-gender gyms may be growing.A survey conducted for Newsweek last year found that 57% of Gen Z-ers would prefer gym facilities that were segregated by gender. That’s not entirely surprising when you consider how conservative-leaning many of today’s teens and 20-somethings are. A 2024 study from Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation found that 14% of Gen Z teens (ages 13–17) describe their social views as conservative, which is twice the rate of millennials at that same age.Women in particular may be keen to exercise without men. Research published in PLOS One last year underscored the complicated relationship between women’s body image and their gym experiences, finding that feeling judged or “on display” around men can shape women’s exercise choices or even lead them to avoid the gym altogether.Isbjorn via Getty ImagesIn many ways, the thinking of Christian men-only gym owners is similar to the trad men online who say they want to date “Pilates girls” in part because there’s rarely men in the classes, so their girlfriends won’t be ogled. Overall, though, Roberts thinks this current trend says less about exercise than it does about the current cultural moment. The gyms aren’t just selling a place to work out, he said, they’re selling a particular story about masculinity, marriage and gender relations.“My concern is that they normalize the idea that men and women are better off living increasingly separate lives,” he said. “One of the goals of gender equality has been to create a society where men and women can study, work, socialize and exercise alongside one another with mutual respect and trust.”From a gender research perspective, cross-gender friendships, workplaces and communities are important because they’re where empathy, understanding and more equal relationships are built. “If our response to changing gender roles is to retreat into increasingly separate social worlds, we risk reinforcing the very binaries, stereotypes and divisions that feminism has spent decades trying to dismantle,” Roberts said. For Christian men-only gym owners, propping up feminism is the last thing on their mind. Parsons, the creator of the Denver gym, firmly believes in that binary.“Men connect differently than women, and because of that, my space will be crafted to how men think, interact and experience community,” he said. “What I’m saying is, ‘This is how gym culture is right now, and I don’t agree with it so I am building an alternative.’ If you don’t agree with me, great, then don’t join and stay where you are.”