A man who was accused of taking up a woman's personal space in the gym has explained what he was doing after he faced backlash.
Fitness coach David Bissell shared his version of events with UNILAD after he came under fire in a TikTok video posted by another fitness influencer, named Charlie.
In the video, Charlie was trying to demonstrate a barbell row, showing viewers how to master the form for the workout, when a shirtless Bissell suddenly appeared behind her with a large dumbbell.
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As Charlie spoke, Bissell placed the weight on the ground between his legs, seemingly only a few inches from Charlie's feet.
Bissell then turned to stand even closer to Charlie and adjust the weight's position on the ground, before abruptly walking away and leaving the weight behind.
Charlie attempted to call out to Bissell, who wasn't wearing headphones, but he failed to respond in the clip.
Charlie eventually moved the dumbbell herself so she could continue with her tutorial, and as she posted the video she described Bissell as 'the worst kind of gym bro'.
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Her video was flooded with comments from people criticising Bissell for getting too close to Charlie, with one person writing: "My gym is full of [clown emoji] like him… no respect or consideration for anyone else but themselves!!"
However, Bissell has now responded to the video to explain why he placed the weight where he did.
In a statement to UNILAD, Bissell said: "Where I placed the dumbbell was literally the only place I could put the dumbbell for the exercise I was doing."
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Bissell explained he had been trying to do a workout which required him to lean back on a set of rings and pull himself up. The dumbbell is then used as an anchor point for a workout band, which Bissell puts around his waist.
"The rings I was setting up on the day of the video were the only ones available," Bissell continued. "There was no malicious intent whatsoever to hurt Charlie, nor any offense taken by her filming nor me being in her filming.
"All my thought process in the setup of the dumbbell is about finding the correct angle for my exercise, to tension pulling perpendicular to the body."
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Bissell went on to claim that he would have 'said something' about the dumbbell if Charlie hadn't been 'mid-filming', but added: "To be honest - I didn’t think it to be in her way… [there are] plenty of situations in gyms where people work much closer to each other than what you see in her video."
Though Charlie didn't seem too impressed with Bissell when she posted the video on TikTok last month, Bissell has claimed the pair had an 'amicable conversation' after Charlie stopped filming.
"She seemed to be completely understanding and she then moved down one rack, as contrary to my situation there were plenty racks free," Bissell claimed.
Emily Brown