By Lauren McGrath
“In my six years as a physical fitness instructor, I’ve never heard anyone complain about this.” That’s how the instructor replied after I reiterated my request to both lower the volume of the music in our group exercise classes and to use a microphone for his speech. These measures, I felt, would make classes both safer and more accessible.
This instructor’s Sunday evening, one-hour core and lower body workout had just concluded, and the decibel meter on my iPhone—that I kept hidden stealthily in my tote bag—reported a maximum of 106 decibels (dB) and an average of 78 dB. I estimated that this average was at least 10 dB lower than the previous week’s class, and was pleased, but I still believed a conversation was warranted. A level of 106 dB is enough to cause permanent hearing damage in minutes.
With this information, I approached the instructor directly about some of the noise-related concerns I’d developed during my first few months as a member of my gym, which I’d recently shared with the gym’s owner by email.
I had written to the owner the week prior, just after attending the same class. Though I didn’t take any decibel measurements that time, I would not be surprised if my ears were exposed to an average of 90 dB for 60 minutes. During my private cooldown stretch, I actually felt pain in my ears. Not ringing, but noticeable pain.
After more than four years working for Hearing Health Foundation (HHF), equipped with plenty of knowledge about hearing health and hearing loss, I wasn’t surprised in the slightest by this outcome. I hadn’t been wearing hearing protection—I didn’t anticipate my need to!
Like most gym classrooms, this group exercise room is all hard surfaces, making loud volumes feel even louder. But research has shown that higher volumes in fitness classes do not actually make people work out harder.
Besides yoga, which is generally peaceful and quiet, this was one of my first group exercise classes following my COVID-19 vaccination. The sound was shockingly loud, probably on par with being near the stage during a rock concert. The group fitness room is a box-shaped, windowless room with hardwood floors, high ceilings, and metal paneling: an acoustic setup ideal for assaulting the ears.
In my email, I let the gym owner know the volume in the class was painfully loud. I recommended two things: that the instructor (and all instructors) lower the volume, and that microphones be made available so that patrons who wish to wear earplugs—or who have hearing loss, or who have auditory processing difficulties—can more easily hear the cues in class.
I alluded to recent research from Hearing Restoration Project member Ronna Hertzano, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at University of Maryland School of Medicine, that found higher volumes in group fitness classes do not actually make people work out harder. I warned that noise-induced hearing loss is permanent, and that group fitness settings are just one of the many ways in which we can hurt our ears for life.
All I got in return from the gym owner was a promise that he’d look into a microphone. My other comments about science and hearing loss went ignored. I left feeling mostly discouraged, as if my plea to be able to protect my hearing health while participating in cardiovascular exercise was somehow crazy.
The silence from the owner is what prompted me to speak directly to the instructor. He told me he’d received word from the owner about my emails and, quite frankly, that he had never heard of anyone requesting something of the sort. Flustered, I mentioned the Hertzano study. “I’ve never seen any of that type of research in my class,” he retorted. I frowned. “This is how people lose their hearing,” I said.
I knew I wasn’t going to convince the instructor to change his mind during that brief encounter, and I doubt I’ll be able to in the future unless other students—other paying customers—express the same concern.
It’s going to take a major culture shift through programs like HHF’s “Keep Listening” campaign to clearly illustrate to the public the dangers of noise-induced hearing loss—and to underscore how taking care of your hearing health is part of taking care of your overall health—and not contradictory.
In the meantime, I’ll be wearing earplugs in loud group fitness classes to protect my hearing.
Lauren McGrath is HHF’s former marketing and communications director. For more, see hhf.org/blogs/research-calls-attention-to-dangerous-noise-levels-in-gym and hhf.org/keeplistening.
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