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Deaf to the dangersPumped, but not by the volume

Motivating or a hindrance? Either way, noise levels at the gymmay be doingmore harm than good, writesSiobhanMoylan.

85per cent of instructorsfound loudmusicmotivating, whereasabout one-fifth of clientsfound it stressful.

Gyms are placeswheremany of us goto get healthy, fit and fabulous.Simply put, the intent is to getbetter rather thanworse. Tomy

chagrin and the collective chagrins ofmyfellowgymaficionados,more than once,wehave left spin classeswith not just sore legsand rears but sore and ringing ears. Thelatter is the problematic part, the former parfor the course.A paper titledNoise levels in fitness classes

still too highwas published in theArchives ofEnvironmental&OccupationalHealth lastmonth. As its title suggests, it backs upwhatmany of us have long hypothesised – thatsound levels in high-intensity gymclassesare oftenway too high.As part of the study, noise levelswere

tested during 35 low-intensity and 65 high-intensity classes in 1997-98 and again in2009-11. The study assessed noise levels atfour different gyms – two large gyms inNewcastle, north of Sydney, for the firststudy and eight separate gyms inSydney forthe second. Seven of thosewereFitnessFirst branches,which operate nationally.Permissionwas obtained from themanagement and instructors of theparticipating gyms tomeasure noise levelsduring selected classes and questionnairesdistributed to clients and instructors.Instructors and clientswere asked about

their preferredmusic volume levels andwhether they found loudmusic ‘‘stressful’’or ‘‘motivating’’. Turns out, instructorsprefermuchhigher volumes than clients forhigh-intensity classes. In both studies, about85 per cent of instructors found loudmusicmotivating,whereas about one-fifth ofclients found it stressful.Noise levels in both timeperiodswere

similar, averaging at about 93.1 decibels.Noise levels in low-intensity classes droppedfrom88.9dB to 85.6dB.Happily thatmeansclasses like yoga are getting quieter, andgiven their very nature thatmakes sense,but sound levels in, for example, spin classes,are still spinning out of control.JanetteThorburn, principal audiologist at

AustralianHearing, says it is ‘‘astonishing’’that somegyms are playingmusic at theselevels. ‘‘Weknow that one gym in theUnitedStates has recorded a level of 106dB in a spinclass,’’ she says. ‘‘That is insane. If you are an

instructor and you do a few classes back toback at high levels it is definitely damagingto your hearing.’’This type of recreational noise is

becomingmore of a concern forAustralianHearing, Thorburn says. ‘‘Our research armis now looking at noise levels in gyms. TheAustralian standard is 85dBof continuousnoise over eight hours. If you raise the levelsto 91dB then you can only be exposed for twohours safely and so on. Recreational noise isa hugely ignored public health problem.’’Sowhat if your ears are ringing after

spinning up a storm toDonHenley’sBoysof Summer? ‘‘This is a formof tinnitus,’’Thorburn says. ‘‘It’s our ears signalling to usthat the next step is damage and that if youkeep going back, youwill be asking formoredamage,we are now seeingmore andmorepeoplewalking awaywith this type of ringingin the ears after high intensity gymclasses.’’The author of thepaper, research

psychologist at theNationalAcousticLaboratories, ElizabethBeach, says it’s timeformore awareness around the issue.‘‘Fitness class providers are trying tomaketheir classes like nightclubs to entice peoplein thedoorswhich is not necessary,’’ she says.‘‘Another strategy could be to vary tempoasopposed to turning the volumeup to

dangerous levels.’’ About 14 per cent of youngAustralians (aged 18-35) are being exposed tonoise levels that are over the safeworkplacelimit. Thedamage is oftendoneduring theirleisure timewhen they listen to loudmusic onelectronic devices or visit nightclubs or live

concert venues.Often thedamage is done,Beach says, andbecausehearing issues oftendon’tmaterialise until later in life, people tendtoput offworrying about it.‘‘Hearing lossmay not become evident for

another 20 years but that’swhywe talk

about tinnitus now,’’ she says. ‘‘People needto imaginewhat it is like to have that tinnitusnot go away. The human system is notdesigned to hear sounds like the onespumping out of gym speakers over a longperiod of time,we simply have not evolved todealwith those sorts of sound levels.’’I have complained about decibel levels at

mygymmany times, in particular ininstructors’ spin classes, only to be told to‘‘wear ear plugs if you can’t handle it’’.Question is, ifmembers do develop hearingproblems in the future could thesemattersbe ones for the courts to handle?Do gymshave a duty of care tomembers?Fitness First classes operate the same

classes at all their branches acrossAustralia. Head of fitness, RobHale, says:‘‘We are guided by all relevant occupationhealth and safety standards, and activelyparticipated in the noise study conducted in2009-2011 to gain a better understanding ofnoise levels.Wewill continue tomonitor ournoise levelswithin our clubs to ensure thatthe approach remains consistent, and thatall our staff understand the importance ofmaintaining the prescribed audio levels.’’ElizabethBeach believes the onus is on

gyms to look after patrons. She says that ifyou feel themusic is too loud in your class,you should approach your instructor.‘‘What’sworrying though is that instructorsprefer higher noise levels than clients,suggesting that efforts to reduce noise levelsmaymeetwith some resistance. Given thepossible health risks fromexcessively loudmusic, the fitness industry is encouraged tore-examine the role of loudmusic and tocreatively explore newways tomotivateclients so that instructors’ hearing isprotected and clients’ needs aremet.’’Could it be that your gym is also pumping

up the volume tounsafe levels?Beachhypothesises that indeed a trendappears beforming. ‘‘Inmyopinion theproblem iswidespreadandyou could expect toencounter similar noise levelswhereverfitness classes are set tomusic. In anotherstudywe’ve done recently,wehave another 32recordings fromfitness classes (someFitnessFirst and some independents) and thenoisefigures are very similar, a rule of thumb is thatif you think themusic isway too loud then itprobably is.’’

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