TIL that you need a license to be allowed to go to a gym in Italy. You are required to undergo a yearly physical examination with blood pressure assessment and an electrocardiogram.
I worked out with a trainer who was into kind of adult play type stuff. Good stuff but kind of out there but he said something I thought was fucking genius. I’m going to butcher it but the gist of it is:
Your blood pressure is the reason why you need to eat less/better, quit drinking/smoking, move more without necessarily joining a gym (walking is enough to improve your health).
If someone is obese to that level, you generally don't want heavy exertion because it has a good chance of killing you. It's better to direct them to a dietitian or a surgeon.
Honestly it's not like you get a yearly check up before signing up, it's more of a money grab move. Most gyms have their own doctors that can sign the documents, and you just need to pay them 20-50 euros and they don't even examine the patient.
This is not my experience at all. I have had to get my checkup both to sign up for the gym and to play a club sport (rugby in my case). It was a very thorough visit including doing steps for a significant amount of time to measure heartbeat and oxygen saturation under strenuous conditions. I went to the ASL (the local government's clinic basically) and got the visit for free.
Relax everyone, it’s just the government abusing their power to extort their citizens , all you have to do is pay their shakedown fees and the doctor will pretend to do doctor work with a wink and a nod and pocket their portion, and then you get to work out.
This is total nonsense. Private gyms in Italy are the same as anywhere else in the world; get a membership, go to an induction, work out. During induction (your first gym session) they teach you how to use the machines and judge your fitness level. Based on that they suggest you a good workout routine. This differs from gym to gym of course.
Italian here. We need a medical certificate to join the gym, 1 per year. I did the last one in January. I know there are small places that may overlook the law but that is at their risk, if anything happens to a costumer at the gym and there was no medical assessment they are going to be in trouble. My gym has a reminder system that sends you an email when your certificate is almost over and automatically blocks your pass when it is not valid anymore. You also need the same certificate to join a race (like a city marathon) or an amateur soccer tournament etc ..
So you mean every Italian gym member does not have an electrocardiogram, blood and urine tests every 48 hours to see if there's any change in his physical condition?
No, doing it improperly can seriously harm you. Having preexisting conditions it might kill you. And some obese people should not be exercising, their diet needs to be cut first. The amount of weight can damage their ligaments and tendons.
Probably to prevent people who it's dangerous to exercise from doing so... and possibly to keep out those who shouldn't be in gyms in the first place, like sexual predators.
I get it for their examples of running a marathon or scuba diving, but isn’t the point of a gym membership to get in better shape, so if you’re not fit already, and you’re denied from the gym, you’re just screwed. That sucks.
Christian Eriksen (the Danish player that collapsed of a cardiac arrest on the pitch during last year's Euro 2020 tournament) iirc wasn't allowed to resume his playing career in Italy with Inter Milan because the doctors there prohibit players from playing with defibrillators on them. He ended up signing with England's Brentford instead after a whole half year of no playing, and has been simply excellent with them, to the point where there's talk of his old team Tottenham (one of the big six clubs and the club he was playing with before Inter) signing him on again as a rotation player. Manchester United are also rumoured to be interested.
A lot of gyms do something similar. However, they usually call the physical "complementary" rather than "required", and many of the machines will have signs claiming you can't use them until one of their "fitness trainers" has "assessed" you.
Oh no, the government is requiring preventative medicine in order to keep people healthy and lower costs for the public medical system. The absolute horror!
You should probably send an email to the closest gym. Somebody else just commented that they were able to go to a gym there without a license but maybe all of the gyms near you want to see it. I actually came here from the nursing subreddit because somebody on there said they have a patient who fakes a heart attack every year just to get a free electrocardiogram to be able go to the gym so there are definitely gyms that take it serious.
As an italian I am happy to have public healthcare, and if the cost is a check-up visit once a year to go the the gym, I don't feel attacked in my freedom.
For everyone wondering why, Italy has a long-standing history of screening athletes for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy before sports participation in an attempt to reduce sudden cardiac death with strenuous activity.
I’m curious to see how strictly it’s enforced. Italy is the only country I’ve entered where nobody gave a fuck. No customs, no inspection, just walked straight from the plane and hopped into a taxi. I’ve been there like five times and still don’t have a fucking stamp on my passport.
As an amateur powerlifter and weightlifter for the last half a decade, I can say, without a doubt, most of you are delusional if you think a fat person is just going to over exert themselves and fucking die. Furthermore, this license process is stupid.
My college required a physical to use the campus gyms. You had to go to one of the particular gyms (it was a big school so there were 4) and schedule an exam where you ran on a treadmill and some other stuff. Or you went to the gym and told them the exam sticker peeled off your school ID and the person making minimum wage would just put a new one on.
I call that BS. Pretty sure that’s only for “federated” athletes and that happens in every serious country. I was a federated football player and to renew my license in Spain I had to undergo multiple tests, but to go to the gym there is no requirement. Pretty sure Italy is exactly the same.
I believe it’s kinda similar in France. I don’t quite remember but I know I’ve been asked to provide some sort of document that stipulates I’m OK to workout ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Perhaps it was just an easy-going gym owner, but I went to a gym in Naples in 2018, paid the guy like 10 Euro, and got a great lift in. No paperwork or nothing, and everyone was super friendly and chatty. Rules didn't seem too heavily enforced if they had them lol
This applies to every sport activity available to the public such as gym, swimming pool, but also motocross, boxe. Of course motocross is not something you should do if you have a weak heart, pressure problems, so I think it's fair that you undergo a small examination. The government choose not to distinguish, and made it compulsory for every sport.
To all the geniuses, no, they won't bar you going to the gym if you have high pressure or if you are too fat. The medical examination and ekg is supposed to control if you have heart disease, which would require strict supervision during exercise. Edit. Source: gym instructor in italy
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I worked out with a trainer who was into kind of adult play type stuff. Good stuff but kind of out there but he said something I thought was fucking genius. I’m going to butcher it but the gist of it is:
Your blood pressure is the reason why you need to eat less/better, quit drinking/smoking, move more without necessarily joining a gym (walking is enough to improve your health).
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Training outdoors without a license, for example, by running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is how Italian Americans do it.
Getting strong now!
Dont forget he had to beat all that meat.
I've heard they make drastic changes to their diet as well. They rely almost solely on raw egg smoothies.
Ooo sorry your blood pressure is too high, it's probably because you're too fat. Sorry you're not allowed to go to the gym.
… that’s why they’d be allowed to go
So eat less
If someone is obese to that level, you generally don't want heavy exertion because it has a good chance of killing you. It's better to direct them to a dietitian or a surgeon.
Honestly it's not like you get a yearly check up before signing up, it's more of a money grab move. Most gyms have their own doctors that can sign the documents, and you just need to pay them 20-50 euros and they don't even examine the patient.
Not sure what information I can gain from a physical exam as a doctor that would be relevant here…
This is not my experience at all. I have had to get my checkup both to sign up for the gym and to play a club sport (rugby in my case). It was a very thorough visit including doing steps for a significant amount of time to measure heartbeat and oxygen saturation under strenuous conditions. I went to the ASL (the local government's clinic basically) and got the visit for free.
Relax everyone, it’s just the government abusing their power to extort their citizens , all you have to do is pay their shakedown fees and the doctor will pretend to do doctor work with a wink and a nod and pocket their portion, and then you get to work out.
This is total nonsense. Private gyms in Italy are the same as anywhere else in the world; get a membership, go to an induction, work out. During induction (your first gym session) they teach you how to use the machines and judge your fitness level. Based on that they suggest you a good workout routine. This differs from gym to gym of course.
Italian here. We need a medical certificate to join the gym, 1 per year. I did the last one in January. I know there are small places that may overlook the law but that is at their risk, if anything happens to a costumer at the gym and there was no medical assessment they are going to be in trouble. My gym has a reminder system that sends you an email when your certificate is almost over and automatically blocks your pass when it is not valid anymore. You also need the same certificate to join a race (like a city marathon) or an amateur soccer tournament etc ..
Induction still seems weird like I'm just paying use your facilities lol it's like a public pool or bathroom
Thank you.
So you mean every Italian gym member does not have an electrocardiogram, blood and urine tests every 48 hours to see if there's any change in his physical condition?
🤔 So if I'm unhealthy I can't get a license.... to go to the gym.... to get healthy?....
Yes, so long as you don’t leave a stool sample too.
What is the purpose of this? To discourage people from working out?
No, doing it improperly can seriously harm you. Having preexisting conditions it might kill you. And some obese people should not be exercising, their diet needs to be cut first. The amount of weight can damage their ligaments and tendons.
Probably to prevent people who it's dangerous to exercise from doing so... and possibly to keep out those who shouldn't be in gyms in the first place, like sexual predators.
Too out of shape to get in shape.
I get it for their examples of running a marathon or scuba diving, but isn’t the point of a gym membership to get in better shape, so if you’re not fit already, and you’re denied from the gym, you’re just screwed. That sucks.
No you are missing the point. They make sure your heart and your lungs are working well.
I lived in Rome for a year and this is not true lol
It is. Decree of the Minister of Health of 24 April 2013; Law of 9 August 2013, no. 98, art. 42 bis ; Law 30 October 2013, no. 125, art. .10.
It's not. It's only for the Olympic committee if you're a federated athlete in a Olympic federated gym.
Same lol. I signed up for a few gyms in Rome at the time.
Christian Eriksen (the Danish player that collapsed of a cardiac arrest on the pitch during last year's Euro 2020 tournament) iirc wasn't allowed to resume his playing career in Italy with Inter Milan because the doctors there prohibit players from playing with defibrillators on them. He ended up signing with England's Brentford instead after a whole half year of no playing, and has been simply excellent with them, to the point where there's talk of his old team Tottenham (one of the big six clubs and the club he was playing with before Inter) signing him on again as a rotation player. Manchester United are also rumoured to be interested.
Wow… making it harder to go to the gym is not the right idea
Gotta love over regulation smh.
This is stupid as fuck
Sounds like something a fat fuck invented to justify not exercising.
What a waste of taxpayer money.
A lot of gyms do something similar. However, they usually call the physical "complementary" rather than "required", and many of the machines will have signs claiming you can't use them until one of their "fitness trainers" has "assessed" you.
The nanny state.
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Read the article.
Oh no, the government is requiring preventative medicine in order to keep people healthy and lower costs for the public medical system. The absolute horror!
Did someone died and made this all to be necessary?
End Result: Less gym; More pasta
So you’re telling me when I go to Italy in a couple months I can’t workout there?
You should probably send an email to the closest gym. Somebody else just commented that they were able to go to a gym there without a license but maybe all of the gyms near you want to see it. I actually came here from the nursing subreddit because somebody on there said they have a patient who fakes a heart attack every year just to get a free electrocardiogram to be able go to the gym so there are definitely gyms that take it serious.
I'm also going in a couple months and I've been wondering how I can get a couple workouts in while traveling.
You can. It's only for Olympic federated athletes in Olympic associated gyms.
meanwhile, in America, every dr who does an EKG suggests their patient to go do some cardio
Nah its not even enforced. I had 3 memberships form separate gyms and as long as you pay the sign up fee they don’t really care
Some don't care if you are young and look healthy. But if anything bad happens to you while doing your workout here, gym's insurance won't pay a cent.
What in the lack of personal freedom is this shit?
As an italian I am happy to have public healthcare, and if the cost is a check-up visit once a year to go the the gym, I don't feel attacked in my freedom.
I'll just walk outside.
For everyone wondering why, Italy has a long-standing history of screening athletes for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy before sports participation in an attempt to reduce sudden cardiac death with strenuous activity.
lol fuck that
Q: what did the husband say to his wife when he got his Italian gym license?
In a country where everybody gets a yearly checkup, who cares
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Exactly how many folks do you know that have died in the gym of a heart attack?
And here we let mentally-ill people walk around with semi-automatic guns. Checks out. We’ve clearly failed as a country.
yet another reason to avoid Europe
Because you believe every headline on reddit? Checks out.
been to gyms in Italy & there was none of this
Yet another reason not to bother.
Maybe something that law enforcement should look into.
I’m curious to see how strictly it’s enforced. Italy is the only country I’ve entered where nobody gave a fuck. No customs, no inspection, just walked straight from the plane and hopped into a taxi. I’ve been there like five times and still don’t have a fucking stamp on my passport.
Do you need a jogger's license to jog? Because the health considerations are the same.
Meal team six would never get in.
Benvenuto nella palestra. La tua patente?? 🧐🤨
Odd
As with all things Italy, this isn’t the case everywhere. Plenty of gyms allow “pay-per-day” without any exam. Source: me living here in Italy.
That sucks
Well, the article explains "what" and "how", but not "why?"
As an amateur powerlifter and weightlifter for the last half a decade, I can say, without a doubt, most of you are delusional if you think a fat person is just going to over exert themselves and fucking die. Furthermore, this license process is stupid.
I wonder if gyms in Italy get a break on their GL insurance because of this...
My college required a physical to use the campus gyms. You had to go to one of the particular gyms (it was a big school so there were 4) and schedule an exam where you ran on a treadmill and some other stuff. Or you went to the gym and told them the exam sticker peeled off your school ID and the person making minimum wage would just put a new one on.
As if I needed another obstacle to going to the gym.
Why?
But what about other exercises? Like they don’t care if you have a heart attack while swimming in the ocean but they do care if it’s at a gym?
Break the law and you are arrested and sentenced to hard labor.
TIL that OP doesn’t even read his own posts.
Imagine not being healthy enough to get healthy.
That has to be completely counter productive and useless.
Thats what people need between them and exercise, more barriers
I call that BS. Pretty sure that’s only for “federated” athletes and that happens in every serious country. I was a federated football player and to renew my license in Spain I had to undergo multiple tests, but to go to the gym there is no requirement. Pretty sure Italy is exactly the same.
I don't think making it more inconvenient to go to the gym is good public health policy.
I believe it’s kinda similar in France. I don’t quite remember but I know I’ve been asked to provide some sort of document that stipulates I’m OK to workout ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Seems counter productive.
Perhaps it was just an easy-going gym owner, but I went to a gym in Naples in 2018, paid the guy like 10 Euro, and got a great lift in. No paperwork or nothing, and everyone was super friendly and chatty. Rules didn't seem too heavily enforced if they had them lol
This applies to every sport activity available to the public such as gym, swimming pool, but also motocross, boxe. Of course motocross is not something you should do if you have a weak heart, pressure problems, so I think it's fair that you undergo a small examination. The government choose not to distinguish, and made it compulsory for every sport.
I lived in Italy and signed up for multiple gyms during that time and never have I once heard about this.
To all the geniuses, no, they won't bar you going to the gym if you have high pressure or if you are too fat. The medical examination and ekg is supposed to control if you have heart disease, which would require strict supervision during exercise. Edit. Source: gym instructor in italy
I guess they closed the gun show loophole
I’m curious as to what may have prompted this process in Italy? Was there a really bad and high profile accidental death of a gym goer?