The Post<\/a> that an all-male space removes triggers for those in the thick of the struggle.<\/p>\n\u201cIf you\u2019re an alcoholic, you\u2019re probably not going to bars. If you\u2019re a drug addict trying to get sober, you\u2019re probably not hanging around other drug addicts,\u201d Hambrecht, a self-identified recovering sex addict, said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor men battling sexual addiction, we\u2019re removing them from a similar situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hambrecht, who opened the gym last November and is also a corporate health and wellness director, believes co-ed gyms have increasingly become \u201chook-up spots.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople come in there that are battling things, and you\u2019re combining that with endorphins and dopamine and scenery, and all of a sudden, we\u2019ve got a recipe for disaster when it comes to affairs and infidelity and cheating in general.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hambrecht, who admits he previously found his masculine identity \u201cthrough how many women I could be with,\u201d wants Proverbs members to develop a healthier attitude toward women and eventually integrate back into co-ed facilities. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re helping them to heal and helping them see women not as objects, but as beautiful creatures that God created that need to be treated with respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hambrecht told The Post that mitigating lust is just \u201ca fraction\u201d of what his gym does, noting that he and his members are not \u201ca bunch of guys who can\u2019t control ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
To that end, he counts spiritual accountability and physical training as the bedrock of resistance.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/capi_0ec46700febba304baf58f526c5a5e09_7abfeff70e401774d728c7611be7adb8.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
The gym has a strong Christina connection. Picture: Instagram<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you don\u2019t know what it is to be a godly man, to be in spiritual and physical shape; you\u2019re not gonna be able to get past the temptation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though women are not allowed to participate in the iron-sharpening-iron action at Proverbs, Hambrecht said he welcomes men of all creeds and sexual orientations.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod doesn\u2019t discriminate and neither do we,\u201d he told The Post.<\/p>\n
Though the female-free ethos of the gym may be only a fraction of Hambrecht\u2019s mission, it has sparked considerable discourse among critics and supporters alike, with one commenter on a recent Fox News article mic-dropping, \u201cSo glad incels are finally getting safe spaces, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conversely, Kim Abt, the owner of PWRGRLS, a women-only gym in Sherman Oaks, California, told Fox News that men wanting gender-specific gyms is \u201cfair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abt started her business to help women find safety and community, as research shows 70% of women have had an interaction or experience at the gym that made them feel uncomfortable. <\/p>\n
\u201c[I] never thought about it, but I do hear it all the time. Guys complaining about, you know, being distracted by [women in particular workout clothes]. So I respect it,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
As per usual, the comments section of the article was rife with divisive opinions.<\/p>\n
\u201cEffffing losers need a safe space to protect them from their evil thoughts. Yikes\u2026,\u201d said one commenter.<\/p>\n
\u201cMen aren\u2019t looking for lust-free gyms. They\u2019re looking for a safe space to work out, so they don\u2019t end up on the internet as the creepy old man staring,\u201d said a presumably creepy old man.<\/p>\n
There was also a deluge of comments blaming women and their gym attire for \u201cdistracting\u201d red-blooded, God-fearing men just looking to break a sweat without breaking a commandment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen have been causing problems for men and their relationship with God since Adam and Eve,\u201d said one such commenter.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/capi_0ec46700febba304baf58f526c5a5e09_e929d6bec0dafaf5280fbb501e6bc94c.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
They gym is men-only. Picture: Instagram<\/p>\n
\u201cHow does lust get anyone in trouble? I believe lack of self-control is what gets one in trouble,\u201d reasoned another.<\/p>\n
\u201cI go to an upscale co-ed gym \u2026 People are more concerned about their own physical wellbeing than they are about others\u2019 appearances,\u201d said another<\/p>\n
Over on the modern symposium that is Reddit, many took issue with the motive of Hambrecht\u2019s holy dude den.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen\u2019s spaces are so we don\u2019t fear sexual harassment\/assault, which these men claim happens to them by women wearing revealing outfits to the gym,\u201d said one commenter.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot even women talking to them or trying to grab at them, just women being there triggers them. I\u2019m all for these dudes having their own space to do their s \u2013 t away from me,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
In response to the criticism, Hambrecht is turning the other cheek and turning to a new business.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod gives us free will to do what we want to do. You might not agree with it, and it might not be for you, but it doesn\u2019t mean that there aren\u2019t a lot of men and women struggling,\u201d he told the Post, revealing plans to open an all-female gym in the near future.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the same blueprint with some different principles, but that\u2019s not something I\u2019ll teach because women need to pour into other women.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rep and repent. Jeff Hambrecht owns Proverbs 27:17, a \u201clust-free\u201d gym for Christian men in the US that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":867205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-867204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=867204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/867205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/capi_0ec46700febba304baf58f526c5a5e09_f9bd9f26a4ae99955e6dfd4eb1cf98e1.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n