{"id":819975,"date":"2026-08-20T14:34:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/819975\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:34:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:34:23","slug":"christian-men-only-gym-offers-lust-free-space-to-fight-pornography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/819975\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian men-only gym offers &#8216;lust-free&#8217; space to fight pornography"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/video\/6403723507112\" data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_media_article_main-content_featured-video_5_1\" data-v-7b1896ea=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Inside the Christian gym taking aim at lust<\/a> <\/p>\n<p data-v-7b1896ea=\"\">Jeff Hambrecht, owner of Proverbs 27:17, a Christian gym in Oklahoma City, is working to remove &#8216;temptation&#8217; from exercise, is facing both backlash and support for his men&#8217;s only fitness facility.<\/p>\n<p>NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n  <\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">Surrounded by the loud clunks of iron, a multitude of machines and the smell of sweat are millions of Americans working out in gyms across the country, and while most tolerate the crowded ebbs and flows of co-ed commercial gyms, some men who find this setup distracting are seeking out &#8220;lust-free&#8221; gym alternatives.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">&#8220;[The] lust side, that\u2019s just a small piece of what the gym does,&#8221; Jeff Hambrecht, owner of Proverbs 27:17, a Christian men\u2019s-only gym in Oklahoma City, told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;The idea of a lust-free gym, it&#8217;s not like we&#8217;re a bunch of guys who can&#8217;t control ourselves and we stay indoors. If you&#8217;re an alcoholic\u2026 and you&#8217;re trying to get out of that circle, you&#8217;re probably going to avoid drugs and alcohol. So why would lust be any different? If you&#8217;re struggling with pornography and lust and women, why would you keep going to a place over and over and where you&#8217;re going to keep getting yourself in trouble? So I just eliminated that,&#8221; he continued.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_media_article_main-content_article-body_6_446117\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/pot-make-better-parent-garden-mom-says-yes-reality-hazy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">DOES POT MAKE YOU A BETTER PARENT? THIS &#8216;GARDEN MOM&#8217; SAYS YES, BUT THE REALITY IS HAZY<\/a><\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/proverbs2717-gym-2.png\" alt=\"men pose for gym selfie together after workout\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Jeff Hambrecht, owner of Proverbs 27:17 gym in Oklahoma City, details his inspiration behind the Christian men&#8217;s only workout facility and the gap for community it fills for his clients. (Instagram: @jhambrecht07)<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_media_article_main-content_article-body_6_446118\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/ex-prisoner-who-became-mayor-pastor-credits-faith-based-program-giving-him-second-chance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">EX-PRISONER WHO BECAME MAYOR AND PASTOR CREDITS FAITH-BASED PROGRAM WITH GIVING HIM SECOND CHANCE<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Hambrecht, an addict who recovered from his battles with drugs, alcohol and pornography through repairing his relationship with Christ, says his gym is an attempt to <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_media_article_main-content_article-body_6_446119\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/faith-values\/chicago-pastor-declares-violence-free-zone-citys-south-side\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">help men find community<\/a>, remove stigmas and open up conversations around mental health and other struggles for modern men.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;I just saw this gap of there&#8217;s no place for guys to go and just be vulnerable and <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_media_article_main-content_article-body_6_446120\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/poll-finds-sharp-rise-young-men-calling-religion-very-important\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">get closer to God<\/a> with other men chasing that same thing,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;We&#8217;re taking away the temptation of, hey, you&#8217;re coming to a gym, whether you&#8217;re single or married, and you&#8217;re going to focus on what needs to be focused on. And then, yeah, obviously you&#8217;re going to go out in the world and there&#8217;s going to be females. That&#8217;s part of the deal. But the goal is you start re-looking at relationships and women and females and life in general from more of a biblical sense\u2026 that&#8217;s my goal in a nutshell,&#8221; he continued.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/proverbs2717-gym-selfie.png\" alt=\"men pose for gym selfie together after workout\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Jeff Hambrecht, owner of Proverbs 27:17 gym in Oklahoma City, details his inspiration behind the Christian men&#8217;s only workout facility and the gap for community it fills for his clients. (Instagram: @jhambrecht07)<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_media_article_main-content_article-body_6_446121\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/video\/6403425116112\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">TALARICO BLASTS &#8216;INSIDIOUS&#8217; BIBLE-RELATED EDUCATION PROGRAM AS &#8216;PROPAGANDA&#8217;<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Kim Abt, the owner of PWRGRLS gym in Sherman Oaks, California, a <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_media_article_main-content_article-body_6_446122\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/california-university-says-men-arent-excluded-from-inclusive-gym-hours-aimed-women-non-binary-students\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">women-only gym<\/a> decked out in a neon pink color scheme with palm trees reminiscent of the 80s, said that men wanting gender-secluded<a href=\"https:\/\/athletechnews.com\/gen-z-supports-gender-segregated-gym-spaces-survey-finds\/?utm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\"> gyms<\/a> is &#8220;fair.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;[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,&#8221; she added.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Abt said that most of her classes were filled within a year, and that 80\u201390% of her clients sign up because they feel intimidated walking into a regular gym. She also noted that past harassment is another &#8220;main reason&#8221; women join PWRGRLS gym, citing that &#8220;the community aspect is huge&#8221; for most members.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/abt-owner-pwrgrls-gym-jensen-split-2.jpg\" alt=\"Kim Abt and Brad Jensen discuss fitness and gym controversy.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/> <\/p>\n<p>Kim Abt, owner of PWRGRLS gym, and fitness influencer Brad Jensen, also known as thesoberbodybuilder, weigh in on the controversy surrounding Proverbs 27:17, a Christian men&#8217;s only &#8220;lust free&#8221; gym. (Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi\/Fox News Digital)<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_media_article_main-content_article-body_6_446124\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/washington-mother-found-adult-male-showering-womens-locker-room-childrens-swim-meet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">WASHINGTON MOTHER SAYS SHE FOUND ADULT MALE SHOWERING IN WOMEN&#8217;S LOCKER ROOM DURING CHILDREN&#8217;S SWIM MEET<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Brad Jensen, better known online as &#8220;thesoberbodybuilder&#8221; with decades of experience in the fitness industry, weighed in on the discourse surrounding Proverbs 27:17 gym.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;I&#8217;ve seen the pushback, I&#8217;ve also seen the praise of it. I actually understand more and have more empathy why women would want a women-only gym,&#8221; Jensen said.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;I would almost understand more if they said, hey, we&#8217;re going to create a Christian gym where there&#8217;s a little bit of a dress code, but we&#8217;re all going to bond together\u2026 Where maybe they do create a dress code, and they have Christian values for this gym, but they don&#8217;t exclude the women who also might want to work out in an environment with like-minded people\u2026 I can see that making more sense,&#8221; he continued.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;There is a fine line sometimes. There ha[ve] been some outfits where I&#8217;ve seen people wearing where it&#8217;s probably a little too far on the other side,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;I&#8217;ve also seen a rise of people on social media that do \u2018Only Fans\u2019, promoting that at public gyms in really, really wrong ways. That&#8217;s absolutely going too far,&#8221; he continued.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;I think there&#8217;s a line that we can cross where it&#8217;s disrespectful to the other people. And if we&#8217;re making people feel uncomfortable\u2026 by our action [and] it&#8217;s very obvious that we&#8217;re making half the gym feel uncomfortable. I think that&#8217;s where we&#8217;re crossing a line too far,&#8221; Jensen said.<\/p>\n<p>Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi is an Associate Producer at Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Inside the Christian gym taking aim at lust Jeff Hambrecht, owner of Proverbs 27:17, a Christian gym in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":819976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[4528,38593,337,38592,97,149,18334,673],"class_list":["post-819975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-womens-health","tag-culture-trends","tag-fitness","tag-fox-news-media","tag-health","tag-lifestyle","tag-mens-health","tag-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=819975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/819975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/819976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=819975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=819975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=819975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}