Gym Fat Mirrors

socalrunner59
socalrunner59 Posts: 149 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Call me crazy...but the mirrors on one wall in my gym make me look fatter than the rest of the mirrors in the gym.
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Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    Don't use that mirror.
  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
    Fat mirrors/ thin mirrors are a thing. I remember my dance studio growing up the mirrors alternated.

    But another reason why I'm happy my gym has no mirrors.
  • kimiuzzell
    kimiuzzell Posts: 611 Member
    Yup, I always try and pick my spot in front of one of the skinny mirror when doing combat. Woe betide anyone who makes me stand in front of the fat mirror....or even worse, in front of the join!!!!
  • BodyzLanguage
    BodyzLanguage Posts: 200 Member
    It's all in your head.. Trust me. Don't make things difficult for yourself. *And if it does make you feel better just avoid the "fat" mirror lol. Simples.
  • Rachel0778
    Rachel0778 Posts: 1,701 Member
    Not in your head at all, mine do the same thing (my old gym had "skinny" mirrors and I miss them).
  • socalrunner59
    socalrunner59 Posts: 149 Member
    The responds that confirm a fat mirror experience made me curious...so I googled "are fat mirrors real"

    From an article on Apartment Therapy

    Another physics teacher, Dr. Ken Mellendorf of Illinois, explains it like this: "A completely flat mirror will show an image behind it of exactly the same shape and size as the actual object. Slight curvature along only one axis can make a person look fat or skinny. To make you look thin, your image needs to be compressed horizontally or extended vertically. Most mirrors bend over time top to bottom. If seen from the side, there is a slight curvature in the edge. The top and bottom edges are usually straight. Your home mirror can do this due to its own weight. If the center bulges out a little bit, your height will appear slightly smaller but your width will not be changed. This can make a person look a little fat."


    So I'm not crazy...
  • brower47
    brower47 Posts: 16,356 Member
    If they aren't installed properly then a slight bow of the center inward toward the wall will result in a thin mirror and a slight bow of the center away from the wall will result in a fat mirror.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Oh there are definitely fat and thin mirrors. There are a few stores where I don't try on clothes because their mirrors are really unflattering. It's like that episode of Seinfeld when he goes out with the woman who looks great in one light and then horrible in another.

    Last weekend we stayed in a hotel suite. I walked through the kitchen area, over toward the bathroom, and said "Oh my!" My husband asked what was going on and I said "this is the best mirror ever. I look great in it!" :smiley: It was a super flattering mirror for some reason.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Gotta love the distorting carnival mirrors.
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    I've definitely seen it at my gym. There's at least one mirror where if you look at it from the right angle you can clearly see a bit of distortion in the reflected object.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    It just means the mirror is old and bending or not properly mounted...they aren't actually fat or skinny mirrors
  • dreaming13000
    dreaming13000 Posts: 68 Member
    I get rid of fat mirrors or ignore them all together lol, depends on their angle too, not just distortion. My Gma has a mirror that hangs at a slight downward angle, it's the perfect selfish mirror!
  • Delilahjudith12345
    Delilahjudith12345 Posts: 2 Member
    try to focus on our workouts don't see yourself in mirrors fix a target everyday and take help from your trainers self motivation is must.
  • troytroy11
    troytroy11 Posts: 180 Member
    The next time I travel and stay in a hotel I am bringing a level.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    I love this one mirror in my gym that I see when I run on the track. I look FABULOUS. I think that's a thin mirror.

    I think the one by the benches is pretty accurate.

    I have a very distorted view of myself because our bedroom mirror is a fat mirror.

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,190 Member
    Growing up, my parents room had the only full length mirror in the house, and it was a fat mirror. Messed with my head something fierce.
  • denisemcgee547
    denisemcgee547 Posts: 6 Member
    try to focus on a part of said mirror where you can see more than just you, there are always people bigger than you so they make you feel slimmer haha
  • futureicon
    futureicon Posts: 348 Member
    socalrunner59 wrote: »
    The responds that confirm a fat mirror experience made me curious...so I googled "are fat mirrors real"

    From an article on Apartment Therapy

    Another physics teacher, Dr. Ken Mellendorf of Illinois, explains it like this: "A completely flat mirror will show an image behind it of exactly the same shape and size as the actual object. Slight curvature along only one axis can make a person look fat or skinny. To make you look thin, your image needs to be compressed horizontally or extended vertically. Most mirrors bend over time top to bottom. If seen from the side, there is a slight curvature in the edge. The top and bottom edges are usually straight. Your home mirror can do this due to its own weight. If the center bulges out a little bit, your height will appear slightly smaller but your width will not be changed. This can make a person look a little fat."


    So I'm not crazy...

    Exactly! So the moral of the story is yes, some mirrors make you look fat or skinny, but there's no deep seeded controversy on whether the gym, fitting room, or carnival fun house is trying to intentionally make you look fat or skinny. It's just a crappy mirror. Ha!
  • kwtilbury
    kwtilbury Posts: 1,234 Member
    Look at it this way...you may think it makes you look "fat", but guys think it makes them look "massive," like your reflection in a car window.
  • Ben_there_done_that
    Ben_there_done_that Posts: 732 Member
    Man, I wish my gym had crazy mirrors. I want the ones they have at the Disney Land haunted mansion. Have a silly ghost appear next to you, while you pump some iron.
  • MsRuffBuffNStuff
    MsRuffBuffNStuff Posts: 363 Member
    The mirror at my gym makes me look old, and it makes my hair look funny too...in fact, it makes me actually look that way, because when I go home to my own mirror, I look that way!! ;-)
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    If you want to test the curvature of a mirror, just get something long with a flat edge (like a ruler) to see if it lays completely flat. If there is a gap, the mirror is curved.
  • MonkeyMel21
    MonkeyMel21 Posts: 2,396 Member
    I don't have the skinny/fat mirror issue I have the good hair/bad hair mirror (probably more to do with lighting). I'll be in the locker room getting ready for work, cool, my hair looks pretty good. Then get to work (one minute drive) and check myself in the bathroom mirror and it's dull, lifeless, frizzy, terrible looking. Like, every other day.
  • curlsintherack
    curlsintherack Posts: 465 Member
    quit looking in the gym mirrors and work harder, run faster, lift more, etc.

    problem solved.
  • MonkeyMel21
    MonkeyMel21 Posts: 2,396 Member
    lsutton484 wrote: »
    quit looking in the gym mirrors and work harder, run faster, lift more, etc.

    problem solved.

    I run faster/harder when I am on a treadmill in front of a mirror (or in my gym's case a very reflective window). It helps me to focus on my own badassery.
  • _dixiana_
    _dixiana_ Posts: 3,262 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    It just means the mirror is old and bending or not properly mounted...they aren't actually fat or skinny mirrors

    Actually there are clothing stores that know how to work this to their advantage...so they may not be technically "skinny" mirrors, but they have that effect and it ups their sales.
  • _dixiana_
    _dixiana_ Posts: 3,262 Member
    edited October 2016
    jemhh wrote: »
    Oh there are definitely fat and thin mirrors. There are a few stores where I don't try on clothes because their mirrors are really unflattering. It's like that episode of Seinfeld when he goes out with the woman who looks great in one light and then horrible in another.

    Last weekend we stayed in a hotel suite. I walked through the kitchen area, over toward the bathroom, and said "Oh my!" My husband asked what was going on and I said "this is the best mirror ever. I look great in it!" :smiley: It was a super flattering mirror for some reason.

    There is a mirror in my aunt's bathroom that I had this same reaction to. I went to wash my hands, glanced in the mirror and was like "DANG, I look fabulous". I think it was the lighting in there too. Made the highlighting powder I had on that day really pop.

    The opposite is true for the mirror at my salon. I look like a troll in it. They really need to work on that.
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
    I just like to stand where two mirrors meet, then I look distorted and usually weirdly skinny :)
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    Alidecker wrote: »
    I just like to stand where two mirrors meet, then I look distorted and usually weirdly skinny :)

    Yeah, our elevator doors at work make me look fat, and the walls next to them are mirrored and look skinny, I like to go back and forth, back and forth.

    Most all mirrors seem to be fat mirrors for me, I guess it's dysmorphia. The Fiance took a picture of me when I wasn't paying attention, and my body looked like one I'd want, not like what I see in the mirror, it was really odd. I had always figured that I saw what it really looks like, but even when I take a picture myself it doesn't work the same way somehow.

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