A Texas woman says she was dress-coded at Planet Fitness, not for what she was wearing, but for how she wore her hair. Tay Roundtree shared her experience in a TikTok video that has since drawn widespread attention, with many viewers weighing in on whether the gym’s reported rule was reasonable.
Roundtree said in her TikTok video that she has been a Planet Fitness member for five years and had never run into an issue like this before. She described being approached by a staff member during her workout and told to put her hair up, something she said caught her completely off guard.
“Never in my 5 years of Planet Fitness would I ever think that I would have gotten dress coded, but hey, there’s a first for everything,” she said in the video. “Today was the day I got dress coded for having my hair down.”
Planet Fitness is known for its dress code, but a hair rule appears to have caught this member off guard
Roundtree said she was aware of the gym’s existing policies, no flip-flops, no tank tops, no grunting, but said a rule about hair was new to her. Planet Fitness does publish dress code guidance on its website, advising members against open-toed shoes due to safety hazards, and jewelry of any kind, including rings, on the grounds that it can get caught in equipment.
However, the gym’s published guidelines do not appear to mention a rule about wearing hair down, which is notable given that the safety concern cited for jewelry, getting caught in machines, is the same reasoning a staff member appeared to apply to Roundtree’s hair.
“I understand like the dangers, okay, like if you’re on the squat rack, like you could yank yourself, but I’m on a Smith machine for crying out loud,” she said in the video. “Even if it tugs me back all the way, it doesn’t even crush you, right?”
She said she agreed to comply when first approached and tried to tie her hair up. However, the only thing she had available was a Pura Vida bracelet, which she described as non-elastic string rather than a proper hair tie. As a result, she said her hair kept falling out, forcing her to redo it around 12 times while trying to finish her squats.
After completing that exercise, Roundtree said she took her hair back down while moving on to dumbbell RDLs, assuming the rule would no longer apply. A staff member, she said, came over a second time. “She comes back over, and I thought she was going somewhere else, but she takes a detour, comes to my bench, and goes ‘Ma’am, your hair,'” Roundtree recalled in the video.
She said she then explained to the staff member that she keeps her hair down to avoid creasing it, noting that her hair is fine and had already been damaged from being tied up with the bracelet. “I have it down so it doesn’t crimp, so it doesn’t crease. I have very fine hair and it creases and it has already creased from having it up in my Pura Vida bracelet,” she said.
Roundtree ended the video with a sarcastic heads-up to her followers. “And whatever, I guess that’s a rule now. So everybody, put your hair up if you’re going to Planet Fitness,” she said. Similar Planet Fitness dress code controversies have sparked widespread discussion.
Her experience appears to reflect a broader frustration some gym-goers have expressed about hair management during workouts. In a thread on r/AskWomen, the top-voted response to a question about wearing hair down at the gym was simply, “Because I forgot a hair tie!” Several other users in the thread said they have fine hair that slips out of most hair ties, making it difficult to keep an updo in place, a situation similar to what Roundtree described.
A number of commenters also said they avoid tying their hair up because doing so triggers migraines or scalp pain, particularly those with thick or heavy hair. Fitness advice from Winnerforce notes that tying hair up at the gym can help with focus, hygiene, and safety by keeping hair away from equipment. However, most of the reasons cited in the piece relate to personal comfort and individual risk, rather than concerns that affect other gym members.
The video drew dozens of responses, and many viewers appeared just as surprised as Roundtree. One person wrote, “wait i wear tank tops?” seemingly unaware of that existing Planet Fitness policy. Another echoed the confusion, writing, “Wait, no tank tops at a gym? 😂😂”
One comment that stood out came from someone who claimed to have worked in Planet Fitness management. “As someone who was in management at planet fitness, this is not a thing..” they wrote, suggesting the hair rule may not be an official company-wide policy.
Planet Fitness has not publicly commented on Roundtree’s video or clarified whether a formal hair policy exists at its locations. Similar enforcement issues have been highlighted by employees, like a Houston man who exposed the horrors of being a Planet Fitness worker.
Published: Jul 20, 2026 05:24 am