A woman says she faced an unsettling encounter at her local Hotworx sauna when a man allegedly barged into her private workout session and demanded that she leave before her reserved time was up. What he did not expect, however, was that she would film the incident, post it to TikTok, and receive over 16.1 million views in the process.
In the viral clip, TikTok user Eliza Carlson (@elizacarlsonn) described how a man interrupted her scheduled sauna session on Aug. 5, claiming she needed to vacate the space because his session was booked for 7:30 p.m. Carlson had the room reserved until 7:30 p.m., meaning she still had seven minutes left when he entered.
She had even offered to compromise and leave by 7:25. Instead, she said, the man refused and insisted that her “session’s over.” The situation escalated when the man raised his voice and told her she “needed to get out,” at one point forcing his way inside the sauna and asking her to “scoot over so I can set up.”
Carlson’s footage briefly captured the man sliding past her and sitting down in the sauna despite her reservation not having expired. She said she later attempted to contact the Coralville Hotworx about the incident, but received “zero response” at the time.
Viewers flooded the comments section of her TikTok, criticizing the man’s actions.
“Sooooo he’s talking about common courtesy yet he’s FORCING himself in [seven] minutes early?!” one commenter wrote. Another said, “The way I’d be telling the manager that this man invaded my sauna session and made me uncomfortable. Tell them!”
Update From Eliza
On Aug. 23, Carlson updated her audience, clarifying that she contacted Hotworx immediately after the incident but only received an apology after her TikTok went viral. She said she later spoke to the location’s owner in person.
According to Carlson, the Coralville Hotworx gave her two options: remove the viral post and keep her membership, or keep the post up and have her membership revoked. Carlson said she ultimately decided to cancel her membership and briefly privated her original TikTok before making it public again.
“For the record, I was not stopping the man from coming into the sauna—he was demanding that I leave so he can come in,” Carlson said in her update. “I didn’t get up right away because he was standing outside yelling at me, and I was scared. Ladies, let this be your reminder: the gym is your space too. Take your space, stand your ground, and never let anyone make you feel less for doing that.”
Hotworx Responds
The Coralville Hotworx location later responded with a short social media post that appeared to reference Carlson’s claims. “We want to remind everyone… to please collect your things and exit [when your workout is over],” the statement read. The post has since been deleted, but not before TikTok and Instagram users flooded the company with criticism.
Customers also left a wave of negative reviews for the Coralville location. One TikTok user, @cassadymarie, shared a screen recording of various reviews.
Right now, users continue to comment on the importance of asserting boundaries in shared fitness spaces as she did in her update video. As one commenter bluntly said: “Sir, you entered the sauna during HER SESSION.”
Since Aug. 5, many women have come forward on platforms like Facebook to call for more meaningful change from Hotworx. One woman posted, “I’m calling out HOTWORX Coralville for their complete failure to address a serious and distressing incident. A woman politely reported that another person entered her sauna session before her time was up—a clear violation of her space and privacy—and instead of fixing the issue or showing empathy, they sided with the man and offered no meaningful response.”
@elizacarlsonn Hi @HOTWORX @HOTWORX CORALVILLE ♬ Ode to Joy- Symphony No.9 in D Minor 'choral' – Lorne Balfe & Russell Emanuel & Steve Kofsky
The Mary Sue has reached out to the Coralville Hotworx location via Facebook and Carlson via TikTok direct message.
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