This sounds like the gym I used to go to. It was mostly massive powerlifters and female Instagram influencer....all super serious into fitness. And guys would ask me to spot them all the time, and we would often share racks and chat. The girls mostly kept to themselves, but the dudes were all pretty chummy with each other.

Although that being said, I still think this is made up because I've never heard anyone vocally bad mouthing other people at the gym such that they can hear, and the bad mouthing i have heard has absolutely never been about someone out of shape trying to better themselves. It's always because someone was being a jerk, or selfish or something like that.