Permission to grunt

I'm always surprised by the volume in the gym, especially in the corner of free weights. I'm not referring to the music but to the people using the weights. Why not work in silence and focus on the breath? Why the loud grunting? Is it a reflection of a need to emphasise how hard they are working and a call for attention? Surely that must be the case as the sound effects are much exaggerated.

So I thought. Until this morning when I had my premier with a PT. We were not even close to the free weights corner; it was all about functional training. But now I realise that the grunting can sometimes not be controlled. You live and learn.