Community Guidelines

Zyken is a place to train, learn, share progress and support each other. These guidelines apply to everything you share on Zyken: posts, comments, photos and videos in the feed, profile details, coach reviews and replies, and chat messages. They form part of our Terms of Service.

In short: be kind, be honest, be safe.

Zero tolerance. Zyken has zero tolerance for objectionable content and abusive users. Content that breaks these guidelines is removed, and accounts that post it or abuse others are warned, suspended or permanently banned.

1. Be respectful

• Treat everyone with respect, whatever their age, body, fitness level, gender, caste, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation or background.
• Disagree with ideas, not people. Keep feedback constructive.
• Everyone starts somewhere. Beginner questions and "day one" posts deserve encouragement, not mockery.

2. No harassment, bullying or hate

We do not allow:

• threats, intimidation, stalking or repeated unwanted contact;
• insults, name-calling, humiliation or pile-ons;
• hate speech or discrimination against any group, including caste-based discrimination and slurs;
• sharing or threatening to share someone's private messages, photos or personal details to shame or pressure them.

If someone asks you to stop contacting them, stop. You can block anyone at any time (see section 13).

3. No body-shaming

Fitness looks different for everyone. Do not mock or criticise anyone's weight, shape, size, skin, appearance or progress. Do not leave unsolicited negative comments on someone's body in their photos. Positive, supportive feedback is always welcome.

4. No sexual content or nudity

• No nudity, sexual content or sexually suggestive posts, comments or messages.
• Fitness and progress photos in normal gym wear or swimwear are fine. Photos that focus on intimate body parts, or are posted to be sexual, are not.
• No sexual harassment, including unwanted compliments on someone's body, requests for photos, or sexual messages in chat.
• Any sexual content involving someone under 18 is strictly banned and will be reported to the police.

5. No violence or dangerous content

• No graphic violence, gore or content that encourages harm to others.
• No dangerous fitness challenges. For example, extreme fasting, dehydration or "cutting" challenges, lifting far beyond safe limits without supervision, or stunts likely to cause injury.
• No encouraging extreme or unsafe weight loss, purging or starving.

6. Self-harm and eating disorders

We do not allow content that promotes, encourages or gives instructions for self-harm, suicide or disordered eating. Sharing your own recovery story in a supportive way is allowed.

If you are struggling or thinking about harming yourself, please reach out now. Talk to someone you trust, contact a doctor or hospital, or call local emergency services: 100 (Police) or 102 (Ambulance). You are not alone.

If you see a post where someone may be at risk, report it using Self-harm as the reason, and, if the danger is immediate, contact emergency services.

7. Drugs, steroids and unsafe supplements

Do not promote, sell, source or give instructions on:

• anabolic steroids, SARMs, growth hormone or other performance-enhancing drugs;
• prohibited stimulants such as DMAA;
• prescription medicines used without a prescription (for example, for weight loss);
• unregistered, counterfeit or illegally imported supplements.

It is fine to discuss health risks or anti-doping education in a factual way.

8. Honesty: no spam, scams or misinformation

• No spam, repetitive posts, chain messages or misleading links.
• No scams, fake giveaways, requests for money, or requests for OTPs or passwords. Zyken staff will never ask for your OTP.
• No false or dangerous health claims, such as a product that "cures" a disease or guaranteed extreme results.
• No fake reviews, including reviews of yourself, a friend's business or a competitor.
• No fake accounts or impersonation of another person, coach, gym, brand or Zyken.

9. Buying and selling

• Products are sold only through the Zyken Store, by verified vendors.
• Do not sell or advertise products or services in comments, posts or direct messages.
• Coaches, vendors and gyms must not ask members to pay outside Zyken for anything found through Zyken.

10. Privacy and consent

• Do not share anyone else's phone number, address, private messages, photos or medical or health information without their clear permission.
• Before/after photos: only post photos of yourself, or of a client who has given you clear, written permission, which they can withdraw at any time. Coaches must remove a client's photos immediately if asked.
• Do not film or photograph people at the gym without their permission.
• Our system removes location data from photos you upload, but check your photos for anything that reveals where you live or work before posting.

11. Coaching chats: professional boundaries

Chats between coaches and clients are for coaching. Coaches must:

• keep all communication professional and respectful, and focused on the client's training and wellbeing;
• never send sexual or romantic messages, or pressure a client into meeting outside the agreed sessions;
• stay within their training and qualifications, and not diagnose illnesses or prescribe medication. Coaches should refer the client to a doctor when needed;
• keep clients' health information confidential and use it only for coaching;
• keep payments on Zyken.

Clients should also be respectful and give coaches honest information, especially about health conditions and injuries.

If a coach or client crosses a line, report it to us (section 13).

12. Reviews

Reviews should be based on your own real experience with the coach. Be honest and specific. Do not include personal attacks, private information or content that breaks these guidelines. Coaches may reply publicly but must stay professional and must not reveal a client's private or health information in a reply.

13. Reporting

If you see something that breaks these guidelines, report it. You can report a post, a comment, a member's profile, a chat message (press and hold it) or a coach review: use Report in its menu, choose a reason and, if you like, add a note:

• Spam
• Harassment or bullying
• Hate speech
• Sexual content or nudity
• Violence or threats
• Self-harm
• Scam or fraud
• Other (add details, for example, a dangerous challenge, selling steroids or impersonation)

Every report goes straight to our moderation team, who review reports within 24 hours. Reports are confidential: we do not tell the person who reported them. You cannot report yourself or your own content, and reporting the same item twice does not increase its priority.

Blocking. You can block any member from their profile, from a post or comment menu, or from a chat. Once you block someone, neither of you sees the other's posts or comments, you cannot message each other or follow each other (existing follows are removed), and you no longer see coach reviews they wrote. They are not told. You can see and unblock the people you blocked in Settings → Blocked users.

14. What our moderators do

Our moderation team reviews reports and may also act on content they find themselves. Depending on how serious the problem is, and whether it has happened before, we may:

1. dismiss the report if the content does not break the guidelines;
2. remove the post, comment, chat message or review so no one can see it any more (it can be restored if the decision changes);
3. give the account a warning;
4. suspend the account for a set time, or ban it permanently. A suspended account cannot sign in or use Zyken until the suspension ends, and a suspended coach no longer appears in the coach directory or takes new bookings.

When we remove your content, warn you or suspend your account, we tell you in the app (or by notification) what we did and why: the reason category and, where useful, a note from the moderator. A suspension notice includes its end date.

We act immediately and may involve the police for threats of violence, sexual content involving minors, sale of illegal drugs, or other serious crimes.

15. Appeals

If you think we made a mistake, email [email protected] within 30 days with your registered phone number and a short explanation. Someone who was not involved in the original decision will review it, and we will reply within 15 days. If we find we were wrong, we will restore your content or account.

16. Changes

We may update these guidelines as our community grows. We will let you know about significant changes in the app.