How to spot them: Hark, can you hear the call of the water buffalo in yonder weights room?

“Gnnnrrrrrrrrr, yaaaaaarrh, oooooffffffff!”

We’ve all heard them, we’ve all seen them – in fact it’s hard not to, as their strangulated cries draw attention to every rep.

Accessorised with bared teeth, scrunched eyes, and a wife-beater vest, the grunt is designed to show everyone else in the gym just how chuffing hard they’re working. Beast mode on, go hard or go home, etc etc.

Funny thing is, the sounds occur no matter what weight they’re lifting. Grunts happen organically when you’re working to your absolute limit (something you could only keep up for very limited reps) – a 2kg dumbbell should not have this effect.

And yet Grunters vie to outdo each other with their anguished roars. “I have testosterone!” they cry. “I am man/woman!”