OT: gym etiquette

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

This is a thread I’ve been workshopping for a while but I’ve decided to pull the trigger given the discussion of our guys’ workouts with coach Sal.

What can another patron do to drive you crazy at the gym?

I think the worst for me has to be guys who curl over the weight rack and make it inaccessible for everyone else.

 

[Walker11]

Naked geezers

 

[HCCForever]

Not wiping down the bench and equipment. Or sitting on a piece of equipment and BSing with their buddies instead of working out.

 

[Austin316]

hogging gym racks or equipment and having long conversations with other meat heads while there’s a line waiting to use something

 

[Scott2george]

Screaming wildly while lifting 10 lb weights

 

[krinklecut]

hogging gym racks or equipment and having long conversations with other meat heads while there’s a line waiting to use something

This. Waiting for a bench because some guy is screwing around in his ridiculously full gym bag talking to his buddy.

 

[the Q]

Benching in the squat rack when the benches are literally 8 feet from the squat racks

 

[Mike Honcho]

Love this thread. I create gym enemies in my mind - makes for a better workout. They are recurring characters.

• There's a guy who wears just spandex shorts and a tank.
• The people who bring their gym bags to workout, ignoring the locker room.
• The people who go barefoot.
• The people who do circuit training during peak hours.

 

[Palatine]

Changing the TV to news channels.

I mean regular news, stock market channels are okay.

 

[Rocktheworld]

The people who do circuit training during peak hours.

The worst for me. Use a squat rack for curls, whatever; at least you’ll be off in a few minutes. These people who think the whole gym is theirs to use for circuit training, using one piece of equipment every 5 minutes expecting nobody to take it, is just peak disrespect for those who share the gym

 

[HCCForever]

This one does not make me crazy but I find amusing. The guys that can't walk by a mirror without looking as if one set is going to make them ripped.

 

[8893]

I do mostly cardio and I hate the gym. I use it only when the weather is so inclement that I have no choice, or when I am traveling and not familiar enough with my surroundings or otherwise not able to get a run in. I like to exercise alone, period; solace is one of the things I like most about exercise. And I really, really hate locker rooms.

The number one thing that drives me crazy is people who talk on their phones in the gym. Especially while they are on a machine--and there are signs everywhere saying not to do that. The guys who have phone conversations in the locker room also drive me nuts, followed closely by the guys who treat the locker room as social hour. Shut the hell up. Get in, exercise, get out.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Love this thread. I create gym enemies in my mind - makes for a better workout. They are recurring characters.

• There's a guy who wears just spandex shorts and a tank.
• The people who bring their gym bags to workout, ignoring the locker room.
• The people who go barefoot.
• The people who do circuit training during peak hours.

The people who bring their bags with them...
Terrible on so many levels! Not only are you throwing low key shade at everyone by not storing your stuff in the locker room but these people tend to leave their bags on a bench while they go off and do other stuff. Turrible.

I go to Big Sky in Vernon and completely avoid the large rack/dumbbell/barbell/bench area because the worst people in the world float around that area.

I do a lot of kettlebell, body weight, dumbbell work and literally just need a spot the size of my body and sometimes a bench and that can be tough to find.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

The worst for me. Use a squat rack for curls, whatever; at least you’ll be off in a few minutes. These people who think the whole gym is theirs to use for circuit training, using one piece of equipment every 5 minutes expecting nobody to take it, is just peak disrespect for those who share the gym

So bad. And heaven forbid you try to sneak a set in on one of “their” racks/benches while they are on a different one.

 

[Rocktheworld]

So bad. And heaven forbid you try to sneak a set in on one of “their” racks/benches while they are on a different one.

Sometimes I work in on purpose

Especially when they are doing crappy bodyweight chin-ups at a squat rack with the differently oriented handles; when there are dozens of pull-up-able bars throughout the entire frickin gym

 

[superjohn]

The gym I go to is weird as hell. There are a few guys who sing or rap to whatever they are listening to on their headphones. There are a few dudes who look like they are wearing just their underwear and a shirt or tank top, couple dudes who wear dress pants and a dress shirt, and a guy who has an entire workout which consists of him holding 2.5 lb. dumbells in both hands and prancing up and down from one end of the gym to the other on his tippy toes. I'm convinced he's a drag queen who is working his runway walk.

The only person who really bothers me is an older guy who absolutely stinks of BO, he seems to be there whenever I'm there and he always gets in the way. Women at the gym are a million times better than guys overall. They never smell, don't grunt, don't pick up weight that's too heavy for them, and are just way less disgusting.

Only real pet peeves are don't smell, and put back your weights. Also don't leave your belongings in front of a machine, someone else would like to use it.

 

[TerryBoyz]

What is flatulence or farting?

 

[Chuck]

Women that reject my advancements. Or division 1 basketball prospects that wouldn't talk to me in the locker room.

Besides that, it's probably the people that hog the cardio equipment. Someone hogging a bench is annoying, but they're usually done in minutes. But sometimes I'd go to run on a treadmill and they were all taken for 30+ minutes, especially if there were the usual broken ones. And then when I'd get on one, other people were hovering to get on next.

My wife and I quit our gym years ago. We agreed we weren't going to look at it as a cost-savings move so we bought some good gym equipment. That's easier to justify though when it's multiple people quitting the gym / using home equipment. I also think it's easier if lifting isn't a big part of your routine. I just have a bench and a set of power blocks with 50lbs each.

 

[HooperScooper]

My gym has one guy who absolutely reeks of BO. I don't know how many times the guy wears the same clothes without washing them but it's disgusting. I can smell the guy as soon as I enter the gym and then I have to hold my nose the whole time I'm there. I keep asking others if it would be really rude if we all asked him to solve the smell issue so we can breathe when we work out. Nobody wants to do it but I'm tempted.

 

[UConnStats]

Old guys who just let it all hang out while their towel is wasting away over their shoulders is one of mine, although it's kind of hilarious.

There's one guy lately at my gym who takes a bench, about 8 dumbbells, and a reaper curl bar all at one and screams bloody murder during each set. He's a scary MF so nobody ever says anything, but I guess it feels good to get this off my chest.

 

[superjohn]

hogging gym racks or equipment and having long conversations with other meat heads while there’s a line waiting to use something

I find that the meat heads, guys who are serious about training rarely do that. It tends to be the people who are new to it or for years they just grab a machine sit there for 40 minutes and do a million reps and wonder why they never get stronger.

 

[Edward Sargent]

What is flatulence or farting.

The same

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

I like when half the JV basketball team shows up and one dude uses a machine/rack and 6 other dudes are obstructing half the gym.

 

[RichZ]

I think my pet peeve is the guy/girl who wipes down the equipment (cardio or resistance) before starting, balls up the wipe and sticks it in the cup holder. And leaves it there when he's done. Sometimes, one of these jamokes will then get another wet wipe, wipe down the equipment again, as well as his brow and neck, and stick that one in the cup holder and leaves it there too. Especially annoying when they are doing a resistance circuit and leaving a trail of used wet wipes behind them.

 

[8893]

I have a Planet Fitness "Black Card" membership, which allows me to use any Planet Fitness, anywhere. It costs $10 more per month but totally worth it for me because I travel around the state frequently for work and I keep a packed gym bag in my car at all times so I can hop in and get in a workout whenever, wherever I am, if I have an hour or so to spare. I really like the anonymity of going to other gyms, especially at non-peak hours. And almost every one of them is nicer than my "home" Planet Fitness.

But the thing that still makes me scratch my head about my home gym is free pizza on the first Monday of every month. And it's really good pizza from a very good local place. But it is absolutely the last thing I am thinking about when I am going to the gym, especially on a Monday, when I am almost always trying to atone for overindulgence over the weekend. It's gotten to the point that it angers me when I end up at the gym on those nights because it's a completely unnecessary temptation that seems antithetical in just about every way. And there is clearly a crowd of people who are there because it is free pizza night, which blows my mind. I've never given in, but I have to block out the thought because, well, it's pizza and it's damned good.