OT: gym etiquette

[MrSheldrake]

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.

Free breakfast and coffee from DD's on the second Tuesday of the month also for the morning crowd. The Danbury PF.

 

[Northbound]

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.

When i see this behavior i say “seriosuly man don’t hump the rack”

 

[DrZzzz]

The guy who puts every 45 pound weight plate in the gym on the leg press machine, then walks off without removing them.

 

[Dove]

I can't stand it when dudes in my gym forget to clean after they jerk.

Could be worse. Those people who don't clean after they squat.

 

[geordi]

What pisses me off completely is someone telling me I ought to go the the gym!!!! How is that helpful.

 

[the Q]

Someone putting a curl bar on the floor directly behind someone who is taking dumbbells off the rack, causing that other person to slip and injure their knee.

Obviously a totally hypothetical scenario...

 

[olehead]

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.

Just picturing this is hilarious.

 

[olehead]

Mostly at LA Fitness, guys who show up at the Basketball court at 9 am and are still on the courts at 9pm

Always wondered how cats could afford to do that?

 

[Walker11]

Always wondered how cats could afford to do that?

My LA Fitness only has good runs from like 11-3. I wonder the same thing.

 

[FartMan69]

Every single time in between sets of cable crossovers I’ll turn my head or look at my phone and someone will just take off one of my handles and put on a rope or bar on the side I don’t have my water bottle set down. Like you just assume I’m done. Every time

 

[Travelman6]

-Not cleaning the machines after use.
-Grunting and groaning excessively and unnecessarily. I've even seen some guys yell. Ya, we are all working hard, just stop.
-Bringing in personal speakers and playing the music for everyone to hear. Usually cr@p music too, like reggaeton or aggressive rap. Get some headphones! Not everyone wants to hear your music!
-Taking personal phone calls/pacing around the gym chatting on the phone.
-Taking your shirt off. No one wants to see that man.
-Switching on the tv or changing the channel and not asking anyone else.
-Big groups of sorority type girls trying to lose the freshmen 15/trying to get thin and than just stand around one machine chatting about nothing. Then you don't see them for 2 months, thankfully. But still, do something.
-I do a lot of cardio. The guys who take a machine RIGHT NEXT TO YOU instead of the dozen others and almost seems like they get hype competitive an try to match and surpass your pace. Let me watch my youtube with headphones in peace, I don't care if your mile pace is slightly faster than me!

 

[Rocktheworld]

Guys who insist on performing all of their personal grooming (shaving, brushing teath, blow dry) in front of the sinks/mirrors, all while completely naked. Sometimes they’ll even use the blow dryer on their junk. Wtf.

My gym opens at 5 and every day there are the same two dudes taking their time with their first big crap of the day in the only two stalls there. One of the negatives of being a regular at a particular hours with other regulars at said hour

 

[jibsey]

Sitting at a machine for a long time reading a cellphone or texting. Not too many complaints at LA Fitness but I do do see all of the transgressions listed above from time to time. In the locker room itself there are some hilarious and horrifying sights that I try to avert my eyes from. Like when Jerry asked George in the Seinfeld episode “did you peek”? . George: “yeah I peeked”.

 

[B1GEast]

Sitting there on a machine taking your sweet arse time and then that person realizes that you want to use the machine so they move even slower

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Guys who enter the sauna still wearing their their stinky gym clothes and/or automatically add water to heat up the space without either sensing if it's needed or asking if anyone minds.

 

[sledog]

Farting while doing the bench press / squat renders the equipment radioactive until the haz-mat team neutralizes it.

 

[Husky68]

Chicks that do dumbbell curls with each dumbbell weighing more than I use to do barbell curls!

 

[superjohn]

1. The idiots at 5:30am that park themselves on a bench scrolling emails on their phone while drinking their Dunkachino, complaining about getting up so early to work out. They do 2 sets of bicep curls (the most useless weightlifting exercise ever), the complain they’ll be exhausted at work, then leave

2. Fat old farts that try to pick me up at the gym. I wave my wedding ring in front of them but they’re oblivious. I’m on a schedule at 5am, get away from me

Agree to an extent but curls have their place. You hit your arms with all the other big movements to some extent but curls are still probably the king for arm development. Incline dumbell curls are great, keep the form pretty tight and don't have to go heavy at all. Standing hammer curls I like to go heavy.

 

[phillionaire]

Not re-racking your weights. Curling in the squat racks. Doing either of those should lead to you being shot into the sun with a cannon.

 

[RF79]

Some of the most outrageous ppl in the gym are the ones that are using multiple pieces of equipment for their “super set” and taking their sweet time in between sets hogging up all these pieces of equipment and caring less about anyone else’s time or lack there of.

 

[Scoe]

Guys who take the bottom of their shirt to wipe their sweaty forehead, most of the time it happens to be a fat guy, like dude we dont need to see your gut.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Just today, this guy who looked like he could have been the crypt keepers dad was jogging up and down the stairs ignoring the “workout lane” in the middle.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Farting while doing the bench press / squat renders the equipment radioactive until the haz-mat team neutralizes it.

Bruh that glute squeeze and hip drive is at least 50% of the squat and at least 25% of your bench.

Funny thing that happened to me, the first time I hit a front squat double at 225, I had to let out a MASSIVE rip in between reps. Everyone had to hear loud and clear. Almost lost the second rep but it went up to my amazement, so it was worth it.

 

[Rocktheworld]

Just today, this guy who looked like he could have been the crypt keepers dad was jogging up and down the stairs ignoring the “workout lane” in the middle.

Yes let’s make this a “what I saw today in the gym” log lmao

 

[HuskyNan]

Agree to an extent but curls have their place. You hit your arms with all the other big movements to some extent but curls are still probably the king for arm development. Incline dumbell curls are great, keep the form pretty tight and don't have to go heavy at all. Standing hammer curls I like to go heavy.

Depends on your goals, I guess. My trainer wants me to use big, multi-muscle exercises to add to my core strength which helps me lift more. I get a complete workout with fewer exercises that way.