Gym Etiquette

[TheChosen1]

I don't understand why gym employees/trainers and owners are quick to help train their new members with the various exercises and routines, but NO ONE takes time out to educate the "newbies" about gym etiquette.

Last week, I was working chest and was in the middle of a few sets of cable flys when this old lady walked away from the nearby seated row machine where she was working, over to where I was beginning another set of flys, and just stood there looking at the rack that holds the handles for the 2 universal gyms. She stares at it for a while and then walk right back in my way as anyone can clearly see that I'm standing there with a grip in hand. I looked at her and said, "Oh that's okay, you're excused." She looked as if she was clueless to what she was doing and then proceeded to begin her exercise regiment on the seated row machine. Sure, my thought was, "Why the **** is she even over here since the machine is already set with fixed grips?"

So then I proceeded to perform a set of flys. Upon completion, I load the weights on the cable and get this......Some asshole is now holding on to the machine and stretching, as if I'm fricking invisible. Being the smart ass that I tend to be, I asked him, "My bad, were you working here before I got here 10 minutes ago?" He apologized and went over to another part of the gym, where he was actually training at. Now I'm wondering, "WTF? Why is that ass all the way over here if his routine is over there?" And what's worse, there is a shitload of places for him to stretch at. I noticed him using the barbell rack near his area to stretch on.

[tn94z]

Re: Gym Etiquette

There are a ton at my gym!! I was working on a shoulder machine about a month ago. An older man, probably 70 or so, was working on a machine (actually he was just sitting there) right beside me and he was there when I began on the shoulder machine. So I did my first set and moved the weight to where I wanted it for my second set. I get up grab my water bottle and while I am taking a drink, he gets up and sits at the shoulder machine, changes the weight, and does about 3 reps...then he procedes to sit there. Now I respect my elders so I didn't get smart, but I just walked back up and said "do you mind if i jump in there for my second set?" He immediately got up and went to the next machine.

Story 2: There is a high school kid that comes in while we are working out. I don't know what his deal is but he tries to get as close to you as possible while you are doing something. I mean, I'll be there doing work in front of the mirror (right in front of it) and he will actually get in front of me. He does this to everyone. Of course we have said something to him by now and he doesn't do it anymore.

And this is probably my biggest problem of all of this stuff. At our gym, there are signs EVERYWHERE that ask you to please put the weights you use back up. The high school kids have no respect for this at all! They will load up the leg press and leave it. They will put so much weight on the military press that they can't even come down to their forehead, and leave it on the bar. It's ridiculous. First off, if you can't do the exercise the correct way, you probably have too much weight on the bar. I swear, it seems like my group is the only group that does a full motion of any exercise. I am not bragging either because we don't do a crap load of weight.....but we do it correctly.

Anyway, sorry. I can rant about this all day!

[skinnyman]

Re: Gym Etiquette

Excellent point on trainers providing proper gym etiquette while they train newbies.

What really gets me is some Ahole will use three to four towels and spread them on different machines to indicate those machines are in-use. Now there is some decent amount of time that goes by before this Ahole actually does a set. I have seen him tell folks who remove those towels that the machine is in use by him. Me, on the other hand with my ipod, pretend i don't hear him.

[Dzone]

Re: Gym Etiquette

Everytime someone goes to use any machine, why cant they just grab the machine and holler out "Is anyone using this?"..I mean, is that so hard for people to do?

[Michelle Hayden]

Re: Gym Etiquette

I

hate it when two ppl converse when they are sharing one machine, and spend most of the time just sitting on it while the other is taking to them and the other not doing anything. Then when they see someone wanting to use it the person on it will start using it untill aft the person leaves and then they start takking again. This is usually middle aged men or mid aged women, but im just generalizing on the age.

[O2BESOHUGE]

Re: Gym Etiquette

AND WASH THE SHIT YOU WEAR TO THE GYM!! SOME FOLKS AT MY GYM SMELL LIKE GOATS!

[TheChosen1]

Re: Gym Etiquette

AND WASH THE SHIT YOU WEAR TO THE GYM!! SOME FOLKS AT MY GYM SMELL LIKE GOATS!

Noooooo way.....You did not just say that!!

There is a guy at the gym that appears to be in his 60's. Mind you, I don't like to talk negative of people whom I don't know but this guy have that creepy yet geeky look; sort of like Ted Bundy. He wears glasses and is red headed. But the funny thing is that he's balding severely at the top but chooses to do a sad attempt of a comb over with the few strands of hair that he has there.

Sadly, whenever he passes me, there is a major sick stanch of b/o coming from him that, I swear, had me literally want to barf right there in the gym. One day, it got so bad that I'd hold my breath whenever I'd see him walk towards me.

[Dzone]

Re: Gym Etiquette

^lmao..OMG

[a-bomb83]

Re: Gym Etiquette

my 2 biggest pet peeves, everything else is tolerable to an extent...

1. when doing some sort of db curl, lateral raise, whatever (anything that involves standing with db's) take a couple steps back from the db rack. don't do your shit right up on the rack. what if i need something that you're right up on? well, i'm gonna barge right in and get it and hope to hell you say something.

2. this is mainly a high school kid thing i think, but looking down at the db rack and seeing a spot for 30's, but there's another set there, like 20's or something....CAN YOU NOT FU CKING READ?!?!?!? put the shit where it goes.

3. forgot one more. when flat db pressing (all my beefs are will dumbells lol) or incline or decline for that matter, when you're done with your set don't just drop the damn things. to get the weight up (be it 40lbs or 140lbs) nobody threw you the weight did they? no they didn't, so why would you let them crash to the ground?

simply put, DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE!

[rc10j1]

Re: Gym Etiquette

Man I'm glad I spent the money and built my home gym so I don't have to put up with that stuff anymore. I always hated like a-bomb said one dumbell would be on the complete other side from its mate and you'd have to search for it because some d-bag can't put them back where they go.

[tn94z]

Re: Gym Etiquette

AND WASH THE SHIT YOU WEAR TO THE GYM!! SOME FOLKS AT MY GYM SMELL LIKE GOATS!

HAHA!!! That reminds me. There is this kid at the gym that will change his shirt 4-5 times per workout. It's so funny how many different shirts he will wear in the course of 1.5 hours. It's like a fashion show.

my 2 biggest pet peeves, everything else is tolerable to an extent...

2. this is mainly a high school kid thing i think, but looking down at the db rack and seeing a spot for 30's, but there's another set there, like 20's or something....CAN YOU NOT FU CKING READ?!?!?!? put the shit where it goes.

3. forgot one more. when flat db pressing (all my beefs are will dumbells lol) or incline or decline for that matter, when you're done with your set don't just drop the damn things. to get the weight up (be it 40lbs or 140lbs) nobody threw you the weight did they? no they didn't, so why would you let them crash to the ground?

simply put, DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE!

Completely forgot about that one! Is it really that hard to put them things back in numerical order? I hate that too about the dumbbells being thrown. That and I can't stand it when someone is loading their weight onto a bar and they slam the weights together like they are trying to draw attention to themselves. Just slide the weight on the bar....it doesn't have to be slammed against the other weight that is on there.

Then there are the guys (this kind of goes along with my earlier post) that load the weight on there, can't get a half rep with it (spotter usually does half of it), scream like they are doing 500lbs, slam it on the rack, don't clean the bar off when they are done, and then they walk around the gym so swole that they think their 10" guns are going to rip their shirts off.

For example, there are these high school kids that probably don't weigh 130 soaking wet, that will put like 200lbs (literally) on military press. Their rep consists of coming down maybe to their forehead, then push it back up with the help of their spotter. Then they get up and they are big dogs...you know? I am no big guy by any means, but I only do 115 on military press but we get in the full rep, all the way down.

[diablo]

Re: Gym Etiquette

Excellent point on trainers providing proper gym etiquette while they train newbies.

What really gets me is some Ahole will use three to four towels and spread them on different machines to indicate those machines are in-use. Now there is some decent amount of time that goes by before this Ahole actually does a set. I have seen him tell folks who remove those towels that the machine is in use by him. Me, on the other hand with my ipod, pretend i don't hear him.

You know, I find this quite funny because we have a dude that does that at my gym and I sweat rather profusley so I just go and sit all over his towel and make it sweaty and smell like ass, then he comes up and says, "aw sh*t man, that was my towel.." and I say, "o sh*t I could have swore you were on the other 3 machines.." F*n turds man..

[ROAD WARRIOR]

Re: Gym Etiquette

Then there are the guys (this kind of goes along with my earlier post) that load the weight on there, can't get a half rep with it (spotter usually does half of it), scream like they are doing 500lbs, slam it on the rack, don't clean the bar off when they are done, and then they walk around the gym so swole that they think their 10" guns are going to rip their shirts off.

YO, MAN...YOU NEED TO BACK WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY OFF! I'M DOING THE BEST I CAN WITH MY 10 INCH CANNONS OF DOOOOOOOM!!!!

[tn94z]

Re: Gym Etiquette

YO, MAN...YOU NEED TO BACK WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY OFF! I'M DOING THE BEST I CAN WITH MY 10 INCH CANNONS OF DOOOOOOOM!!!!

Haha!! I hear you man!! Hey, I don't have big arms by any means, but I don't walk around like Arnold either

[ROAD WARRIOR]

Re: Gym Etiquette

Haha!! I hear you man!! Hey, I don't have big arms by any means, but I don't walk around like Arnold either

I walk around like Arnold...TOM Arnold!