Gym Etiquette

[mandiam]

With the gym being in my morning routine and even getting ready for work there everyday--I have come to notice little things that just bug me...

Is there anything that just BUGS you at the gym?? I don't want this thread to just be a compaining one--but m hope is that maybe we can come to a little gym etiquette list and everyone can be happy gymmers.

I'll start.

Obnoxious grunting. LOL--it kind of just makes me laugh--and then another side of me is just thinking what the heck!!! I understand when something is difficult, a little grunt is sometimes necessary--but if you are belting out songs in grunt form with every rep you take--maybe we should lower the weight just a tad hahahaha..

How about you girls? Find anything entertaining at your gym? or just plain gross?

[Veronica]

I work out in a small, private gym with a personal trainer. I've discovered grunting is sometimes necessary; it just happens. Same thing with funny faces, there are times you just can't avoid making them.

Lifting heavy is required if you want to build muscle.

When I worked out in a public facility, bad form bothered me, as did dropping weights.

Veronica

[PirateKitty]

+1 on dropping weights

Also, wiping down machines after use.
It's quick, easy, and most gyms supply the sanitizer and napkins.

[Blueberry]

Those who ignore the 30 minute time limit for cardio machines (and/or cover the time up with their towel). Last time I was waiting for a machine, there was someone who had been on the machine well over 30 minutes (she ended up stopping after an hour).

I'm never sure whether to say something. I usually end up just waiting and someone else will give it up. But - when there are multiple people doing the long workout thing, it can be a 20+ minute wait. I get that people need to workout longer than 30 minutes - when I do, I get off, wait for another machine, get back on. Not sure what the correct etiquette is.

[Veronica]

I'm never sure whether to say something. I usually end up just waiting and someone else will give it up. But - when there are multiple people doing the long workout thing, it can be a 20+ minute wait. I get that people need to workout longer than 30 minutes - when I do, I get off, wait for another machine, get back on. Not sure what the correct etiquette is.

That's a toughie because if your training plan calls for doing a longer workout... but I think I'd still do the polite thing and get off if there were people waiting.

When I have to do cardio at the public gym I belong to, I try to be there when it's not crowded so I can be on as long as I want. Not a luxury everyone has, I know.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Unavoidable funny faces... You can't see the 30 pound dumbbells I'm holding.

Veronica

[Blueberry]

That's a toughie because if your training plan calls for doing a longer workout... but I think I'd still do the polite thing and get off if there were people waiting.

I really, really try to be sympathetic to that - with my own workouts and when others are working out. I do my bike workouts at home on my trainer and I'm still banned from running - so I'm talking about elliptical trainers on my "off" days for extra cardio. There are giant signs with the time limit posted, though - so it's not like it isn't an "official rule." Gym officials have definitely asked people to stop before, but they don't do it regularly.

My gym is affiliated with a major university, so most of the people working out are students. The people I mentioned are working out while reading magazines, chatting with friends, talking on cell phones and otherwise not really focusing on their workouts. My own perception and prejudices coming through - but I find it hard to believe that what they're doing is part of their training plan....

[kajero]

Those who ignore the 30 minute time limit for cardio machines (and/or cover the time up with their towel)

I complained about this to the manager one time. He said that they pay their dues and are entitled to stay on the machine for as long as they want. I guess in a way, he is right. We know it is proper etiquette to share, but I guess you have paid for something you really don't have to share if you don't want to.

[kajero]

Another thing that I really hate is when I was attending spin classes at 6:00 a.m. in the morning there would be a lot of "saved" bikes with towels by friends for people who came in around 6:00a.m. It was frustrating because I was always there at 5:45 and sometimes although there were maybe 5 actual people in the room, there would be only one or two bikes left.

Sometimes the bikes that were saved were never used. Many people were often turned away and they shouldn't have been.

I've made numerous suggestions to the management on how this situation could easily be resolved, but nothing ever came of it.

[Blueberry]

I complained about this to the manager one time. He said that they pay their dues and are entitled to stay on the machine for as long as they want. I guess in a way, he is right. We know it is proper etiquette to share, but I guess you have paid for something you really don't have to share if you don't want to.

There's a giant red sign that says 30 minute time limit. But for that, I wouldn't get upset. I've been chased off at 29:59 before by the students who want to get their workouts in. The gym does enforce it - but very selectively. I think that's why people cover up the timers....

[malkin]

I complained about this to the manager one time. He said that they pay their dues and are entitled to stay on the machine for as long as they want. I guess in a way, he is right. We know it is proper etiquette to share, but I guess you have paid for something you really don't have to share if you don't want to.

So the people waiting--their dues don't entitle them to access to a machine?

[westtexas]

Lifting heavy is required if you want to build muscle.

Veronica - not to nitpick and not to go off topic, but I thought you might find this article on Sweat Science interesting:

Light weights build muscle as effectively as heavy weights.

The writer does a good job of summing up the science from the paper (I think) and found that fatiguing yourself was actually a better way to build muscle rather than lifting heavy loads.

Anyway, just an interesting aside...

[Veronica]

Veronica - not to nitpick and not to go off topic, but I thought you might find this article on Sweat Science interesting:

Light weights build muscle as effectively as heavy weights.

The writer does a good job of summing up the science from the paper (I think) and found that fatiguing yourself was actually a better way to build muscle rather than lifting heavy loads.

Anyway, just an interesting aside...

I just looked at it quickly and it seems to me that either way you have to lift to failure in order to build mass. That means fewer reps with heavier weights, as opposed many reps with lighter weights. The time crunched athlete who wants to increase mass is going to go for heavier weights, fewer reps.

If I were only using a 3 pound dumbell instead of 20, I'd have to do a LOT of bicep curls before I'd even feel it. BTW I have no idea what my one rep max is for anything.

Veronica

[sookiesue]

Perfume at the gym. Ugh.

People on cell phones at the gym. Ugh.

There was one day where I spent my whole workout breathing through my sweat towel because the guy next to me was, shall we say...expelling air...not from his mouth...dude, just because we can't HEAR you do it doesn't mean we don't all know you're doing it...Unfortunately it was a busy day at the gym and there were no other ellipticals available or I would have moved.

The gym I belong to recently changed owners, too. It used to be a low-key place where people came in, did their workouts, sometimes socialized in a friendly manner, not too chatty, not too silent. Now everywhere is some poster advertising spray tanning, or tanning beds, or frightening weight loss plans (HCG!). They fired all the old employees and brought in a bunch of big dudes with spray tans that never smile.

I am sad that my safe place to work on my fitness when I can't be outdoors is changing into this type of environment. However, I have such a great deal on my membership that I can't afford to move anywhere else now! So, I just keep my head down, get in, work out, get out.

[Kiwi Stoker]

People turning up wearing street clothes and a pair of jandals/thongs/Havanas (or whatever you call beach slip on shoes). There's heaps of signs saying closed toe sports shoes only WITH pictures.

People (and so far it's only men) that sit down on the gym equipment and don't use it. Hey there's two couches to sit on in the corner. If you need a rest, sit over there. I shouldn't have to ask you to move so I can use the machine!