selfish jerks at the gym

[Irulan]

Why not just say, "scuze me, I am going to work my sets in between your sets" or something like that?

[Flur]

I suggest politely asking them if you can train in. If you get a jerk-type answer, don't be surprised. I've found that meathead-types tend to disrespect women who want to use free weights.

You could also ask the gym to add equipment, since people are waiting to use certain things. I'd also recommend learning to use completely free weights - there's nothing you can do on a smith machine that you can't do without it, you just will need to use lighter weight. You can often also swap out cable machines with free weights to train the same muscle groups if all the benches are taken. This will also give your body a new challenge and could take your workouts to the next level.

[lovelylibrarian]

I just want to offer my sympathy. When my gym is crowded, it's tough to work in on the machines. I have a certain routine that I do and try to mix up the order but I don't sit there between sets. I see SO many guys doing that. They just rest on the machine between sets.

It makes me crazy too.

[Pax]

As a middle aged woman who works out at the University gym I tend to adopt the maternal tone..."young man, I need to move some of those weights so I can work in". They might look a little miffed but they do it.

[Trek420]

As a middle aged woman who works out at the University gym I tend to adopt the maternal tone..."young man, I need to move some of those weights so I can work in". They might look a little miffed but they do it.

Bet they are even more miffed when middle aged women easily move their weights

[Pax]

Bet they are even more miffed when middle aged women easily move their weights

In that vein, there is a young male Asian student who works out faithfully at the same time I'm there, he struggles and groans while doing curls with...pink plastic coated 5lb. weights. He's so sincere that I try to give him an encouraging nod now and then, but it is pretty hilarious.

[bounceswoosh]

In that vein, there is a young male Asian student who works out faithfully at the same time I'm there, he struggles and groans while doing curls with...pink plastic coated 5lb. weights. He's so sincere that I try to give him an encouraging nod now and then, but it is pretty hilarious.

You never know ... he could be recovering from an injury, or have some sort of neuromuscular issue.

[Pax]

You never know ... he could be recovering from an injury, or have some sort of neuromuscular issue.

It's crossed my mind. He is adorable though, I think it's the cultural differences that allow him to use the little pink weights that I find endearing...most of the big strappin' American boys wouldn't touch them.

[ny biker]

Well thanks everyone.

Really to me this is an example of a larger problem that is really getting to me. So many people are just so wrapped up in their belief that they are the center of the universe that they are not capable of being courteous to or thoughtful of the people around them. It's not just at the gym. It's all the people who nearly run me over when I'm riding my bike or walking down the street because they just can't wait a few seconds for me to pass through the intersection before the make their turn. Or at the stop light in front of my office building where people routinely block the intersection so you can't get out when the light turns green and when you beep at them they look at you like you're the one doing something wrong. And the people who sit across from you at a restaurant sending text messages to their bff because they can't be bothered to hide the fact that they'd rather be elsewhere. So much rudeness and lack of respect and it's all small stuff but it just builds up after a while.

I know there are nice people out there too but for some reason the rude ones are the ones who stand out. And it's hard to just shrug them off because that's just like giving up and accepting the world is a crappy place full of people who don't give a crap about anyone but themselves. It seems we should be capable of more than that.

I think it might be time to go home and have a Buffy marathon.

p.s. I do like Pax's signature line. That Buddha guy had some interesting ideas.

[lph]

It's crossed my mind. He is adorable though, I think it's the cultural differences that allow him to use the little pink weights that I find endearing...most of the big strappin' American boys wouldn't touch them.

he sounds like my kinda guy

[NbyNW]

In that vein, there is a young male Asian student who works out faithfully at the same time I'm there, he struggles and groans while doing curls with...pink plastic coated 5lb. weights. He's so sincere that I try to give him an encouraging nod now and then, but it is pretty hilarious.

Could he be doing rotator cuff exercises? Lots of people skip these because they don't provide dramatic muscle definition results, but . . . anyone who has ever injured a shoulder has probably spent a lot of time building these back up.

Definitely ask if you can work in, otherwise they'll think you're just standing there admiring them. People can be courteous if you ask in the right way. But you have to ASK.

In my case, I'm very small, so it would be ridiculous for me to remove large plates from a bar to work in, or to move them if someone simply forgot to clean up after themselves. It's pretty evident just from looking at me. I let the guys feel like they're being chilvarous by moving their weights out of my way.

In my gym-going days, I would ask if I could work in, or if they could tell me how many more sets they had planned. If they just had one-two more sets, for example, I would tell them I'd just rather wait until they finished (if it's a pain to change the setup), and could they let me know when they were done, and I'll be over by the free weights in the meantime (doing my rotator cuff exercises). If they had a few more sets and their setup was only slightly different from mine, I would ask if I could work in.

[Flur]

You could also try pointing out to them that resting between sets is a waste - they should be supersetting (doing another exercise in place of rest between sets) to burn more calories, get more cut, grow more muscle, etc. Generally the time it takes to do a set of another exercise is LESS time than they're standing around for, so it will get them off the machine faster, and they can do the same workout in 1/2 the time, which gets them out of the gym faster. Bonus for you!

[mimitabby]

I think you should just take Flur and Pax with you next time; they'll take care of it.

[Irulan]

You could also try pointing out to them that resting between sets is a waste - they should be supersetting (doing another exercise in place of rest between sets) to burn more calories, get more cut, grow more muscle, etc. Generally the time it takes to do a set of another exercise is LESS time than they're standing around for, so it will get them off the machine faster, and they can do the same workout in 1/2 the time, which gets them out of the gym faster. Bonus for you!

This would probably go over about as well as the time I told some guys blabbing using the f_bomb for every other word at the top of their lungs to pipe down...

[Zen]

Why not just say, "scuze me, I am going to work my sets in between your sets" or something like that?

The phrasing would be "Mind if I work in?"