Gym Etiquette

[DarcyInOregon]

Good grief!!! Are you serious? It's not a library or church, for crying out loud. If my gym enforced a "no talking" rule, they'd have ZERO members. I simply don't agree with nor would I ever adhere to such a silly rule as that. Sure, I think primarily the gym should be a place where one puts focus on getting their workout in, but I don't see why talking cannot have its place there, as well.

The Y where I am doesn't allow talking or cell phone use on the cardio floor or in the weight room. It is a big building, three floors, plus wings on each side. The lobby is huge, easily the size of the main room at my old gym, with couches, chairs, tables, and vending machines, and that is where people socialize, plus the Y has social events like dances and game night, where it is about socializing. The cardio floor and weight room is where people work out, each individual's workout is respected, so socializing is not allowed. The silence is pure bliss.

If anyone Google's gym etiquette, there are rules of etiquette posted on the internet that list not chatting in workout areas as one of the rules, and this can be found on multiple sites.

When I am on road trips, I will buy a guest pass and work out at different gyms. The best gyms are the ones with the posted signs, the same ones as at the Y: no talking, no cell phone use, and respect other's workouts.

However there are lots of gyms where it is about socializing, where people do talk while working out, like my old gym, and just goes to show, the market place has a gym for all types of people.

[lph]

lph - you have showers and changing rooms at work? Cool!

Oh yes The coolest part is I sort of got to be a part of designing them when the building was completely re-done.

[Pax]

Oh yes The coolest part is I sort of got to be a part of designing them when the building was completely re-done.

That's neat! Only place I could shower or change is 1/2 mile away at the gym.

[ny biker]

The Y where I am doesn't allow talking or cell phone use on the cardio floor or in the weight room. It is a big building, three floors, plus wings on each side. The lobby is huge, easily the size of the main room at my old gym, with couches, chairs, tables, and vending machines, and that is where people socialize, plus the Y has social events like dances and game night, where it is about socializing. The cardio floor and weight room is where people work out, each individual's workout is respected, so socializing is not allowed. The silence is pure bliss.

If anyone Google's gym etiquette, there are rules of etiquette posted on the internet that list not chatting in workout areas as one of the rules, and this can be found on multiple sites.

When I am on road trips, I will buy a guest pass and work out at different gyms. The best gyms are the ones with the posted signs, the same ones as at the Y: no talking, no cell phone use, and respect other's workouts.

However there are lots of gyms where it is about socializing, where people do talk while working out, like my old gym, and just goes to show, the market place has a gym for all types of people.

If there's no talking allowed, how are trainers and their clients supposed to communicate with other?

I have no problem with people talking while doing cardio or between sets of weight training. Standing around and taking up space would be another issue.

[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

[Tri Girl]

Yay! another bodypumper---how do you like it? i do it twice a week to keep my upper body going strong. I actually really like it. I am more in love with crossfit--but bodypump is great too!

I used to love it. Haven't done it in 4 years now. I just really can't stand people at the gym anymore. I do bodyrock right now instead in the privacy of my own home. Much more enjoyable for me.

[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!

[Jolt]

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.

Ugh. Sounds like somebody shouldn't have eaten that second helping of baked beans and coleslaw before his workout!!

[malkin]

People who gas the whole locker room with spray deodorant.

Moms who are in a hurry and then are mean to their kids. (Your toddler will not hurry no matter how grumpy you get. Ripping a comb through your pre-teen daughter's hair will not get you to your next thing any more quickly.)

[malkin]

So for etiquette how about:
Minimize the impact you have on the senses of others.
Clean up after yourself.

[Bike Chick]

Loading up the bars with weights and not removing them when they (the big dudes) are finished and mothers who bring their sons over the age of 4 into the ladies dressing room. Grrrrrrr.

[DarcyInOregon]

If there's no talking allowed, how are trainers and their clients supposed to communicate with other?

I have no problem with people talking while doing cardio or between sets of weight training. Standing around and taking up space would be another issue.

Trainers have their own rooms and equipment. They are not on the cardio floor or in the weight room.

I should say another thing I like about this Y is there is no loud music blaring over loud speakers, and yet another is that the classrooms for group fitness like Zumba and Pump and Total Body are all sound proofed. And when members break the rules, they have to sit down with an administrator and are reminded of the Y's rules and policies.

Everyone works out differently, and has different fitness and health goals. It is why the no talking and no cell phone usage rules are enforced. What doesn't matter to one person might be really rude to another gym member, and highly distracting. I can tune out most noise, but when it is right next to me I can't focus, and if I am doing intervals with specific counts, it is even more difficult to concentrate with people chatting right next to me. I imagine there are lots of scenarios similar to mine, which is why the policies are in place. I love working out without the distraction of constant noise, it is extremely relaxing, almost yoga-like, and the quality of my workouts have increased since moving to the Y, which means I am more time efficient too.

[marni]

in general my gym is a pretty sane place. Yes there are some crashers and some grunters and then there is the halelujah corner in the stationary bikes where the ladies of a certain color and persuasion come fully made up and in their fashion diva outfits and ride and chat while watching the local joel osteen style church channel, with frequent exclamations of "priase the lord" and the like. Fortunately it is a large enough space that you can always find a bike with a bit of space. The thing that particularly annoys me, is when I am working with a trainer and the piece of equipment we want to use is occupied by a woman, just sitting there chatting on her cell phone. Yes the trainer very politely asks them to move and sometimes they do, but really, why don't they go sit on the couches, or go to the dressing room or to the side out of the traffic flow? Gym equipment is meant to be used, not to just be sat on until someone in authority asks you to move. That and the ones on the elliptical who either play their music so loudly I can hear it or talk endlessly, and mindlessly on their cell phones. These are the same ladies who spread their stuff out over one more benches in the dressing room, while getting changed, still talking endlessly on the cell phone.

People are so self centered sometimes.

marni

[Catrin]

So for etiquette how about:
Minimize the impact you have on the senses of others.
Clean up after yourself.

This - I like this!

I had to chuckle reading the comments Darcy made about the signs at her Y for quiet - every fitness facility has a different environment and compared it with where I go. My own facility is a university fitness and sports research-based facility and is HUGE. Outside of a large free-weights room and a small studio, everything is in one massive room with a ceiling that is WAY up there. Lots of weight machines, cardio machines, TRX, lots of space for every type of training imaginable. This place is just huge, did I say that already?

All of the members are focused on their workout - I've never seen such focus from everyone at other places I've been a member of. Because of how this place is constructed it is very loud. The massive open space carries and amplifies all sound - which in an odd way seems to help me to focus. With the noise level it seems to be easier to focus on what I am doing than it would be if it were quiet enough for me to hear this person's over-loud iPod music or that person's conversation. No place is perfect, and that applies to this facility, but it has been a surprise to me how the noise level actually seems to become white noise and fades into the background.