weight room etiquette
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I am the only woman that uses the weight section. In 3 years of my gym memebership I've never seen another woman venture in there. At first, I was nervous and paranoid that the blokes would be sniggering at me behind my back. None of them really spoke to me and I felt a bit isolated. Then one of the male instructors said they were all as intimidated by me as I was by them, as they felt they had to be lifting loads to impress the only woman in there! I laughed when I heard this.
On my next visit I asked one of them some advice on my technique and boom the ice was broken. Now, I join in the banter and am just another person who lifts weights. I can't believe I was so paranoid, they are all really nice normal guys. My advice, is have confidence in yourself and what you are doing. All those guys were beginners at one point, if you need advice I'm sure they would gladly share their pearls of wisdom!0 -
The edit option has expired on my previous post....Hi there! First: Congrats on working up the courage to step into the weight room in the first place!
All the others have already thrown in their ideas about how to behave around heavy weights. I'd like to add some practical advise (from my own experience)...
Don't expect others to practice proper gym etiquette...as sad as it might seem... Be prepared to have obstacles thrown into your workout. If the equipment is limited, don't rely on a squat rack, move to the power cage...e.g...
Don't panic if there are no barbells, grab some dumbbells instead. When you write up your workout, have some alternate exercises listed that can be done with other equipment, so you have a chance to just keep going and get done without risking injury due to cold muscles while waiting. bodybuilding.com has a great library, where you can find suggestions for similar exercises to most lifts.
Be flexible in the sequence of your exercises, unless you intend to 'go heavy' on a certain lift, and you wouldn't want to exhaust yourself before you get to it.
Don't be afraid to grab a bench or other small equipment and move it to an area that provides more space for your exercise. Just move it back after you are done.
I found, that when I use the above listed tricks, I can avoid most run-ins with other gym visitors, and get through my workouts with a lot less stress.
Other than that, just have FUN! Good luck!
I would like to add another idea that has helped me avoid confrontation or delays in the gym....
Some exercises depend on some odd piece of equipment or accessory, that always gets lost in the gym. For this reason, and for reason of personal hygiene, I got my own: yoga mat for cool down, a pair of sturdy double-D-ring ankle cuffs for cable glute kickbacks, a resistance band for pullup practice... or whatever else you do out of the ordinary...
On occasion, I brought my own heavy aerobics bar to use for situps or hyperextensions (only one EZ bar in this gym..), or a pair of my own kettlebells to share with a friend for a warmup routine, because the priviledge of using those at the gym would come with a CrossFit membership....they got all the fancy stuff...for $ 99 /months extra....no thanks...
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Hi there! First: Congrats on working up the courage to step into the weight room in the first place!
All the others have already thrown in their ideas about how to behave around heavy weights. I'd like to add some practical advise (from my own experience)...
Don't expect others to practice proper gym etiquette...as sad as it might seem... Be prepared to have obstacles thrown into your workout. If the equipment is limited, don't rely on a squat rack, move to the power cage...e.g...
Don't panic if there are no barbells, grab some dumbbells instead. When you write up your workout, have some alternate exercises listed that can be done with other equipment, so you have a chance to just keep going and get done without risking injury due to cold muscles while waiting. bodybuilding.com has a great library, where you can find suggestions for similar exercises to most lifts.
Be flexible in the sequence of your exercises, unless you intend to 'go heavy' on a certain lift, and you wouldn't want to exhaust yourself before you get to it.
Don't be afraid to grab a bench or other small equipment and move it to an area that provides more space for your exercise. Just move it back after you are done.
I found, that when I use the above listed tricks, I can avoid most run-ins with other gym visitors, and get through my workouts with a lot less stress.
Other than that, just have FUN! Good luck!
All good advice but I especially like what I bolded. You might have to change exercises or change the order of them or move around to other spots (might not be a spot in front of a mirror, for example) to do them.
And I'll second or third the suggestion to go in the morning. It's usually less busy at that time and for some gyms, the middle of the day is less busy too. Evenings and weekends are usually the busiest times.
I have a hard time with that, and I would say that you need to find a better time to get into the gym. Here's the thing, if you have specific training goals and you have a plan to specifically achieve that goal, there might not be alternative and why would you compromise on your goals? If your goals are to just lose weight then it doesn't matter much probably, but if you have specific strength goals then it probably will matter very much.
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I understand your concerns.Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »Hi there! First: Congrats on working up the courage to step into the weight room in the first place!
All the others have already thrown in their ideas about how to behave around heavy weights. I'd like to add some practical advise (from my own experience)...
Don't expect others to practice proper gym etiquette...as sad as it might seem... Be prepared to have obstacles thrown into your workout. If the equipment is limited, don't rely on a squat rack, move to the power cage...e.g...
Don't panic if there are no barbells, grab some dumbbells instead. When you write up your workout, have some alternate exercises listed that can be done with other equipment, so you have a chance to just keep going and get done without risking injury due to cold muscles while waiting. bodybuilding.com has a great library, where you can find suggestions for similar exercises to most lifts.
Be flexible in the sequence of your exercises, unless you intend to 'go heavy' on a certain lift, and you wouldn't want to exhaust yourself before you get to it.
Don't be afraid to grab a bench or other small equipment and move it to an area that provides more space for your exercise. Just move it back after you are done.
I found, that when I use the above listed tricks, I can avoid most run-ins with other gym visitors, and get through my workouts with a lot less stress.
Other than that, just have FUN! Good luck!
All good advice but I especially like what I bolded. You might have to change exercises or change the order of them or move around to other spots (might not be a spot in front of a mirror, for example) to do them.
And I'll second or third the suggestion to go in the morning. It's usually less busy at that time and for some gyms, the middle of the day is less busy too. Evenings and weekends are usually the busiest times.
I have a hard time with that, and I would say that you need to find a better time to get into the gym. Here's the thing, if you have specific training goals and you have a plan to specifically achieve that goal, there might not be alternative and why would you compromise on your goals? If your goals are to just lose weight then it doesn't matter much probably, but if you have specific strength goals then it probably will matter very much.
I found, that an alternate exercise every now and then is not going to make much of an impact on my personal fitness goals. If you look at my profile pic, my goals were pretty well met every time...
However, getting stressed out and getting into confrontations of some sort in a gym will eventually make me miserable and that's when my goals will not be met.
Personally, I do not have a problem, not trying to beat another gym member to the squat rack...especially if he/she is insisting THIS MUCH to meet his/her specific goal....
It's not a war zone. It's supposed to be fun. Be flexible, be considerate..
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I'm one of the few girls that lifts free weights when I'm at the gym. I have my lifts preplanned and if I see weights on my next lift I'll skip it and kind of keep an eye to see if anyone is using it. If no one has touched it after my next lift I go take it. It takes me anywhere from 15-25 minutes to get through a set depending on what it is and if no one touches what I want next then too bad.
Everyone has pretty much covered the basic "rules", clean up, stay out of others' way and rerack the stupid weights (my pet peeve). Last night I had to pull 230# of the dang leg press. And that's with a sign right on the mirror saying..if you can lift it you can rerack it. Ugh0 -
Besides, I used to work out at a gym where it was considered rude to completely unload the bar and put the plates back. Next person needed those and retrieving the plates and reloading was a waste of time.
Is that common? Even if the next person can lift the weight, chances are decent that they'll have to change bar position/height, right? At least that been my experience at both the gyms I've worked at at.
This, so much. Evil eye glares to the people that leave multiple 45s on a bar set high. Not exactly fun for the 5'2" beginner to yank several 45s off when the bar is set up where my head is
I actually brought this up to someone and they told me they felt it was courteous to leave a set of 45s on for the next person because there aren't many people that lift less than that. Seriously dude....you'd prefer to inconvenience people to give a 2 second advantage to others. If you're doing multiple 45s, it takes a lot less effort for you to put them on than for me to take them off and then load up with what I need.
That's my one and only gym pet peeve. Be courteous and re-rack. If you're at a gym where everyone is a powerlifter, then by all means have different gym rules. But for commercial gyms, just re-rack. It's not even a women thing because I see plenty of smaller guys that can't do 45s on a bench or those that warm up with less for a set.
That and the person that does their sets right in front of the dumbbells rack and then acts offended you need to get to the rack lol.0 -
That is how my last gym was.gemmamummy wrote: »I am the only woman that uses the weight section. In 3 years of my gym memebership I've never seen another woman venture in there.
My new one, there's women in the weight section squatting, deadlifting, and oly lifting. It's crazy, there's even a gal there that runs the local USAPL events that does a little light coaching, and her own lifting. It's impressive as all get out.
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Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »Hi there! First: Congrats on working up the courage to step into the weight room in the first place!
All the others have already thrown in their ideas about how to behave around heavy weights. I'd like to add some practical advise (from my own experience)...
Don't expect others to practice proper gym etiquette...as sad as it might seem... Be prepared to have obstacles thrown into your workout. If the equipment is limited, don't rely on a squat rack, move to the power cage...e.g...
Don't panic if there are no barbells, grab some dumbbells instead. When you write up your workout, have some alternate exercises listed that can be done with other equipment, so you have a chance to just keep going and get done without risking injury due to cold muscles while waiting. bodybuilding.com has a great library, where you can find suggestions for similar exercises to most lifts.
Be flexible in the sequence of your exercises, unless you intend to 'go heavy' on a certain lift, and you wouldn't want to exhaust yourself before you get to it.
Don't be afraid to grab a bench or other small equipment and move it to an area that provides more space for your exercise. Just move it back after you are done.
I found, that when I use the above listed tricks, I can avoid most run-ins with other gym visitors, and get through my workouts with a lot less stress.
Other than that, just have FUN! Good luck!
All good advice but I especially like what I bolded. You might have to change exercises or change the order of them or move around to other spots (might not be a spot in front of a mirror, for example) to do them.
And I'll second or third the suggestion to go in the morning. It's usually less busy at that time and for some gyms, the middle of the day is less busy too. Evenings and weekends are usually the busiest times.
I have a hard time with that, and I would say that you need to find a better time to get into the gym. Here's the thing, if you have specific training goals and you have a plan to specifically achieve that goal, there might not be alternative and why would you compromise on your goals? If your goals are to just lose weight then it doesn't matter much probably, but if you have specific strength goals then it probably will matter very much.
Clearly I'm suggesting that a person put some thought into their substitutions. It's not like I'm saying to substitute dumbbell curls for overhead press. But doing dumbbell presses when a barbell isn't available? Yes. Knowing how to do them standing vs. seated when a bench isn't available? Yes. Line up at the squat rack that doesn't appear to be lessening soon? Learn how to do goblet squats unless you have a lot of time to stand around and wait or time in your schedule to come back another day, which is often easier said than done.
Yes, if your strength goal is for a specific lift you are not going to do an alternative that day. But for the majority of MFPers one day of using a substitute exercise is not going to crash the program.0 -
Yeah, unless you're in some superman gym where everyone considers 225 the minimum warm-up weight for the bench (such places exist, not that I'll ever be in one), def re-rack the weights.
Hardest part for me is when something hasn't been re-racked, and there's no towel or water bottle holding the spot. If someone's nearby, I'll ask if they've seen anyone using the equipment...if negative, I'll go for it. If no one is around at all (rare), I figure it's mine. I've yet to have a problem using that method.
Oh, and if you need to get a plate from another piece of equipment, don't do it while someone's in the middle of a set :-D
None of this, eh?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjvwUuHm0cw
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Besides, I used to work out at a gym where it was considered rude to completely unload the bar and put the plates back. Next person needed those and retrieving the plates and reloading was a waste of time.
Is that common? Even if the next person can lift the weight, chances are decent that they'll have to change bar position/height, right? At least that been my experience at both the gyms I've worked at at.
This, so much. Evil eye glares to the people that leave multiple 45s on a bar set high. Not exactly fun for the 5'2" beginner to yank several 45s off when the bar is set up where my head is
I actually brought this up to someone and they told me they felt it was courteous to leave a set of 45s on for the next person because there aren't many people that lift less than that. Seriously dude....you'd prefer to inconvenience people to give a 2 second advantage to others. If you're doing multiple 45s, it takes a lot less effort for you to put them on than for me to take them off and then load up with what I need.
That's my one and only gym pet peeve. Be courteous and re-rack. If you're at a gym where everyone is a powerlifter, then by all means have different gym rules. But for commercial gyms, just re-rack. It's not even a women thing because I see plenty of smaller guys that can't do 45s on a bench or those that warm up with less for a set.
That and the person that does their sets right in front of the dumbbells rack and then acts offended you need to get to the rack lol.
On a bench press or squat rack sure. the only exception I think is leaving 1 set of 45's on the leg press.0 -
Besides, I used to work out at a gym where it was considered rude to completely unload the bar and put the plates back. Next person needed those and retrieving the plates and reloading was a waste of time.
Is that common? Even if the next person can lift the weight, chances are decent that they'll have to change bar position/height, right? At least that been my experience at both the gyms I've worked at at.
i won't say that it's common, but it was the standard practice at at least 3 gyms i frequented in Chicago in the 90s. Even so, this was a while back and there were few (read: zero) females lifting free weights at the time. but the SOP was to leave one 45 on the bar, whether it was bench or squat rack.
the figuring was that most people would use it or work up to it and it takes all of 2 seconds to put it down on the floor if you like to warmup with the bar or something lighter. leaving it on the bar kept it off the floor and kept people from always going to get the same damn plate from the weight tree.
anyhoo, that was then. with more people of different sizes and abilities nowadays, i would at least take the plate off the bar and leave it next to the bench. removing a 45 from a squat rack is nothing to me, but if the "next man up" is a 5'3" female that weighs 130, then it's rude expect her to police my area.0 -
Besides, I used to work out at a gym where it was considered rude to completely unload the bar and put the plates back. Next person needed those and retrieving the plates and reloading was a waste of time.
Is that common? Even if the next person can lift the weight, chances are decent that they'll have to change bar position/height, right? At least that been my experience at both the gyms I've worked at at.
This, so much. Evil eye glares to the people that leave multiple 45s on a bar set high. Not exactly fun for the 5'2" beginner to yank several 45s off when the bar is set up where my head is
I actually brought this up to someone and they told me they felt it was courteous to leave a set of 45s on for the next person because there aren't many people that lift less than that. Seriously dude....you'd prefer to inconvenience people to give a 2 second advantage to others. If you're doing multiple 45s, it takes a lot less effort for you to put them on than for me to take them off and then load up with what I need.
That's my one and only gym pet peeve. Be courteous and re-rack. If you're at a gym where everyone is a powerlifter, then by all means have different gym rules. But for commercial gyms, just re-rack. It's not even a women thing because I see plenty of smaller guys that can't do 45s on a bench or those that warm up with less for a set.
That and the person that does their sets right in front of the dumbbells rack and then acts offended you need to get to the rack lol.
On a bench press or squat rack sure. the only exception I think is leaving 1 set of 45's on the leg press.
1 set of 45s? might as well strip it clean then. i've got to go get 18 more plates anyway, so no sense in saving me 1 trip. clean it up in case the next person wants to use the empty machine0 -
Besides, I used to work out at a gym where it was considered rude to completely unload the bar and put the plates back. Next person needed those and retrieving the plates and reloading was a waste of time.
Is that common? Even if the next person can lift the weight, chances are decent that they'll have to change bar position/height, right? At least that been my experience at both the gyms I've worked at at.
This, so much. Evil eye glares to the people that leave multiple 45s on a bar set high. Not exactly fun for the 5'2" beginner to yank several 45s off when the bar is set up where my head is
I actually brought this up to someone and they told me they felt it was courteous to leave a set of 45s on for the next person because there aren't many people that lift less than that. Seriously dude....you'd prefer to inconvenience people to give a 2 second advantage to others. If you're doing multiple 45s, it takes a lot less effort for you to put them on than for me to take them off and then load up with what I need.
That's my one and only gym pet peeve. Be courteous and re-rack. If you're at a gym where everyone is a powerlifter, then by all means have different gym rules. But for commercial gyms, just re-rack. It's not even a women thing because I see plenty of smaller guys that can't do 45s on a bench or those that warm up with less for a set.
That and the person that does their sets right in front of the dumbbells rack and then acts offended you need to get to the rack lol.
On a bench press or squat rack sure. the only exception I think is leaving 1 set of 45's on the leg press.
1 set of 45s? might as well strip it clean then. i've got to go get 18 more plates anyway, so no sense in saving me 1 trip. clean it up in case the next person wants to use the empty machine
18 plates???
You doin' only one leg, brah?
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AndreaWhite611 wrote: »Aha ...crap.I left weights on the squat bar. I just walked away and didn't even think about taking them off. Maybe I am lacking common sense afterall.
You should do your best to remember to re-rack your weights, but people won't get nearly as annoyed with this if you are leaving 50lbs on a bar as opposed to if you are leaving 250. My ex used to regularly have to come get me, or ask other people in the weight room to remove weights for her that were simply too big for her to lift.
What I'd recommend is starting a thread on here about people's biggest pet peeves in the weight room. I always heard that the best way to learn what is expected of you at a new job is to learn what the other guy wasn't getting right. I think the same principle applies here.
I good rule that I don't think I've seen anyone mention yet is not to slam or drop the weights, if you can avoid it. If you are doing an intense Olympic level dead lift, of course you are going to drop the weight after, but for the rest of us, the weights should always be in control (if not by you, then by your spotter). The clanging and slamming is bad for the weights (especially the machines), annoying, and unsafe.0 -
FoCoAlphaNerd wrote: »AndreaWhite611 wrote: »Aha ...crap.I left weights on the squat bar. I just walked away and didn't even think about taking them off. Maybe I am lacking common sense afterall.
You should do your best to remember to re-rack your weights, but people won't get nearly as annoyed with this if you are leaving 50lbs on a bar as opposed to if you are leaving 250. My ex used to regularly have to come get me, or ask other people in the weight room to remove weights for her that were simply too big for her to lift.
What I'd recommend is starting a thread on here about people's biggest pet peeves in the weight room. I always heard that the best way to learn what is expected of you at a new job is to learn what the other guy wasn't getting right. I think the same principle applies here.
I good rule that I don't think I've seen anyone mention yet is not to slam or drop the weights, if you can avoid it. If you are doing an intense Olympic level dead lift, of course you are going to drop the weight after, but for the rest of us, the weights should always be in control (if not by you, then by your spotter). The clanging and slamming is bad for the weights (especially the machines), annoying, and unsafe.
do NOT do this.
well, not unless you want to read thru 8 pages of whiny complaining that will leave you mortally afraid that EVERYONE in the gym is judging you, thinks that you're an idiot and wishes you would just give up and stay fat.
i mean, some of it will be legit, but mostly it's going to be 7 pages of "WAAAAAAHHH, someone used the treadmill RIGHT NEXT TO ME!"0 -
FoCoAlphaNerd wrote: »AndreaWhite611 wrote: »Aha ...crap.I left weights on the squat bar. I just walked away and didn't even think about taking them off. Maybe I am lacking common sense afterall.
You should do your best to remember to re-rack your weights, but people won't get nearly as annoyed with this if you are leaving 50lbs on a bar as opposed to if you are leaving 250. My ex used to regularly have to come get me, or ask other people in the weight room to remove weights for her that were simply too big for her to lift.
What I'd recommend is starting a thread on here about people's biggest pet peeves in the weight room. I always heard that the best way to learn what is expected of you at a new job is to learn what the other guy wasn't getting right. I think the same principle applies here.
I good rule that I don't think I've seen anyone mention yet is not to slam or drop the weights, if you can avoid it. If you are doing an intense Olympic level dead lift, of course you are going to drop the weight after, but for the rest of us, the weights should always be in control (if not by you, then by your spotter). The clanging and slamming is bad for the weights (especially the machines), annoying, and unsafe.
do NOT do this.
well, not unless you want to read thru 8 pages of whiny complaining that will leave you mortally afraid that EVERYONE in the gym is judging you, thinks that you're an idiot and wishes you would just give up and stay fat.
i mean, some of it will be legit, but mostly it's going to be 7 pages of "WAAAAAAHHH, someone used the treadmill RIGHT NEXT TO ME!"
Haha, true. I was picturing more just going through the first page or two for the non crazy ones then leaving it be. I'm sure it would grow to be a de facto sticky.
If you do start the thread, be sure you're prepared to roll your eyes at the nut jobs.
The treadmill thing is a great one though. Basically, it's urinal rules. You leave a one machine buffer unless there is some reason not to (full gym, broken machine, or just that specific one motivates you the most for some reason). I hope I'm coming off tongue and cheek like I mean it.0 -
FoCoAlphaNerd wrote: »FoCoAlphaNerd wrote: »AndreaWhite611 wrote: »Aha ...crap.I left weights on the squat bar. I just walked away and didn't even think about taking them off. Maybe I am lacking common sense afterall.
You should do your best to remember to re-rack your weights, but people won't get nearly as annoyed with this if you are leaving 50lbs on a bar as opposed to if you are leaving 250. My ex used to regularly have to come get me, or ask other people in the weight room to remove weights for her that were simply too big for her to lift.
What I'd recommend is starting a thread on here about people's biggest pet peeves in the weight room. I always heard that the best way to learn what is expected of you at a new job is to learn what the other guy wasn't getting right. I think the same principle applies here.
I good rule that I don't think I've seen anyone mention yet is not to slam or drop the weights, if you can avoid it. If you are doing an intense Olympic level dead lift, of course you are going to drop the weight after, but for the rest of us, the weights should always be in control (if not by you, then by your spotter). The clanging and slamming is bad for the weights (especially the machines), annoying, and unsafe.
do NOT do this.
well, not unless you want to read thru 8 pages of whiny complaining that will leave you mortally afraid that EVERYONE in the gym is judging you, thinks that you're an idiot and wishes you would just give up and stay fat.
i mean, some of it will be legit, but mostly it's going to be 7 pages of "WAAAAAAHHH, someone used the treadmill RIGHT NEXT TO ME!"
Haha, true. I was picturing more just going through the first page or two for the non crazy ones then leaving it be. I'm sure it would grow to be a de facto sticky.
If you do start the thread, be sure you're prepared to roll your eyes at the nut jobs.
The treadmill thing is a great one though. Basically, it's urinal rules. You leave a one machine buffer unless there is some reason not to (full gym, broken machine, or just that specific one motivates you the most for some reason). I hope I'm coming off tongue and cheek like I mean it.
There is a 140 page thread on T-Nation about gym behavior:
http://tnation.t-nation.com/free_online_forum/music_movies_girls_life/squatrack_curls
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Lots of good advice here.
I would add 1 thing. Don't assume that everyone there knows what they are doing. Some are using proper form and the equipment properly and some just aren't. If you have a question ask but it doesn't hurt to verify information later with someone knowledgeable or with a good online source etc. In time you will know who knows what they are doing and who doesn't.
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nakedraygun wrote: »If you fart, own it.
Right? Unlike the guy in the squat rack next to me who totally bailed during his session and made me look like the culprit? Don't DO that people!0
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