The Gym is great for people watching!!

Robin1109

There’s a guy that’s been on the same schedule as I’ve been this week and he just makes me laugh. He comes in and gets on a tread a few down from me totally suited up for a serious run. He’s got some kind of running gloves on and all. He walks at a 2.0 very gingerly for about ten minutes. That part doesn’t make me laugh because people could have a zillion reasons for needing to take it easy with exercise. What makes me always laugh is that he will switch up halfway through his workout and walk backwards on the treadmill! While still holding on to the bars!! I’m so afraid he’s going to bite it one of these days and I’ll let out a loud laugh. I don’t understand the walking backwards. I can do that outside.

Robin1109

The cardio machines at my gym are lined up along a window that overlooks the pool. Some evenings a mid-aged, slightly overweight man will swim laps.... in a thong. It's kind of horrific; you can't not look at it. But it's also funny to watch the other people on the cardio machines... you can see the moment on their faces when they spot him.

That is HILARIOUS! I would so be the one giggling the whole time and pointing it out to other exercisers!

seventeenlucky77

Wow.. so funny.. haha

1. Olivia Newton John's twin from the "Let's Get Physical" music video type. Complete with 80's workout clothes.. head band, leg warmers, tights and sweatshirt.


2. I'm too sexy for my body guy... big huge muscles.. wants to grunt soo bad but can't (doesn't want anyone to sound the "link alarm"), curls as much weight as possible...


3. The treadmill hill climber.. he puts it on the highest incline and walks as quickly as he can and annoyingly scuffs his shoes as he goes.


4. The girls who come to the guy to hang out and chat. I think they go upstairs do some stretching, 10 mins on the elliptical and then leave. They are both maybe 90-95 lbs soaking wet and usually dressed like hoochies.

alexwalper

Oh man, people watching is what kept me going to the gym when I first joined!
I have a lot of characters similar to many of those mentioned, but my favorite is the old guy on the prowl. He's super tan, gray pompadour, in his late fifties and sporting a black muscle tee with gold chain necklaces. He scouts out the cardio machines for the girls working out alone and places himself next to them, constantly trying to start a conversation. When he strikes out, he heads out lady hunting again.
He tried to pick up on me once on the elliptical.. Thank God I only had five minutes left to go! I crack up now every time I see eyeing the dolled up women who go for five minutes then leave

cami78

I think I am the oddball at my gym :-)

LOL... Meeeee tooo!!!!!

I am the drenched girl on the treadmill with a towel!!! :drinker:

haha same here...after a 20 min run on treadmill and 10 on the stepper I look like coming out of the shower lol wonder what ppl think of me

but hey once I saw a lady walking on the treadmill with little weights on her hands and doing some funny moves...wish she will come back it really makes my workouts easy lol

LHuffman24

I almost started a new thread, but I'm glad I searched and found this one. Hilarious!!

We have a lady that goes to pilates once or twice a week (I only know that because I asked one of the employees about it) that leaves her BMW X5 running in the parking lot for the entire hour+ of class time. Apparently, it's because she brings her dog with her to the gym and leaves the AC or heat (depending on season) running. I don't know which lady it is, but I've parked next to the beamer several times and finally asked about it. What ever happened to leaving your dog at home while you go work out?

There is another lady (probably 60-ish) that works out in just a sports bra and tiny little shorts, and that doesn't bother me. The kicker is, she doesn't ever wear shoes, only flip-flops. She is always on "The Wave" machine (looks like you're speed skating or rollerblading). I'm not sure, but don't most gyms require that you wear "proper" footwear when working out? She baffles me.

We also have an OCD guy that runs on the treadmill for a few minutes, then gets off and re-ties his shoes. Then he runs some more, and re-ties his shoes. This goes on for about 30 minutes. A friend of mine refuses to get on any of the treadmills until that guy is completely done running because he bothers her so much...

cardigirl

time for some new stories!!!
:flowerforyou:

Anybody find some inspiration at the gym?

Scorpiomom222

I just went to a gym for the first time today, and I must say, even though there are some weird things or quirks people do, I avoided the gym because of people that watch. I don't want to be made fun of when I'm trying to do better for myself. For alot of people, that may be why they are overweight. Comfort eating to deal with bullying problems. Your post was kinda funny, I must say, but it confirms my fear that people watch and poke fun.

cardigirl

Iwanna, I get where you're coming from, however, I don't worry too much about what other people are thinking about me when I go to the gym. If I did, I'd never get there. LOL...

There is one woman at my gym that I admire a lot. She's on the treadmill almost every day and in the two years I've been going regularly, she's really come a long way. Seeing her dedication and determination just fires me up for my own goals!

bpayne78

I'm marking this for later......soooo great!!!

Scorpiomom222

Iwanna, I get where you're coming from, however, I don't worry too much about what other people are thinking about me when I go to the gym. If I did, I'd never get there. LOL...

There is one woman at my gym that I admire a lot. She's on the treadmill almost every day and in the two years I've been going regularly, she's really come a long way. Seeing her dedication and determination just fires me up for my own goals!

That makes alot of sense. I'm definitely not gonna let it keep me out of the gym, because I can't go outside as it's too cold outside now. I have to convert my workout to indoors. I went to Curves today with a friend, and loved it. My goals are only attainable when I'm focused, I was just pointing out that maybe people avoid the gym because of it.

sillygoose1977

We have neighbors in our condo complex who drive separate cars to the gym about 15 minutes apart. The gym is quite literally across the street. I have been obsessed with their behavior for months. I understand that they get home at different times but could they wait for each other? Or much better yet, WALK to the gym? I use the walk as my warm up and cool down. I just don't get it at all. :huh:

When she gets to the gym she stands in front of an elliptical for about 5-10 minutes (seriously) before she gets on and starts moving. She strectches a little but mainly she just stands there.

Beth720

I'm sure there are plenty of people who've watched me at the gym before, too. I think it's just a part of human nature - people will watch me run in the park too, so...

I don't say anything when I see people or visibly or audibly laugh, but every once in a while there is someone who is just amusing. Like this one woman who was on the elliptical a couple of weeks ago when I was on a treadmill in the row behind her. She must have had some kind of praise music on her iPod because she kept waving her arms in the air rhythmically at various points and doing "this Stevie Wonder thing" with her head. Every once in a while she'd hold the handles for a second, but then it was back to waving them in the air. I give her major props for her balance though.

adfarr1

I'm marking this for later. I myself have funny gym stories.

My favorite is the guy who flirts with all the women AND keeps promising to work out with our personal training group. BALONEY I say!

MissingMinnesota

I'm sure there are plenty of people who've watched me at the gym before, too. I think it's just a part of human nature - people will watch me run in the park too, so...

I don't say anything when I see people or visibly or audibly laugh, but every once in a while there is someone who is just amusing. Like this one woman who was on the elliptical a couple of weeks ago when I was on a treadmill in the row behind her. She must have had some kind of praise music on her iPod because she kept waving her arms in the air rhythmically at various points and doing "this Stevie Wonder thing" with her head. Every once in a while she'd hold the handles for a second, but then it was back to waving them in the air. I give her major props for her balance though.

Oh oh you caught me. Actually it usually happens while on the treadmill and Shakira comes up on the mp3 player and I can't help but move my hips in strange circular motions. Yep I dance walk and its fun.

binary_jester

Born Free guy...I walk in and there is this guy in the treadmill...shirtless. And lets say he was not going to be appearing on a Men's Health magazine anytime soon. When he finished, he got off, toweled off and THEN put on his workout shirt.

Peeper...One guy is always around a certain area when a female is on the (what I refer to it as) yes/no machine. You know...the one that exercises your inner/outer thighs?
To be fair to him, I caught myself one time. The pec machine is right across from it. I was doing my sets, staring but not looking...then realized WHERE i was looking. Felt so guilty I almost dropped the weight.

ShaneT99

Here's my Top 10 (the first five of which are on me)...

1) One day I was finishing up an elliptical workout. I got off the machine, looked around for a minute and then turned to go get some paper towels so I could wipe the machine down. Trouble is, I turned right into the back of the machine, kicked it, made a really loud noise and then tripped all over myself trying to recover and not fall. I thought about taking a bow, but didn't.

2) Another morning I was walking in as usual and glanced up at one of the TV's as I was walking by it. Smacked right into a pole. Stairmaster Girl (#6 below) tried to conceal her laugh but I saw it.

3) Yet another time I was walking from one station to another while writing on my clipboard. Banged my shin hard on a bench and once again tripped all over myself trying to not fall. That hurt! See a pattern here?

4) I was doing close grip bench press one time and thought I could get one more rep. Well, it turns out I couldn't. I got the bar down on my chest and couldn't get it up. No worries. I'll widen my grip to take advantage of the stronger chest muscles and get it up. No bueno. Chest muscles shot too. So I'm laying on the bench with this heavy bar laying across my chest and trying to decide what to do. Just when I think I'm going to have to make the embarrassing side dump with the weights, some guy sees me in trouble and says, "Hey...do you need help." A distressed "yeah" was all I could manage to muster. After that it was a very long time before I was willing to lay under a bar again.

5) Most recently...I was doing a 5x5 set of Seated Cable Rows so I was using pretty heavy weight (210 I think). My usual practice for heavy weight on this machine is to firmly grasp the bar, plant one foot on the foot platform and use that one leg to push myself back into position as I sit down (to avoiding putting too much stress on my back). Well, I was doing that and my foot slipped off the platform. This left 210 pounds of weight pulling me in a direction I didn't want to go at a pretty rapid rate. I managed to avoid falling completely off the bench, but the plates made a loud bang when they crashed down and I bruised the back of my leg pretty good on the platform. Hoping no one say, I firmly re-planted my foot on that platform and started the process over.

Now to some other people...

6) Stairmaster Girl - I get to the gym at 0345 every morning and she's always there plugging away on the Stairmaster. I have no idea what time she gets there or what she does before that (if anything), but she's always there. At about 0405 she gets off, grabs her stuff, gets a drink, grabs the TV remote, changes the TV channel in front of her favorite treadmill and then walks for 10 minutes on the treadmill before leaving at 0415. Five days a week. I've seen her for at least a year, maybe longer, doing the same thing. Ordinarily I'd say people should change their routine, but she is remarkably fit so I guess it's working for her.

7) Mr. Clean - I call him that because that's what he looks like. Older guy, bald and looks just like Mr. Clean. He looks like a bodybuilder and seems particularly interested in offering advice to another lady who is always there working out at the same time (who seems to appreciate his advice). I've never spoken with him, but he seems like a nice enough guy. There's nothing really notable about what he does in the gym. He just stands out to me because he looks like Mr. Clean.

8) The Disappearing Couple - I don't know if they're married or dating, but they almost always come in together. Both are very fit. She does these super-intense never-slow down workouts that mix resistance training and cardio training together. It's quite impressive, actually. He does his own thing, which usually involves just lifting weights. When they're done, they somehow just magically disappear. I see them come in, but I've NEVER seen them leave. They're there and then they're not. It's weird.

9) The Mirror Man - I actually don't see this guy very often, but I sense that he sees himself a LOT. I say that because every time he finishes a set he will walk by the mirror with his arms all flared out and look back over his shoulder admiring himself. The funny thing is that he's really not that built. I'm 255 with 29% body fat and I have more muscle size and definition than he does (which isn't much). So what's he looking at? That's cool though. I mean, if he wants to admire himself then more power to him, but it's kind of funny. If he catches someone watching him do it he'll play it off like he wasn't doing anything.

10) The Holy Cow Guy - I haven't seen him in 6-8 months, but I once say him bench press 405 pounds for 10 full range reps with no spotter. Holy cow.

There's more, but I'll stop there. Generally speaking, I don't care what people do while they're in the gym. I figure I'll just do my thing and let them do theirs. I've often wondered though...if someone were to come on here and write about ME then what would it say?

Scorpiomom222

Born Free guy...I walk in and there is this guy in the treadmill...shirtless. And lets say he was not going to be appearing on a Men's Health magazine anytime soon. When he finished, he got off, toweled off and THEN put on his workout shirt.

Peeper...One guy is always around a certain area when a female is on the (what I refer to it as) yes/no machine. You know...the one that exercises your inner/outer thighs?
To be fair to him, I caught myself one time. The pec machine is right across from it. I was doing my sets, staring but not looking...then realized WHERE i was looking. Felt so guilty I almost dropped the weight.

BAHAHAHA You are just too much! Guys......... :bigsmile:

sillygoose1977

Born Free guy...I walk in and there is this guy in the treadmill...shirtless. And lets say he was not going to be appearing on a Men's Health magazine anytime soon. When he finished, he got off, toweled off and THEN put on his workout shirt.

Peeper...One guy is always around a certain area when a female is on the (what I refer to it as) yes/no machine. You know...the one that exercises your inner/outer thighs?
To be fair to him, I caught myself one time. The pec machine is right across from it. I was doing my sets, staring but not looking...then realized WHERE i was looking. Felt so guilty I almost dropped the weight.

Gross. Isn't going shirtless against your gym rules??

Scorpiomom222

Born Free guy...I walk in and there is this guy in the treadmill...shirtless. And lets say he was not going to be appearing on a Men's Health magazine anytime soon. When he finished, he got off, toweled off and THEN put on his workout shirt.

Peeper...One guy is always around a certain area when a female is on the (what I refer to it as) yes/no machine. You know...the one that exercises your inner/outer thighs?
To be fair to him, I caught myself one time. The pec machine is right across from it. I was doing my sets, staring but not looking...then realized WHERE i was looking. Felt so guilty I almost dropped the weight.

Gross. Isn't going shirtless against your gym rules??

It should be. I don't know if many men would be working out if women were working out topless.