Gym Etiquette?!

rfihn

How do you deal with selfish rude people at the gym? Today i encountered this girl at the gym who spent SO long on multiple machines. 90% of the time was spent texting....

I have a 12 exercise routine, 6 upper body and 6 lower body. I switch back and forth so im pretty flexible. If someone is on a machine i just skip around and mix and match. I did 4 exercises waiting for this girl. I am NOT a confrontational person so eventually I asked her if I could use the machine while she was resting and she said "Oh.... I have one more set. I'm just stretching" Finally got the machine 3 mins later and the same thing happened again. Asked her again, nothing. She could not take a hint!

Anyways my question is, how do you handle this kind of situation?

janjunie

I do nothing, you never know when you might mess with crazy.

rfihn

Lol truth

Psychgrrl

I move on to something else if possible. If not, I ask if I can work in (if it's a machine and not something where weights are racked). People get lost in their own world and are oblivious to how their behavior affects others.

SonyaCele

I just say , "can I jump in between sets?" And everyone I ask always says yeah. Even if it has racked weights, I just add or subtract plates, and make a new friend in the process.

RodaRose

She will quit soon. Be patent.

Merci4u

Stand right there infront of her and look impatient! lol

To be honest, I don't use gym equipment by myself anymore so its not really a problem. The one thing I find the worst is people who don't wipe down the equipment. I have to breath in your sweaty air, I don't want to sit in it too.

tomatoey

Does she have long rest periods, like is she doing a huge amount of weight on those machines? (I am imagining not but am giving her the benefit of the doubt.)

Anyway, I'd ask her to work in. She might not know what that is. That's ok, in that case the phrase will confuse and maybe intimidate her and set an expectation for her to comply. So say, "Can I work in while you rest?" If she says no, not much you can do other than do an alternate exercise.

There's a list of different exercises for different muscle groups at exrx.net (or maybe it's exrx.com, forget). Or you could get the Women's Health Big Book of Exercises (I think that's the title). So if "leg press" is on your list, that's quads, you could just do some squats with dumbbells.

Clarewho

It is REALLY annoying isn't it!! But some people are v thick skinned and won't take any hint at all. It bugs me but I usually just mix up my routine til the machine is free and if all else fails I choose to exercise the same muscle group in a different way. Grr!!

star1407

Can't you mention it to the staff, maybe they could put up a polite notice. If someone's just sat there texting, that's pretty selfish imo

callsitlikeiseeit

i see a LOT of that at the gym, I especially notice it when im people watching on the cardio machines.

wizzybeth

Merci4u wrote: »

The one thing I find the worst is people who don't wipe down the equipment. I have to breath in your sweaty air, I don't want to sit in it too.

How about the sweaty old men who use their nasty towel to wipe down the machines instead of the gym provided paper towels and disinfectant spray!!

I watched a guy do this a couple times then took him the spray and paper towels and asked him to use that not his sweaty towel. He was quite indignant.

A few nights later I saw another old man doing something similar...only he was reusing a paper towel on several machines ( again not using the spray)

WTH do these old coots have against disinfectant? ??

callsitlikeiseeit

last week i was on a machine (dont remember which, doesnt matter) and had my music on/ earbuds in.

these two ladies get on the machines next to me and are 'working out'. and talking. loudly. so loudly i can hear them OVER my music (which is really loud!). Then, two more ladies get on the OTHER side of me and are doing the same.

I'm all... WTF?

it was so irritating I cut my workout short.

and if you are 'working out' and can carry on a conversation with someone, you're not doing it right. I'm not talking to ANYONE - at least not more than a few words - and certainly not full blown CONVERSATION.

elliej

I would ask to jump in and take turns or literally stand over her until she leaves.

NoIdea101NoIdea

One of the reasons I started focusing more on work outs I could do at home with my free weights rather than go to the gym was because of this; so much of my work out would be waiting to use certain machines because people were being thoughtless. And I am very fussy, if I have a routine I want to do I am not happy just killing time on a rowing machine or something whilst I wait!

It does annoy me at how thoughtless people can be, but I am definitely not a confrontational type so prefer to just avoid it.

snowflakesav

She will quit soon. In my experience the bench testers and those who think the benches are a table to leave their water don't make it through more than a couple weeks.

fairy2b

UGHHHH THIS DRIVES ME CRAZY!!!

This happens to me all the time. I do circuit training so I'm busting out my reps and then on to the next one. People waste so much time just sitting on a machine. One guy was on one machine for a good 10 minutes "resting" while I did other stuff. I finally went up and said "Can I hop on while you rest?" He looked very annoyed with me, but I don't care. I'm there to get *kitten* done, so if you're not working, get out of my way!! LOL seriously though, I think some people are just oblivious. All you can do is exactly what you did, and ask. And maybe one day (after being asked enough times) they will get it!

yopeeps025

elliej wrote: »

I would ask to jump in and take turns or literally stand over her until she leaves.

If you do the second option you got to stare at the person too.

azulvioleta6

Uggggg. My gym has a rule against supersetting, but apparently these people are too dumb to read the giant sign which explains this.

I ask nicely. I let them know that I am waiting. Then I ask not-so-nicely. Step three is to complain to the front desk.

The people who do this are generally not regulars in the gym.

Terpnista84

I do compound moves instead of machines (except cables) so I don't have this issue but I hate not having room in front of the mirror. I've scheduled my strength training during the slower gym times which sucks because those are usually Fri-Sun and I prefer one of those days to be my off day.

BigLifter10

yopeeps025 wrote: »

elliej wrote: »

I would ask to jump in and take turns or literally stand over her until she leaves.

If you do the second option you got to stare at the person too.

Or....take it one step further (kind of obnoxious, but you COULD do it)...and proceed to tell her how she's doing it wrong, or how she could improve her results if she......(pick your faves). Anyone who stands around and keeps going on and on usually annoys the cr*p out of someone who is hanging at a specific machine area. Usually they will get tired of you and make a beeline out of there (if they don't....you might be dealing with a latent crazy)! LOL! Bonus too....next time the person sees you....they get out of dodge before you come over! Maybe that's only when guys do it...but you could give it a go!

LolBroScience

Use a barbell instead

Lexieberry

wizzybeth wrote: »

Merci4u wrote: »

The one thing I find the worst is people who don't wipe down the equipment. I have to breath in your sweaty air, I don't want to sit in it too.

How about the sweaty old men who use their nasty towel to wipe down the machines instead of the gym provided paper towels and disinfectant spray!!

I watched a guy do this a couple times then took him the spray and paper towels and asked him to use that not his sweaty towel. He was quite indignant.

A few nights later I saw another old man doing something similar...only he was reusing a paper towel on several machines ( again not using the spray)

WTH do these old coots have against disinfectant? ??

This is one reason i hesitate to join a gym. Lol. Really.

Azexas

ask to work in between sets or ask how many sets they have left. It could be that they are resting in between sets and using their phone as a timer. (I use the strong lifts app which automatically sets a timer in between my sets)

If the person is just diddling around on their phone and you ask to either work in or how many sets they has left, they will most likely wrap up sooner. If they don't wrap up sooner, ask one more time with the intent of going to the front desk.

shrinkingletters

I have a personal beef with whoever left that one treadmill running at whoknowswhat/mph.

...because I had my headphones on and didn't see the damn thing was moving and I took a hell of a fall. I still have a scar on my shin.


YES I know, I should've been paying closer attention, but who the hell jumps off a treadmill while it's still running???!

DeguelloTex

LolBroScience wrote: »

Use a barbell instead

You're just moving the problem to benches or squat racks, not really addressing it.

rfihn

I really wanted to point to the signs on literally every wall that say "The rest machines are in the hallway" with a picture of a bench. I doubt that would have worked either though lol

DeguelloTex

rfihn wrote: »

I really wanted to point to the signs on literally every wall that say "The rest machines are in the hallway" with a picture of a bench. I doubt that would have worked either though lol

She wasn't resting, she was stretching. Based on her answer, I'd say she's seen the signs and maybe had them pointed out to her before.

ChiliPepperLifter

JarethG wrote: »

this is relevant to the discussion:
https://www.t-nation.com/opinion/12-gym-etiquette-commandments

You never know when you might talk to crazy though, so unless you're willing to put someone on the other side of the dirt using a dumbbell, just move on to different things.

I read that article, and while I agree almost completely, I find his attitude towards women's gym attire disturbing. People shouldn't care what others wear, women, and men, should be entitled to wear whatever gym clothes they find comfortable. But
misogyny is so engrained in everyone's subconsious that we just continue to blame women becuae their bodies are just good for one thing: sexual attractiveness. BS.

DeguelloTex

ninagray000 wrote: »

JarethG wrote: »

this is relevant to the discussion:
https://www.t-nation.com/opinion/12-gym-etiquette-commandments

You never know when you might talk to crazy though, so unless you're willing to put someone on the other side of the dirt using a dumbbell, just move on to different things.

I read that article, and while I agree almost completely, I find his attitude towards women's gym attire disturbing. People shouldn't care what others wear, women, and men, should be entitled to wear whatever gym clothes trey find comfortable. But mysogeny is so engrained in everyone's subconsious that we just continue to blame women becuae their bodies are just good for one thing: sexual attractiveness. BS.

Women should wear whatever they want to the gym. When what she wear molds to every crease and crevice in her body, though, she shouldn't be surprised when she garners attention. The same for men. And let's not pretend that men aren't ogled for their bodies, too, but not as many people know the word "misandry."

DirrtyH

I got so annoyed yesterday when I couldn't get to the squat rack without tripping over a bunch of dumbbells and a fully loaded barbell on the floor that NO ONE WAS USING. After my squats, I moved on to the bench press. Had to ask someone if they were done because of course they didn't re-rack their plates. Then I had to wipe up a puddle of head sweat because he couldn't be bothered to use a towel. Apparently I share a gym with a bunch of children who CANNOT clean up after themselves.