Gym Etiquette..what to do, if anything, when a sick person works out beside you..

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Replies

  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    I get off and move to another machine. I wipe all machines down before I use them and after
  • mommarnurse
    mommarnurse Posts: 515 Member
    A lot of people cough with exercise and it doesn't mean they have an illness. However, obviously germs are still spread regardless. I'd just move to another treadmill. Maybe they'll get the hint then. And obviously wipe down the machines before and after you use them.
  • mommarnurse
    mommarnurse Posts: 515 Member
    mangrothian wrote: »
    MSH2930 wrote: »
    More times than I care to recall, when I go to Planet Fitness, someone hacking and coughing all over the place (and never covering their mouth, no less) has to pop on the treadmill beside me..,? There must be 40-50 treadmills in that place and I ALWAYS get stuck with some sick person beside me..Even if I go late at night like 11:00pm and all the treadmills are open, I get someone hacking on the treadmill beside me...ugghhh...:/ Or if I am on an elliptical, someone sick will jump on a treadmill or bicycle behind me..WHY...????? :neutral:

    With cold and flu season in full swing, it makes me cringe, all the more. I have thnought about jumping off the treadmill and moving to another one, but would that be rude..? Yeah, I know it is kind of rude of them to hack all over the place, but..at the same time people are so overly sensitive....Plus I hate "losing" my info, like calories burned, distance, etc..and starting over on another machine... :neutral:

    Am I being a big baby..? I guess maybe because I had an illness years ago that made me more susceptible to things, I am a little overly paranoid..

    I guess it is maybe one of those things either put up or shut up..? :neutral:

    Guess maybe I am mainly venting..although maybe someone else suffers this same 'attraction' and can relate...:/

    I'm not playing devils advocate, but they may not always be sick if they're coughing and sniffling.

    I'd never had asthma or hayfever a day of my life, but when I started running? Oh geez. I sniff and cough up mucous and everything like I'm a hayfever expert (I now take antihistamines the nights before I run, but they only help so much). My doctor says it's because my body is not used to all the extra oxygen intake and increased VO2max, and with that comes extra pollens and dust that. So if it's happening to you in the cardio area and not in the weights section, it may be why.

    Then again, whenever there's a thread on here about 'should I exercise when I'm sick?' most forum-goers say if it's from the neck up they should, and if it's the neck down they shouldn't, so we're all to blame if they actually go and spread their germy love.

    Ugh. I have the same infliction! I I have been running a year and half, too and I still have this a lot :/ I feel your aggravation!
  • 7yearbitch
    7yearbitch Posts: 30 Member
    I've got asthma. It's not contagious. When it's cold outside my airways contract and I cough. I always cough into the crook of my elbow, because that's the polite thing to do.

    Not everyone who is coughing is contagious and sick.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    I'm not a germophobe but I am immunosuppressed. It annoys me to no end that people would purposely put others at risk. An illness you can run through could put me and others in similar situations in the hospital. I don't want to have to quit going to the gym because some people have no common sense and are so egotistical that they risk other's safety. I will probably end up wearing a mask if I see obviously sick people in the gym
  • ald783
    ald783 Posts: 688 Member
    How often is this happening to people? I can't remember a single time in recent months if not years that someone has been hacking up a lung near me at the gym.
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
    Their choice of what machine they use may have something to do with what is on tv. That's what I usually do but if someone is in "my spot" then I will pick another one where I have some distance but can still see what I want to watch.
  • lessismoreohio
    lessismoreohio Posts: 910 Member
    thankyou4thevenom wrote: »
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    You have 4 possible options.

    1.) Confront the person with words. "I'm sorry, can you please move to another treadmill? I don't want to get sick".

    2.) Be passive agressive and turn around often giving them a disgusted look. Make sure to go "UGH, seriously?" under your breath for maximum effort.

    3.) Move to another machine. (why not also give them the disgusted look at this point just because?)

    4.) Complain to management at the gym that they are sick and spreading germs to everyone.

    Option 5 is to just move without any of that passive aggressive stuff.

    This.
  • brb2008
    brb2008 Posts: 406 Member
    I have exercise induced asthma and cough often but I'm not going to fault someone for assuming I am and moving. When I'm in line at the store and I haven't unloaded my stuff I definitely move when the person in front or behind me is grossly ill. And sick or not I ALWAYS moved when there are open machines and someone just has to go right next to me. I like my space.
  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
    Move!
    The karmic wheel is slow but sure. They'll get theirs!
  • star1407
    star1407 Posts: 588 Member
    Cough really theatrically and then say, oh man you got that Ebola too?

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