Not wanting to work out around bodybuilders?

spartan_d

A friend of mine recently surprised me when she said, "Nothing de-motivates me more than having a bunch of big bodybuilders around while I'm exercising. I don't want to work out with those kind of people around."

This took me by surprise, perhaps because I can't really relate to that feeling. Does anyone else feel the same way about working out around these hardcore types? If so, why?

rosebarnalice

I was one of those people who felt extremely body conscious to the point that it kept me out of the pool and away from the gym. One of my most personally courageous acts was, at 25 years old and 225 lbs, waddling my fat self into the [free] pool at the college gym and getting in.

And guess what: turns out nobody paid any attention to me because they were all busy doing their own thing. Or if they DID snicker and snear, my goggles were too foggy for me to notice.

DopeItUp

Is this person a male or a female? Seems weird either way I guess. I've always found that the biggest and strongest guys tend to be the nicest and most polite. And most helpful too.

LaMartian

For what it's worth, as a bodybuilder, I couldn't care less who is working around me. People in the gym are only obstructions. I don't judge them because I don't care. I wait for my equipment, do my reps, and go home.

Maybe that'll help?

singingflutelady

I don't know about bodybuilders but in my gym the powerlifters are the nicest people you can meet and are always very helpful

sunnybeaches105

Planet Fitness created an entire business around those people. Nothing like viewing other's success as your own failure and resenting them for your own internal monologue.

shor0814

Her loss. Guess she will have to work her schedule around the times when no "bodybuilders" are in the gym. Or find a new gym that caters to her kind of people.

zoeysasha37

I was the complete opposite when I was new. I would sit and watch the body builders and try to learn anything and everything that I could.
In time I began asking questions and learning more and more.
I wanted to work out while they where there so I could pick up as much knowledge as possible.

jemhh

I rarely see somebody at my gym who I'd easily recognize as a bodybuilder. The few I have seen, I've appreciated because I like to see what exercises they do and how they do them. I've never talked to them because I don't really talk to anybody at the gym.

arditarose

What does this person mean exactly by "those types"..I could take that in a couple different directions, meaning fitness buffs or is your friend stereotyping the personalities of body builders?

I do no give a rats butt if body builders are around with I'm training.

Dr1nkbleachndye

I don't get it. The gym is one of the very few places where it's practical and extremely beneficial to solely focus on yourself, and not on what's going on around you. Why you let a stigma like that take you away from your goals is beyond me, and almost mind blowing.

We all go to the gym or exercise for our own benefit, the only people getting in the way of accomplishing our goals, are ourselves.

It actually pisses me off to a degree because it gets old hearing the same excuses after a while.

There is no one in the gym that I have ever asked for help, that has turned me down. When people ask me for help, I make sure to tell them my name, and that if they ever need help with anything, I'm never too busy to help.

goldthistime

I remember feeling like I was entering their territory and using their equipment in the beginning.

playmadcats

Not so much bodybuilders but anyone who is obviously very fit, tends to motivate me more rather than make me want to give up. Think its down to two reasons, one, I don't want to look pathetic, (I may never be on their level but I can at least look like i'm trying). Plus two its a good reminder on why I do go down the gym regular. I may not have the same goals or aims as some of these people, but its a good advertisement, that working for what you want pays off.

DarthSamson

some gyms are for show and some are for real workouts you just have to YMCA Lakeland Florida find
one you like

positivepowers

Are you kidding? Working out around really buff people (men and women) motivates me more than anything! Most of the guys and girls (to a lesser extent) that cut were willing to give me their time and advice and help me with my form. Far from hating hearing bodybuilders grunt, groan and make strange noises, I love it.

The gym I use in Las Vegas actually has some fairly famous bodybuilders that I've been lucky to meet and have given me some great tips (especially after I confessed how much I hate to lift! LOL)

spartan_d

arditarose wrote: »

What does this person mean exactly by "those types"..I could take that in a couple different directions, meaning fitness buffs or is your friend stereotyping the personalities of body builders?

I decided not to ask. I figured it would be better that way.

Based on her phrasing though, I'd wager that she was buying into the some stereotype that bodybuilders are horrible people to be around.

rebeccafigini

I used to be soooo intimidated at the gym because I felt self-conscious and dumb for not knowing how to use the weights properly. However, it was nobody's problem but my own. It just took time to gain confidence

Machka9

spartan_d wrote: »

A friend of mine recently surprised me when she said, "Nothing de-motivates me more than having a bunch of big bodybuilders around while I'm exercising. I don't want to work out with those kind of people around."

This took me by surprise, perhaps because I can't really relate to that feeling. Does anyone else feel the same way about working out around these hardcore types? If so, why?

I can definitely relate!!

When I was a bodybuilder, I didn't mind at all. I was right in there with them. But then I got into cycling I haven't been into bodybuilding for years.

The last 3 gyms I've been a member of, I stuck to cardio because I very quickly grew wearing of being stared at, laughed at, yelled at, and shoved out of the way.

AnvilHead

Machka9 wrote: »

spartan_d wrote: »

A friend of mine recently surprised me when she said, "Nothing de-motivates me more than having a bunch of big bodybuilders around while I'm exercising. I don't want to work out with those kind of people around."

This took me by surprise, perhaps because I can't really relate to that feeling. Does anyone else feel the same way about working out around these hardcore types? If so, why?

I can definitely relate!!

When I was a bodybuilder, I didn't mind at all. I was right in there with them. But then I got into cycling I haven't been into bodybuilding for years.

The last 3 gyms I've been a member of, I stuck to cardio because I very quickly grew wearing of being stared at, laughed at, yelled at, and shoved out of the way.

Wow, hard to believe you've found three crappy gyms in a row like that. The odds are positively astounding. I've belonged to about 25 gyms in two different states over the last 38 years (and worked out in several more), and not once have I ever been stared at, laughed at, yelled at or shoved out of the way in any of them. And I look nothing like a bodybuilder.

One of the Gold's Gyms I was a member at was the home gym for several professional and amateur bodybuilders. Most of them were among the nicest, kindest, most helpful people I've met in a gym. A couple of them were just so tuned into their workouts that nobody and nothing else existed in the gym around them. They weren't unfriendly or mean, they were just in their own world.

Machka9

AnvilHead wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

spartan_d wrote: »

A friend of mine recently surprised me when she said, "Nothing de-motivates me more than having a bunch of big bodybuilders around while I'm exercising. I don't want to work out with those kind of people around."

This took me by surprise, perhaps because I can't really relate to that feeling. Does anyone else feel the same way about working out around these hardcore types? If so, why?

I can definitely relate!!

When I was a bodybuilder, I didn't mind at all. I was right in there with them. But then I got into cycling I haven't been into bodybuilding for years.

The last 3 gyms I've been a member of, I stuck to cardio because I very quickly grew wearing of being stared at, laughed at, yelled at, and shoved out of the way.

Wow, hard to believe you've found three crappy gyms in a row like that. The odds are positively astounding. I've belonged to about 25 gyms in two different states over the last 38 years (and worked out in several more), and not once have I ever been stared at, laughed at, yelled at or shoved out of the way in any of them. And I look nothing like a bodybuilder.

One of the Gold's Gyms I was a member at was the home gym for several professional and amateur bodybuilders. Most of them were among the nicest, kindest, most helpful people I've met in a gym. A couple of them were just so tuned into their workouts that nobody and nothing else existed in the gym around them. They weren't unfriendly or mean, they were just in their own world.

But you're male, right?

When a relatively small middle-aged female walks into the midst of a group of 18 year old guys who are swearing loudly back and forth to each other, hogging all the equipment, wrestling each other in between the equipment etc. ... she's not going to be treated very nicely when she tries to take a turn at a weight bench or something ...


I've been a member of a lot of different gyms in two countries over the past 27 years, and most have been all right. But it probably didn't help that first one of the most recent 3 gyms was a university gym ...

singingflutelady

Wow australia has some weird gyms. I have never been at a gym where anyone, let alone bodybuilders swear back and forth, wrestle, etc.

I have never been yelled at, laughed at or shoved at the gym by anyone either and we have lots of super competitive high level powerlifters including a world record holder, world champion and a few national champions. They are the nicest people in the gym. I get more looks from other women, especially cardio bunnies, in the gym who think I am weird and will get bulky because I lift heavy.

I'm a 40 year old women btw.

MalcolmX1983

My gym is full of those guys, most of them compete and are on that special creatine.

I like it there, they look mean but I've found they're very nice folks.
They've helped me from day one with my routine and nutrition.

I went to another gym once, the fancy ones where everyone wears matching sweats with shiny trainers, it felt sterile and dead.

I prefer my gyms to have a bit of blood on the walls.

LaMartian

MalcolmX1983 wrote: »

I prefer my gyms to have a bit of blood on the walls.

Yes... this, exactly. Just like when I go to a bar, I want it to be a little rusty. I don't want it perfectly clean and shiny. I want that gym (or bar) to look well-used, as it was meant.

belgerian

I find it more motivating, and when I am out running when I see someone who is overweight running/walking I think good for them. Because I know how it can feel by exposing yourself to others in that environment. I am thinking most of them would think the same.

singingflutelady

I hang out at the bar quite often

LaMartian

It's very humbling, too, to be around people who are actually making and taking the time to improve themselves. It's a good reminder that not everyone is that fortunate. I know I'm getting all world-peace-like here, which is stupid, but really, when I see someone a bit on the large side working out, I just think "damn, I remember that... good for you, bro. keep that up."

EvgeniZyntx

Machka9 wrote: »

AnvilHead wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

spartan_d wrote: »

A friend of mine recently surprised me when she said, "Nothing de-motivates me more than having a bunch of big bodybuilders around while I'm exercising. I don't want to work out with those kind of people around."

This took me by surprise, perhaps because I can't really relate to that feeling. Does anyone else feel the same way about working out around these hardcore types? If so, why?

I can definitely relate!!

When I was a bodybuilder, I didn't mind at all. I was right in there with them. But then I got into cycling I haven't been into bodybuilding for years.

The last 3 gyms I've been a member of, I stuck to cardio because I very quickly grew wearing of being stared at, laughed at, yelled at, and shoved out of the way.

Wow, hard to believe you've found three crappy gyms in a row like that. The odds are positively astounding. I've belonged to about 25 gyms in two different states over the last 38 years (and worked out in several more), and not once have I ever been stared at, laughed at, yelled at or shoved out of the way in any of them. And I look nothing like a bodybuilder.

One of the Gold's Gyms I was a member at was the home gym for several professional and amateur bodybuilders. Most of them were among the nicest, kindest, most helpful people I've met in a gym. A couple of them were just so tuned into their workouts that nobody and nothing else existed in the gym around them. They weren't unfriendly or mean, they were just in their own world.

But you're male, right?

When a relatively small middle-aged female walks into the midst of a group of 18 year old guys who are swearing loudly back and forth to each other, hogging all the equipment, wrestling each other in between the equipment etc. ... she's not going to be treated very nicely when she tries to take a turn at a weight bench or something ...


I've been a member of a lot of different gyms in two countries over the past 27 years, and most have been all right. But it probably didn't help that first one of the most recent 3 gyms was a university gym ...

Strange places.

I belong to a 3 gyms (due to travel) and one of them is very hard core. Run by this guy. Half the guys there probably use 'special sauce'.

I've never seen pushing or laughing at other clients - that would get people tossed out. If you've been laughed at, yelled at or shoved out of the way why didn't you complain?

I actually get why some people don't want to go to a hardcore gym - a close friend doesn't want to be in that space and prefers to work out at home or attend a gym that is more "balanced" (for lack of another term).

It has, for her, nothing to do with rudeness or how the guys are. She just feels uncomfortable with her level of weight training versus what she sees there. It's all internal voice. Which is fine, she recognises that and does her own thing. Sure some people do hold "some stereotype that bodybuilders are horrible people" but I'd wager more often than not it's a personal internal dialogue around comfort and embarrassment. Workout were you like and feel comfortable; getting it done is what matters.

LaMartian

I've had to toss people from my gym before, but that was for blatant disrespect of other members and the equipment. Not cleaning equipment, leaving plates everywhere... *shudder* hate that crap

LaMartian

singingflutelady wrote: »

I hang out at the bar quite often

Well let's make a date. Haha

singingflutelady

Ok, meet me in the rack

scoii

There may be the odd person who makes ither uncomfortable but the people who are really into lifting are usually great and fall into 2 categories:
1-willing to offer advice, a spot etc
2-headphones on and getting through their sets

The DBs who make a lot of noise working on their beach muscles, taking every dumbell and talking about inappropriate things overly loud should ignored and hopefully management give them a chat.