What things annoy you at the gym

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Replies

  • newheavensearth
    newheavensearth Posts: 870 Member
    mph323 wrote: »
    My pet peeve (and this is my problem, not something I would expect other people to be thinking about) is when I want to use the cable machine, and the last person has left the pulley at the top. I'm 5'3" with short arms and not much upper body strength, and I end up either going through comic contortions getting the pin out with my finger tips and not dropping the cable on my foot, or hanging around looking pathetic until a taller person looks available and I can ask for help.

    I've never thought of this before. I leave it at the top after using it. It's not a pin but a lever and I bet you would have a tough time moving it.

    I'll try to remember to move it back down after. Not for you, obviously, but yeah I can see how that would be considerate to others.

    Bless you. I routinely have to scale the machine by climbing up on the hand holds to reach the pin. Then I can lower it half-way, jump down and lower it the rest of the way.

    Another shortie annoyance involving the cable machine. The straight bar weighs more than the lowest plate, so if you are using it, you have to hold it up in order to move the pin to a different weight. When you are a shortie, you don't have the reach to both hold the bar up and move the pin at the same time.

    Yes!

    Another one, not shortie specific, is those purple who weigh down the knee pad on the assisted pull up machine with plates to do regular pull ups instead of just using the pull up rack. Then leave the plates there. So I have to figure out how to unload this thing without getting hit in the face with the knee pad when help isn't available.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    edited March 2018
    More an obesrvation. The Air Assault bikes at my gym are in an area with a window overlooking the parking lot. Saw someone wait 5 minutes for a close up spot while the person in the spot walked to the car, got 2 kids in carseats, etc. It was a clear evening, no snow on the ground, and the person who was waiting didn't drag any kids or anything else in. The gym has a large parking lot so plenty of spaces further away. Would probably have been a 2 minute walk from an available space.

    I wonder why that person even bothers going to a gym.
  • lkpducky
    lkpducky Posts: 17,618 Member
    edited March 2018
    Another one, not shortie specific, is those purple who weigh down the knee pad on the assisted pull up machine with plates to do regular pull ups instead of just using the pull up rack. Then leave the plates there. So I have to figure out how to unload this thing without getting hit in the face with the knee pad when help isn't available.

    They shouldn't have to weigh the knee pad down to get it out of the way - that knee pad can be swung all the way down (hanging down) by pulling out two knobs that hold it in place. Then they can swing it back up and in place again (the knobs click into place). Granted, I can see your frustration if those people just ignore the proper way of doing that.

  • dsboohead
    dsboohead Posts: 1,899 Member
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    debrag12 wrote: »
    Glad my gym as individual locker rooms.

    I have when people don't unrack after use so I can't use the equipment.

    What the heck is an individual locker room?

    I know that all the Anytime Fitness gyms that I have been in they don't have locker rooms but 2-4 individual unisex bathrooms with a bench, toilet, sink/vanity, and shower in each.

    This would be perfect! No having to see nakedness!
  • dsboohead
    dsboohead Posts: 1,899 Member
    Wen2Run wrote: »
    ZazieMFP wrote: »
    Not a lot. Lack of squat racks where I go. Old men walking around naked. But for the most part I enjoy my time there.

    4r5hhuzgqy49.jpg


    My boss goes to the same gym as me and I have had a number of chats with him while he has been standing there butt naked. First time, I was sitting down getting changed and I heard my name called. He was standing right next to me when I looked up and around.....

    I am so sorry but I find this majorly dysfunctional! He has got to be an exhibitionist! So sorry his focus is on you.....ewwww!
  • lkpducky
    lkpducky Posts: 17,618 Member
    The only time I have done this is when I was alone on a trail that had a lot of bear activity. I wanted to scare the bears off with my bad 80s music. :)

    That might not scare them off (go to 1:40)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbV_Ju1eqHI

  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
    Really bad music played ear deafeningly loud. I am pretty tolerant of music but some stuff is just garbage.
  • jennrissa
    jennrissa Posts: 42 Member
    1- Not cleaning the machines after use (I wipe them before and after use ever since I wiped one once out of curiosity and it came off brown and stained the whole wipe.)
    2- Reusing the same sweaty outfit the whole week. I can't smell things a lot due to sinus build up, but good grief to be hit with that stank is just too much.
    3 - Not reracking the weights. For a class the coach sent me to get 6 25lb weights... It took so long to find them...
    4- Almost walking on me and/or getting so close in my personal space where I have been doing exercises for a while. I'm the type to pick an out of the way spot, but for some reason people want to get close instead of using the big kitten space around us. I've had to stop doing burpees and lunges because people are so self-entitled that they can't walk around me even though there's way more than enough space to do so and they've see what i'm doing while deciding to walk right into my space. In a big aerobics room...
    5- Leaving their stuff all over machines (That there is only one of in the entire gym) and going somewhere else to make a phone call. One lady took so long I got the front desk people to move her stuff.
    6 - Taking my weights. In class sometimes the coach gives us a list to do. So we can grab our own mats and weights and get our own space to work out in. There's enough room for everyone and more weights and mats than students. Instead of grabbing their own weights they grab mine and my mat (I have a thing about germs since I get sick easily) so now I have to either wait for them to finish with my weights or the mat even though there's more than enough for them to have their own set. And last week someone grabbed my kettlebell when I'm doing 3 mins on the treadmill. I made sure where I had my mat and weights was out of the way so it wouldn't disturb anyone if they wanted to come in and work out in that area. It also happened to be across from the area where 30+ kettlebells are, but not even close enough to be mistaken for the ones on the racks. I can understand maybe someone thinking I might have just left it all, but my cell phone and water bottle, as well as the exercise list I was using was still there. Then the two douche nozzles, I saw both guys across the room with it, just left it in the middle of the floor. Neither of them came back to put it away.
    7- Friends who go to workout with me in the gym and decide to derail the workout. By either saying 15 minutes on the treadmill is all you really need, texting the whole time, complaining about wanting to eat before we even touch a machine and getting to the point we don't even work out, or just horse-playing so much that I either get physically hurt by the individual or I have to put my foot down be the butt.
    It's so sad people have little to no consideration for the others around them. Even when I try my best to be as out of the way as possible. Sometimes, it may be my insecurities, I feel like the entitled ones think because I'm fat they don't have to give me the same consideration they would expect for themselves.
  • MaybeLed
    MaybeLed Posts: 250 Member
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    For me, it's the looks I get from other patrons... yes, I'm fat, no I don't like it, yes, I see you staring, no, I don't like being stared at while sweat pours off me in buckets...

    What gyms do you guys go to where people are staring at you?

    For real. I have never seen anyone at my gym "stare" at an overweight person.

    But I think that is psychological. Some people think everybody is staring at them when in reality they are not.
    I look at everybody. Well, I scan the room and just observing people. I have never once had a negative thought seeing a fat person at the gym. That is the last place to judge people...really! My hubby is big. I seen people look at him briefly, never once a judgy or negative look.
    At the gym, we are all in the same boat and all have a similar goal.

    I have however seen people treat and stare at fat people outside of the gym. Like in restaurants.



    Yeah I thought everyone was looking at me when I was chunky. Turns out they weren't.

    I thought everyone was looking at me because I was fat.

    I then needed some surgery on my jaw which left me with a puffy face, hamster cheeks and black eyes... Now I know what it's like to be stared at because of your appearance. I can now accept the usual glances from strangers.
  • newheavensearth
    newheavensearth Posts: 870 Member
    edited March 2018
    Something I just thought of re: phones. Yes some are reading or texting while working out and holding up machines. I see the annoyance in that. But I use an app (Jefit) to record my weights and as a rest timer between sets. So it looks like I'm texting between sets, but trust me I'm not. Just recording the workout. Others could use their phone for the same.
    But I don't hog equipment while doing it though. :)
  • Fitnessmom82
    Fitnessmom82 Posts: 376 Member
    1) There's a whole empty row of cardio machines exactly the same, yet you just had to pick the one right beside mine, didn't you? :(

    2) A stranger who will watch you on a weight machine. CREEPERS. A woman and I were switching between the abductor and adductor machines, and an older man stood at the chain link wall that separated the machine area from the lifting area, and just stared at us as we opened and closed our legs. Fingers curled around the links and all. I eventually said something like, "Did you need to talk to one of us? No?" and thankfully he got the message he wasn't wanted in our vicinity.

    Omg yes to both!! I was minding my business in a sea of empty treadmills and this guy came up right next to me. Reaked of garlic, axe body spray and sweat. Pounding away and grunting. Why? Pick one of the 30 other treadmills!!
    And the classroom at my gym has glass walls. I was at Body pump one day and noticed this man just watching the class through the glass. At first I thought he was curious about the class. I've peaked at a few, to get an idea of what they are doing. It made me a little uncomfortable because I was practically doing squats in his face but I powered through. A minute or two later a gentleman next to me puts his weight down, leaves the room and confronts the guy. The staff comes over and walks him out. Turns out, the creeper was a regular problem. Watching the girls in the class!! Never saw him again. Yikes!
  • for_ever_young66
    for_ever_young66 Posts: 2,877 Member
    edited March 2018
    Unless it directly impacts me, I could not care less what other folks do at the gym. If you're chatting it up, fine. As long as you're not sitting on the equipment while doing so. If you're checking yourself out in the mirror, I don't care, as long as you're not in other folks way. If the women want to wear scantily clad workout clothing, well, i'm not going to rat anyone out and it's not my job to be the gym police. :smiley: I tend to listen to earphones while working out and I do get annoyed when someone wants to have small talk while I'm in the zone. However, if someone wants advice or needs help using the equipment or a spotter, I'll be more than happy to assist.
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,741 Member
    The guy lifting next to me who reeks of pot. I'm all for getting high on your own time, but I don't need a contact high while I'm lifting!

    This would bother me as well since that smell makes me queasy. But, to add a different perspective, I know someone who works in a dispensary and she says she HAS to go straight home after work and shower and change because she smells like pot and can't go anywhere else first. So, if you want to go to the gym that would require two showers and changes of clothes and I can see in that case where that would be a waste of time, but I'd still hate to be the people around the person that smells like pot.
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
    Mainly anything that makes excessive or annoying noise. Throwing a heavy ball against the wall near me, loud enough to cause a (physically) painfully loud bass reverberation, throwing/dropping your very heavy weights down on an unpadded floor or listening to your crappy music, or preachy ultra conservative podcast without f-ing headphones and forcing everyone to hear.
  • ValeriePlz
    ValeriePlz Posts: 517 Member
    sgt1372 wrote: »
    sgt1372 wrote: »
    The combined list derived from prior threads on this topic is endless. Expect no different in this one.

    7 pages of comments makes my point. ;)

    People just love to complain about what they hate about going to the gym.

    LOL! :)

    Here's a new one for you - has anyone ever fallen asleep on a machine, and you had to get a gym employee to wake them so that you could use it?
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    Mainly I just let people be, if you need something simply ask nicely. Everyone deserves to do what they need to do in the gym. I love working with people so that everyone can get what they need too. You have no idea why they need to do whatever they are doing.
  • for_ever_young66
    for_ever_young66 Posts: 2,877 Member
    The whining, crying, complaining "I can't do this", grouching that goes on......oh wait, never mind, that's only my internal discussion with myself prior to each lifting session.

    ha ha. That's me on leg day. Lot of internal whining going on.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    seepersaud wrote: »

    Runners who want to sprint on the treadmill, so you hear a loud pound-pound-pound-pound...go take that outside.

    I'm confused. If I'm on the treadmill, why do I have less right to run fast than the guy next to me moving at a slow walk? It's my workout, if I want to train fast I don't see the problem.

    Never in my life would I have thought that running on a treadmill would be something that was a gym annoyance . . . here I was feeling all happy that I wasn't being annoying (ahem, at least in this one small area of my life).
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    seepersaud wrote: »

    Runners who want to sprint on the treadmill, so you hear a loud pound-pound-pound-pound...go take that outside.

    I'm confused. If I'm on the treadmill, why do I have less right to run fast than the guy next to me moving at a slow walk? It's my workout, if I want to train fast I don't see the problem.

    Never in my life would I have thought that running on a treadmill would be something that was a gym annoyance . . . here I was feeling all happy that I wasn't being annoying (ahem, at least in this one small area of my life).

    Yeah, I'm a heel-striker and make a definite thud with each landing. I had no idea I was violating treadmill etiquette.
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