Onslaught of New Gym Members
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rheddmobile wrote: »MelanieCN77 wrote: »
Thanks. My gym (a YWCA) doesn't have a clothing policy, or if they do, I don't know about it.
Many of the regulars come in rotten-looking old tee shirts and shorts, but some wear expensive outfits.
I own "the right clothes," designed for sweat/moisture etc., but prefer my $10 Walmart sweatpants.
I guess my attitude has always been it's none of my business what other people wear or do there, or how often they come or don't come. To me, my gym is a public place. Anybody who pays the fee has a 100% right to be there
In my opinon that’s 100% the right attitude. As long as they are not directly preventing me from accomplishing my goals they can wear whatever or do whatever.
I workout at a Y as well and ours has a dress code but it’s loosely enforced. Basically they want you to wear workout/gym style clothes and closed toe shoes, but they have an older group of guys that workout in khakis and jeans.0 -
I think I took this different from you. Yes it’s a little tongue in cheek, but did you read the bits in parentheses? To me it’s more a message to help someone to get over the intimidation factor of starting at the gym.
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Theoldguy1 wrote: »Unfortunately IMO, if someone is waiting for a magic date to start exercising, watching their diet, etc., they are likely to fail. The condition(s) related to the planned changes didn't just pop up on Dec 31st. Waiting until 1/1 is just putting off what needs to be done and most likely will lead to less than optimum results.
What I find is that many people wait until after the holidays to make a doctors appointment. Then their doctor scares them into dieting and exercise. Here in Italy, we also have what we call "bathing suit readiness", so people hit the pool and gym to be ready for beach time in June.0 -
I belong to “Better Leisure” leisure centre and luckily my membership allows me gym, all classes and pool, but best of all I can use any BL gym in the country. And depending on what I want to do I with travel to a different town. One has great strength machines, but the other place s a much warmer pool and the other place nearby has youtube on its machines. So I probably look to some people that the fat old woman (with a spinal tumour and therefore doesnt hammer it hard) doesnt come very often. But I do, several times a week just not at the same place.
I went shopping in Decatholon today and hit the sales, I bet I looked like a post xmas noobie! But I wanted another pair hi vis tights, a hat with a pony tail hole, more Runderwear pants, a running kit for my son (wicking T, warmer long sleeve and jacket, tights and trainers), a different belt, ankle support (achilles feeling achey), I ended adding a pile of extra stuff to my technical gear and I spent only £100. Very happy.
I giess I am still a newbie though, 4 months in. When do I becone a regular gym bunny ??2 -
Ps I always without fail clean the gear down. And I havent noticed some people didnt appear to have realised this until theyve seen me do so. Usually its elderly folk who've come in for their cardiac rehab work.
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I hate the gym in January. I live in central London which has real estate prices worse than Manhattan, so having a home large enough for workout equipment is prohibitively expensive. I try to be generous to newbies but am thankful most of them are gone by mid February1
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Probably sick of the snobbery.5
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MelanieCN77 wrote: »
Did you read all of the words? It’s taking the things people rag on new gym goes for and turning them around to say hey don’t worry about it. People can be intolerant and entitled dicks at the gym but it’s usually about their own insecurities.
Yes, I read all the words.
The images are exaggerated and make fun of people
The words are the opposite, kind and sensible.
It has two messages, but is mostly aimed for some yucks at the expense of imperfect new people. It is NOT aimed at new people to encourage them to come, not with images that laugh at them.
I'd like to see those images with more realistic messages:
Tell the obese not to worry what they look like -- they'll fit right in with the regulars who are still obese and load up on Starbucks pastry when they finish.
Tell the woman in the jeans not to worry about her clothes -- she will never look as ridiculous as the 50-60 year old regular at my gym who curls and coifs her hair and always wears giant hoop earrings while she shows off her body (she looks like an aging streetwalker).
Nobody is perfect, anywhere. Good for anybody who tries to improve their health and their life.
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I'd like to see those images with more realistic messages:
Tell the obese not to worry what they look like -- they'll fit right in with the regulars who are still obese and load up on Starbucks pastry when they finish.
Tell the woman in the jeans not to worry about her clothes -- she will never look as ridiculous as the 50-60 year old regular at my gym who curls and coifs her hair and always wears giant hoop earrings while she shows off her body (she looks like an aging streetwalker).
Wow.4 -
MelanieCN77 wrote: »
Did you read all of the words? It’s taking the things people rag on new gym goes for and turning them around to say hey don’t worry about it. People can be intolerant and entitled dicks at the gym but it’s usually about their own insecurities.
Yes, I read all the words.
The images are exaggerated and make fun of people
The words are the opposite, kind and sensible.
It has two messages, but is mostly aimed for some yucks at the expense of imperfect new people. It is NOT aimed at new people to encourage them to come, not with images that laugh at them.
I'd like to see those images with more realistic messages:
Tell the obese not to worry what they look like -- they'll fit right in with the regulars who are still obese and load up on Starbucks pastry when they finish.
Tell the woman in the jeans not to worry about her clothes -- she will never look as ridiculous as the 50-60 year old regular at my gym who curls and coifs her hair and always wears giant hoop earrings while she shows off her body (she looks like an aging streetwalker).
Nobody is perfect, anywhere. Good for anybody who tries to improve their health and their life.
I’m thinking maybe you see the images as ridiculous because you are looking for the ridiculous in others. I don’t agree that they are making fun of new people.
By the way, I’m 51, and the idea that showing off my body would be absurd is rude. Not that I have a perfect body by any means. But several gym-going ladies here on the forums who fall into the “50-60 year old” crowd would knock your socks off,11 -
Oh dear...
The ridiculousness is why I think it’s a light hearted poster...look again at the first picture with the weight bench...it’s not a stereotypical skinny/wimpy guy, or an overweight guy, it’s a buff gym rat guy...the one of the woman in the jeans is not somebody wearing something that’s just slobby or mismatched, it’s someone wearing something blinged up and totally inappropriate for exercise. The woman doing the push-up or the stretches is probably the most realistic but also the one that most people will relate to...because let’s face it we’ve all felt like that woman at one time or another while at the gym, no matter what shape we are in.
Oh well...different perspectives I guess...good luck to everyone with the newbies in the coming weeks. Hopefully some of them will be here next year lamenting the new onslaught and telling funny stories of their first days in the gym!
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No problem with others at the gym, I just don’t like having to wait for equipment. It’s why I joined Anytime Fitness. I go very early. No people, and no waiting. Win/win for me.1
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I’m kinda nervous for January at the gym... mostly because it’s a brand new gym that’s opening on January 1st, so there will be three big groups of people, and none of them will know what they’re doing, where the equipment is etc: the resolutioners, the regulars who just switched to a different gym, and other members of the same gym chain that just pop in to see what the new location is like. It’s going to be absolute mayhem, and I have to go in and be a culprit in that mess to get myself settled and learn where everything is.1
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I’m not sure what type of exercise you do but I found if I moved my strength training to Tues/Thurs/Sat vs Mon/Wed/Fri that I had more access to equipment. Be flexible is key this time of year.
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Last few days, calm before the storm
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BrianSharpe wrote: »
Me four....my basement gym is all I need and outdoors when the weather is nice.0 -
nighthawk584 wrote: »BrianSharpe wrote: »
Me four....my basement gym is all I need and outdoors when the weather is nice.
Definitely a nice option for those with the space.2 -
I prefer going to the gym cos they have better showers than I've got
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Where I'm at it's not the noobies it's the damn trainers that set people up in front of dumbbell/kettlebell racks, on the prowler track, etc.3
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I've learned the hard way that if I complain about the resolutioner crowd online, some easily offended soul is probably going to say, "Don't be so mean to the newbies! You should be welcoming them instead!"
Sorry, but no. Recognizing the problem isn't being mean. It's just accepting reality... and the reality is that the gyms will be getting really crowded.
As for welcoming the newbies... I won't be hostile, and if they ask for help, I'll be friendly. I don't think it's our responsibility to specifically welcome them, though. I know that I wouldn't want to be treated that way if I were new. I would just want to go about my own business.5 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »Where I'm at it's not the noobies it's the damn trainers that set people up in front of dumbbell/kettlebell racks, on the prowler track, etc.
Oh yes to this! Soooooo frustrating!!2 -
It has two messages, but is mostly aimed for some yucks at the expense of imperfect new people. It is NOT aimed at new people to encourage them to come, not with images that laugh at them.
I'd like to see those images with more realistic messages:
Tell the obese not to worry what they look like -- they'll fit right in with the regulars who are still obese and load up on Starbucks pastry when they finish.
Tell the woman in the jeans not to worry about her clothes -- she will never look as ridiculous as the 50-60 year old regular at my gym who curls and coifs her hair and always wears giant hoop earrings while she shows off her body (she looks like an aging streetwalker).
Nobody is perfect, anywhere. Good for anybody who tries to improve their health and their life.
So, just for personal clarification, you think the images and quotes with them are making fun of people and inappropriate. You also think that making fun of a woman who doesn't fit your definition of a proper gym female is perfectly OK and more realistic. Do I have that correct?
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I am getting anxiety thinking about all of the new people at the gym. It's already crowded. Does anyone else have issues working out in crowded gyms?
I just saw this thread.
I also hate working out in a crowded gym, so I hate this time of year (in addition to newbies there are more people who work out indoors due to weather).
One issue is that because so many people join at the beginning of Jan and don't stay, the gym's basic model is likely to be based on an assumption of fewer members (but subsidized, remember, by the newbies).
For me this has 0 to do with whether someone is a newbie or not -- I don't dislike newbies, I dislike crowds. Outside of a few people who often exercise at the same time as me, and of course the trainers I see around, how am I to know who is new, who is just back inside due to weather, or who is just someone I haven't noticed before?
That I dislike crowds is something that makes me more reluctant to go to the gym in January (although it was relatively empty today and likely will be tomorrow), but it doesn't cause me to be unfriendly to anyone. (If someone made an effort to encourage me and make me feel welcome when new, btw, I'd be super embarassed and feel like I must have been obviously not knowing what I was doing -- this is mainstream gym, not something like CrossFit where the model is different.) I think complaining about crowds is totally fine.
If anything, I tend to go out of my way to avoid times I think might be crowded, and end up at the time I thought would be dead and be mad (at myself, at the world) that apparently that's when all the trainers work out, so the weights area is crowded.7 -
Does go to a new location count as a "newbie"? I want to do a spin class. However, my gym no longer has the 6:30pm time. The Saturday time doesn't work as that's when I do my long runs and Sunday is my rest day.
I'm looking at going to a location near my work that has a 5:30 class on Tuesdays. I'll get there in plenty of time. I'm off work at 4:30 and it only takes about 15 minutes to get there. Lots of time to do a pre-spin class warm up!
Though I mostly go for the BodyPump (and hope to start going for spin) class. I run in the great outdoors. The dreadmill is an option when the days might be to bad to get outside to run. I do start my half-marathon training in 3 weeks!1 -
I haven't gone to the gym in a few months and I really want to get back into it, but I have social anxiety and the crowds are a major issue for me right now. I know I should just grit my teeth and go anyways, but its hard.7
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I find it hard in the classes as no room but I know come end Jan it’s as it was before3
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I am getting anxiety thinking about all of the new people at the gym. It's already crowded. Does anyone else have issues working out in crowded gyms?
I just saw this thread.
I also hate working out in a crowded gym, so I hate this time of year (in addition to newbies there are more people who work out indoors due to weather).
One issue is that because so many people join at the beginning of Jan and don't stay, the gym's basic model is likely to be based on an assumption of fewer members (but subsidized, remember, by the newbies).
For me this has 0 to do with whether someone is a newbie or not -- I don't dislike newbies, I dislike crowds. Outside of a few people who often exercise at the same time as me, and of course the trainers I see around, how am I to know who is new, who is just back inside due to weather, or who is just someone I haven't noticed before?
That I dislike crowds is something that makes me more reluctant to go to the gym in January (although it was relatively empty today and likely will be tomorrow), but it doesn't cause me to be unfriendly to anyone. (If someone made an effort to encourage me and make me feel welcome when new, btw, I'd be super embarassed and feel like I must have been obviously not knowing what I was doing -- this is mainstream gym, not something like CrossFit where the model is different.) I think complaining about crowds is totally fine.
If anything, I tend to go out of my way to avoid times I think might be crowded, and end up at the time I thought would be dead and be mad (at myself, at the world) that apparently that's when all the trainers work out, so the weights area is crowded.
I totally agree.
I just recently started going to the gym before work at 5:30am. It’s much quieter then. I was having trouble getting to the gym. I really didn’t like going after work because I was tired and really didn’t want to work around all the people there at that time. Now that I have been going this early, I find that I have far more motivation to go.
I went to the gym yesterday around noon, because I was off and had things to do in the morning. The gym was absolutely crazy busy. The experience totally reaffirmed my decision to go so early in the morning.3 -
Things are so different here in Oaxaca Mexico where I live. There were no more people at the gym yesterday than there were pretty much any other day I've gone. In the U.S. people keep to themselves. Here, culturally, people are more social and interactive. Several hellos, a hug or 2 and at least a few hand slap/ fist bump (this is the Mexican guy thing, you slap hands and bump fists. It's the universal guy greeting). At first it took a little getting used to, but now it's pretty pleasant.
I don't think the whole "new years resolution" is a thing culturally. I'll have to ask some of my amigos.0
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