Top 5 Gym Annoyances

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  • GorillaNJ
    GorillaNJ Posts: 4,052 Member
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    The new gym I joined seems to be pretty good with all the annoyances here.. especially the weight tossers. I was talking with the gym manager and he despises them... since he is one of the largest human beings I have met in my life enforcement is not an issue. I once watched my workout partner drop a 60lb dumbbell on his big toe. it popped like a grape and I make sure to tell that to anyone I see tossing the dumbbells carelessly.

    My biggest complaint is the people who are really just there to hang out.. guys standing around BSing instead of actually working out. When I go to the gym I have a workout planned, and I get it done in the least amount of time possible. I aim for 60 seconds between sets.

    Sorry ... tahkunkel working out with the free weights around a bunch of guys, they are checking you out. We try not to, but it is instinct. If someone is staring too much flip them the bird
  • aproc
    aproc Posts: 1,033 Member
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    The cell phone thing really annoys me. I'll be in the middle of a circuit..and I understnad that I will have to wait sometimes, but when a guy is just sitting on the machine I need and texting?? Guy was doing it today. He just sat there and texted. I had to eventually politely ask if I could get another set in, and he got that annoyed look.. Well excuse me.. but I am actually doing something and will probably be done with that set before you finish your conversation. Ugh.. =_= And the people who put something around the seat of the machine when they leave for a minute. One guy got on a machine I was using the other day and when I went back to it, he had his id wrapped around it like he was saving it. So irritating. There have been many times that I just had to give up on finishing weights and move to cardio...
  • traybo
    traybo Posts: 10
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    I can live with the grunters when they're heavy lifting but what's just weird is the ones who grunt when they're in the Spa area - especially the steam room when you can only vaguely make people out but can hear some very strange sounds. And ladies, leaving clumps of hair in the showers is totally gross, and if you use the last of the shampoo or shower gel you brought with you - put the empties in the bin - don't just leave them lying around. But the worst has to be a story my husband told me of the naked guy in the changing rooms drying his head on his towel and the rest of his body (and I mean everywhere) with a hairdryer ..... eeeewwwww!
  • chevysarah
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    I was once at a gym (in my former city) and there was a couple making out on one of the machines (it was one that you had to lay down on - so he was laying down and she was on top of him)! That would be the number one annoying thing for me! No one wants to see that!
  • FavDaughter1
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    Love the post- some of my annoyances also. But my number 1 is kids. Our gym is "family friendly". I don't mind the kids who are there actually working out and acting like normal human beings. But there is a very annoying ex-Marine who brings in his two Grandsons who run around like banchees swinging on machines like they are jungle gyms. I just want to spank them and punch him.

    Amen!!! That is my #1 as well. Not only is it incredibly distracting to have kids running around the gym, but then they play on the equipment (which they don't know how to use) and you're so afraid they're going to hurt themselves that you can't concentrate on your own workout! Last week I was doing the super sets my trainergave me for "homework", and I couldn't do the last set on the inner / outer thigh machine as a young teenage girl decided to sit on it and read her book!
  • lurker
    lurker Posts: 8 Member
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    I have 4 little kids so I only get to the gym one coveted day per week (the other days I make do on my treadmill at home). But since I started lifting I have these awesome arms and shoulders now. I hope people are checking them out! The one day I do go I am there early in the day and it is not busy and I am usually the only girl in the weight room. I like it, I mean I'm still a girl so the guys are very helpful and willing to give me form tips.

    I admit I am sometimes a starer - but its usually to see if I am using equipment properly.
    And sometime I check out other peoples' speeds/time on the cardio. But my logic is more like " I wonder if I can run as fast as her .. . or I wonder if I could go for 20 minutes at that speed." Sorry if I am annoying you - I try to be discreet.

    Fortunately I haven't run into many of the problems previously listed, but I suspect it is because I am not there during peak hours . . . .
  • tbernard
    tbernard Posts: 54 Member
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    Some admissions:

    1. I've been known to grunt. I like to use free weights and work an upward pyramid. I don't grunt throughout all of my sets but if its a good workout I will usually have at least one set where I seriously test my limits. On those sets I've been known to grunt. I'll take that every day over the people who never seriously exerts themselves. In the end, I'm there for a workout...and that begins with the word "work"

    2. I'm a starer. Now I know there isn't a dance floor here and I know they don't sell drinks. This is a gym. But in 1999 I tore my left rotator cuff Benching Dumbells on an inclined bench when I lost control of a weight. So when I see someone who doesn't have a partner to spot for them I'll often take a few moments to watch their form to see if their form is good, to see if they can handle their weight, and to step in and spot for them if they need it. For me, the mark of a good gym is when the regulars look out for each other to help avoid injuries and maximize workouts. So I've been known to chat up men and women alike and give them form tips, and advice to avoid injury. Some take it, and some don't. But gyms are full of people using too much weight, and in the wrong way.

    3. I use the mirrors alot. I use them because they help me to concentrate on form. I'm not blowing kisses at myself in the mirror. They allow me to visually see which muscles I'm working. And if I also use them a little because I like seeing how my body is changing, I don't think anyone has the right to judge. You may dislike your own body..But I kinda like mine..
  • amg_89
    amg_89 Posts: 184
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    Top 5 annoyances for me....(mind you I go to the REC at my college so it's filled with sorority girls and frat bros)

    5. People who don't wipe off their machines

    4. People who cover up their time on the treadmill because there's people waiting and there's a 20 minute time limit (okay, okay, if it's sleeting outside and you need to run 7 miles, fine. But when it's nice outside and you have no excuse, get the heck off, k?)

    3. ANYONE who rides a recumbent bike. I'm sorry, that's not a workout in any way.

    2. Bro's who have huge chests and biceps yet they have scrawny legs. You may think you look tough and cool, but you just look like a factory farm chicken who's been injected with antibiotics to make your chest huge and you still have your chickeny little legs.

    AND NUMBER 1....girls who put on full makeup and wear a regular bra and do the elliptical for like 10 minutes and just text the whole time. Congratulations, all you do is piss me off.
  • aliciamille
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    Love this! Don't forget the people who need to be seen. They walk around making sure everyone checks them out. Yes, you're ripped. I see you. Thanks for showing off the guns and abs. Oh and you, fake boob woman...yes we've all seen you. You're hot. Now can you both just get on with your workout. LOL.

    HAHAHAHA...the gym can sometimes be like a circus, really. I love it, and ALL of these things annoy me. Oh and I'm a runner, a real runner who runs...so when the treadmills are all full and someone is walking on a treadmill on a sloooooow setting and talking on their cell phone, I almost LOSE it
  • megamom
    megamom Posts: 920 Member
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    I am so happy that I belong to a nice quiet gym where many times if you time it right your their alone. The things that do annoy me, not putting your weights away or empty water glass and not cleaning the equipment when your done. And personally I hate the mirrors, Yikes does my stomach really look like that when I do my squats, LOL. I do my entire 2 hour routine and not look in a mirror, if I did I might be horrified and quit.
  • swanny320
    swanny320 Posts: 169 Member
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    Okay I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does....the guys who lift enormous amounts of weight and have ginormous arms and chests but don't do a second of cardio and look as if they are 27 months pregnant. I don't understand the point of having HUGE muscles if you're going to have a HUGE belly to go with it. I'm not faulting anyone for carrying some extra weight...I think that's why we're all here...but why on earth would you obsess about having monstrous Arnold Schwarzenegger arms but not want to do something about your belly?

    Anyway, not wiping off equipment and hogging equipment annoy me too. :)
  • JulieTX86
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    Lunk (noun, slang): One who grunts, drops weights, or judges. (www.planetfitness.com) They even sell t-shirts: http://www.planetfitnessstore.com/PlanetFitnessPublic/Product/Planet-Fitness-Lunk-Ts---White-PFLTP-14421.htm
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
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    Okay I don't know why this bothers me so much, but it does....the guys who lift enormous amounts of weight and have ginormous arms and chests but don't do a second of cardio and look as if they are 27 months pregnant. I don't understand the point of having HUGE muscles if you're going to have a HUGE belly to go with it. I'm not faulting anyone for carrying some extra weight...I think that's why we're all here...but why on earth would you obsess about having monstrous Arnold Schwarzenegger arms but not want to do something about your belly?

    Anyway, not wiping off equipment and hogging equipment annoy me too. :)

    It's a powerlifting thing. If they go in comps that is. They just want to keep getting bigger and bigger as you can generally lift more weight that one. Guys that really are that big (and muscley) wouldn't need much in the way of cardio to lose the fat but more of a diet adjustment. Not uncommon for massive guys to be intaking 6000cals a day on a bulking cycle (obviously differs person to person but you get the idea). Basically, they are happy to put on fat as long as they are putting on muscle as well.

    I couldn't do it personally. Clean bulk all the way.
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
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    Top 5 annoyances for me....(mind you I go to the REC at my college so it's filled with sorority girls and frat bros)

    5. People who don't wipe off their machines

    4. People who cover up their time on the treadmill because there's people waiting and there's a 20 minute time limit (okay, okay, if it's sleeting outside and you need to run 7 miles, fine. But when it's nice outside and you have no excuse, get the heck off, k?)

    3. ANYONE who rides a recumbent bike. I'm sorry, that's not a workout in any way.

    2. Bro's who have huge chests and biceps yet they have scrawny legs. You may think you look tough and cool, but you just look like a factory farm chicken who's been injected with antibiotics to make your chest huge and you still have your chickeny little legs.

    AND NUMBER 1....girls who put on full makeup and wear a regular bra and do the elliptical for like 10 minutes and just text the whole time. Congratulations, all you do is piss me off.

    LOVE IT.
  • AsaThorsWoman
    AsaThorsWoman Posts: 2,303 Member
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    The gym I go to has a younger couple that works out around the same time I do and the boyfriend likes to do leg presses with his girlfriend as one of the weight.

    Haha! Love it!
  • sbilyeu75
    sbilyeu75 Posts: 567 Member
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    My biggest annoyance at the gym are the boys, yes thats probably you, who stare at women in the free weights room. I've come up with a variety of reasons why this may be occurring:

    1. Are they checking me out? Because if they are thats disgusting considering I am sweating from head to toe and smell somewhat gross.
    2. Are they pissed I'm using these weights because they want to use them?
    3. Do they feel their manliness is in jeopardy because there is now a female in "their" area?

    Whether it is one of these reasons or maybe another that I have not yet thought of, it really makes me feel uncomfortable. It's hard to be focused on working out when I know that I have eyes on me (considering I can see them in the mirror). Am I the only one this happens to??
    They are checking you out!!!!!! Do you really think the fact that you are sweating is somehow a deterant,come on!

    ^^^^^^ Yep yep! All that sweating is releasing pheromones.
  • missyhse
    missyhse Posts: 189
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    at the original poster on this thread-I AGREE...
    I'm sure some other people mentioned some of these also, but for me it is:

    5. Grunters-particularly those with bad form
    4. the women (NO OFFENSE) that wear full make-up, matching everything-outfit, head phones, water bottle, shoes, towel...some how just drives me nuts...especially when they all give ME dirty looks in my cut off sweats lol, because I'm there to WORK OUT and the guys like that
    3. Lurkers who wonder around and do a rep or two on a machine, wipe off their "sweat", walk around some more...
    2.People in the locker room that take up every possible inch of space with their stuff
    1. at the boxing club-I hate being underestimated/straight disrespected!
  • kmard81
    kmard81 Posts: 212 Member
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    There is a woman at my gym that reaks of cigarrette smoke! Its pretty comical to me that she comes in to work out right after she had puffed one, or twenty.
  • craek
    craek Posts: 201 Member
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    4. the women (NO OFFENSE) that wear full make-up, matching everything-outfit, head phones, water bottle, shoes, towel...some how just drives me nuts...especially when they all give ME dirty looks in my cut off sweats lol, because I'm there to WORK OUT and the guys like that

    Oh goodness... I TOTALLY agree with you.
  • mccorml
    mccorml Posts: 622 Member
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    i hate the guy that trys to claim 3 machines at once and well texting i do text in the gym but i know it takes me about a minute to send 2 texts and i have a hard time just taking enough rest if i dont do it i end up being way to tired and making a mistake on form and so on.

    and i love the guy that mean mugs the **** out of me cuz i started with less weight then him and now im 20 pounds more on bench :drinker: