Crazy Things at the Gym!

allie_00

I used to live in Seoul, South Korea - now that's a funny place to people watch at a gym. Most of the girls were terrified of sweating and actually walked really slow on a treadmill all the while watching their favorite Korean drama. I'd be doing leg presses while a Korean guy would come over and say "no, no...too much-e" and motion for me to lower the weight (probably because I was pressing twice his weight) Their spin classes were like dance clubs, with crazy strobe lights and crazy techno music. We used to actually dance and sway while spinning - quite the adventure. Oh, and everyone walks around butt naked all the time in change rooms. And they sometimes blowdry "down there" with a public hairdryer (I kid you not)

Julesjhj

I have assigned names to people at the gym...there are a whole cast of characters:

The Huffer: Old, very large man with an ankle the size of a spaghetti squash. He gets on the elliptical and peddles as fast as he can while "huffing" and blowing. I mean with every exhale he blows his breath as hard as he can. One day he will explode, I just know it. Oh, and he is too lazy to park in a parking spot so he parks on the curb in front of the front door. He does this most days and acts like he just ran 45 miles....but he is not getting smaller. I refuse to workout any more if he is there. I have to disinfect the elliptical before I will even get on it. Nasty.

Gum Chewer: Older guy that wears white knee socks and must have "his" programming on said flat screen he is facing. He does this undescribeable arm swinging body move in rythem with his gum smacking on the elliptical.

No Sweat Suzi: Lady with diamonds dripping off her. It's the only thing dripping. She does not sweat. But she wants you to think that those 1 lb weights she is lifting are soooo heavy and she is working soooo hard!

justnname

There is a guy in my gym that walks around with a gallon jug of Arizona Ice T. LOL

debbyrae3

Hahaha, I remember one night a friend and I went to the gym to work out (I had just gotten off work in retail, so I was already a hot mess lol) but we were both just wearing shorts, tank tops/t-shirts that were old and ratty, hair pulled back in ponytails (naturally curly so frizzy all over lol) and our ratty tennis shoes... We had really came to work out.

Well, halfway across the gym we saw these 2 girls who looked like pictures from athletic clothing ads, the cutesy tight capri type pants and matching tank tops and their shoes even matched (funny thing is, the 2 girls were wearing the same outfit pieces even down to the shoes, just separate colors) and their hair was long and straight pulled back into ponytails with matching headbands... I was like "This is a gym, not a catwalk... Who cares what you look like?" lol

TrainingWithTonya

Actually, the grunting (and even screaming) helps with increasing the intra-abdominal pressure to support the organs and spine while doing heavy weights. I even do it when I'm at 80%+ of my one rep max. Works way better then a weight belt. That being said, you don't have to do it on every rep, if so then you're doing do heavy a weight or are just acting out.

My pet peeves are people with bad form. My back hurts from watching the "swingers" in the gym. You know, the guys who swing the weight up using their low back muscles instead of their biceps when doing bicep curls, etc.

Yesterday, I saw a guy walking the track while holding 15 pound dumbbells. While I understand the thought process of adding weight to walking if you just can't bring yourself to increase the speed to increase the intensity, he looked silly. He was holing his elbows up even with his shoulders and his arms bent so the weights were really close to his face. All I could think what that I hoped he didn't have a shoe come untied because if he tripped that would be some seriously expensive dental work, not to mention the risks of a broken nose or worse if anything he broke was shoved into the brain.

EmpressOfJudgment

I used to live in Seoul, South Korea - now that's a funny place to people watch at a gym. Most of the girls were terrified of sweating and actually walked really slow on a treadmill all the while watching their favorite Korean drama. I'd be doing leg presses while a Korean guy would come over and say "no, no...too much-e" and motion for me to lower the weight (probably because I was pressing twice his weight) Their spin classes were like dance clubs, with crazy strobe lights and crazy techno music. We used to actually dance and sway while spinning - quite the adventure. Oh, and everyone walks around butt naked all the time in change rooms. And they sometimes blowdry "down there" with a public hairdryer (I kid you not)

Now there's a good story. "no, no...too much-e" Hilarious.

Were you teaching English there, per chance? My bf did that for awhile.

sillygoose1977

I have assigned names to people at the gym...there are a whole cast of characters:

The Huffer: Old, very large man with an ankle the size of a spaghetti squash. He gets on the elliptical and peddles as fast as he can while "huffing" and blowing. I mean with every exhale he blows his breath as hard as he can. One day he will explode, I just know it. Oh, and he is too lazy to park in a parking spot so he parks on the curb in front of the front door. He does this most days and acts like he just ran 45 miles....but he is not getting smaller. I refuse to workout any more if he is there. I have to disinfect the elliptical before I will even get on it. Nasty.

Gum Chewer: Older guy that wears white knee socks and must have "his" programming on said flat screen he is facing. He does this undescribeable arm swinging body move in rythem with his gum smacking on the elliptical.

No Sweat Suzi: Lady with diamonds dripping off her. It's the only thing dripping. She does not sweat. But she wants you to think that those 1 lb weights she is lifting are soooo heavy and she is working soooo hard!

I name people too.

Boobs: Babe with a perfect body who wears super short shorts and tight tanks and casually pedals on the recumbant bike. Man, I wish I were at the point where that's all I had to do.

Hoodie Creep: Goes balls out on every cardio machine for about 5 mintues each, hood up, dripping sweat all over the place and never once doing a wipe down. UGH

The Lazy Neighbors-These are our actual neighbors and they drive to our gym everyday. Our gym is literally across the street. They are fit and in their 20's.

amberaz

I am one of those girls who has to look cute when working out. :blushing: I can't help it, I just like looking cute. My stuff all matches and I usually have a little makeup on.

The first Zumba class I went to there was a lady wearing one of those mylar sweat suit things. I kept expecting her to pass out from dehydration. Maybe she thought it would help her burn more calories :noway:

ahartery9891

LOL the story from Korea made me laugh - I once saw an older lady standing in front of the dryer with her towel funneling the air down :P I thought it was the funniest thing!

amber_hanners

there is this girl that comes into the gym almost every day im there she kinda creeps me out cause she will get onto whatever machine is next to me go super super slow for no more then 5 mins then get off and go sit down and text then soon as i move to a new machine she repeats again to add to all this she is always in the gym wearing fancy clothes and heeled boots????

allie_00

I used to live in Seoul, South Korea - now that's a funny place to people watch at a gym. Most of the girls were terrified of sweating and actually walked really slow on a treadmill all the while watching their favorite Korean drama. I'd be doing leg presses while a Korean guy would come over and say "no, no...too much-e" and motion for me to lower the weight (probably because I was pressing twice his weight) Their spin classes were like dance clubs, with crazy strobe lights and crazy techno music. We used to actually dance and sway while spinning - quite the adventure. Oh, and everyone walks around butt naked all the time in change rooms. And they sometimes blowdry "down there" with a public hairdryer (I kid you not)

Now there's a good story. "no, no...too much-e" Hilarious.

Were you teaching English there, per chance? My bf did that for awhile.

Yes, I was teaching ESL there for a year. I LOVED it so much. Even though I make jokes about being in Korean gyms, I love Korea and its people! I also started taekwondo over there and was half way towards my black belt when I came back home to an area with no dojong! Oh well. Sometime in the future I shall return - to Seoul or perhaps just taekwondo. We'll see!

EmpressOfJudgment

Yes, I was teaching ESL there for a year. I LOVED it so much. Even though I make jokes about being in Korean gyms, I love Korea and its people! I also started taekwondo over there and was half way towards my black belt when I came back home to an area with no dojong! Oh well. Sometime in the future I shall return - to Seoul or perhaps just taekwondo. We'll see!

Nice! My bf is trying to convince me that we should go do this somewhere. He's traveled to 25 different countries and lived in Argentina, Korea, Poland, and Greece (I'm probably forgetting one). He even backpacked in Morocco on his own for a month. He's a hardcore traveler. I've only traveled the U.S. and I went to Canada once when I was a kid. I feel like maybe I'm too old for that sort of thing now. Plus, I'd miss my dog too much. Haha. On the other hand, I did just get my very first passport. I'm dying to use it!


*thread hijack

egifford

These stories are fantastic! Great lunch time break.
My husband and I have had this one happen to us bunches of times: you know when you're working out and there's alot of people around and one of them (you never really know who) farts and it smells super horrible! Then, you all have to pretend like you don't notice to be polite, and just try to ignore it (while at the same time hoping that no one thinks it was you). Awkward....:embarassed:

FitFrenchGirl

I am one of those girls who has to look cute when working out. :blushing: I can't help it, I just like looking cute. My stuff all matches and I usually have a little makeup on.

The first Zumba class I went to there was a lady wearing one of those mylar sweat suit things. I kept expecting her to pass out from dehydration. Maybe she thought it would help her burn more calories :noway:

I feel the same I like to look cute at gym, i think you should always be presentable in public, but i do work out hard and sweat lol

EmpressOfJudgment

Personally, I could care less about what I look like at the gym. I'm not going to the gym to get a date. I figure if my make-up still looks good, I'm not working hard enough. And I have really long hair so I have to put it up and back or it gets in the way. If someone is offended by a woman who doesn't look good every moment she's out in public, they should be blasted back to the 1950's where they belong.

amberaz

I feel the same I like to look cute at gym, i think you should always be presentable in public, but i do work out hard and sweat lol

I feel the same way, but only about myself. I could actually care less what other people look like. I just feel my best when I look nice ,and I like to feel good about myself.

rmhand

There is a guy who listens to his IPod and sings, but not all the words. Sometimes I really wish I could look and people and hear what they are listening to, I'm sure it would be funny.

debbyrae3

Personally, I could care less about what I look like at the gym. I'm not going to the gym to get a date. I figure if my make-up still looks good, I'm not working hard enough. And I have really long hair so I have to put it up and back or it gets in the way. If someone is offended by a woman who doesn't look good every moment she's out in public, they should be blasted back to the 1950's where they belong.

This. And one of my favorite quotes by Chalene Johnson: (not an exact quote, but close) "This is the post-workout look. It's not cute. If you look cute after working out, you probably weren't working hard enough".

oxFaithxo

Ever since I switched from a private gym to the YMCA, my life has gotten so much more interesting...I see so many people wearing jeans and nice shirts. It cracks me up. One time I saw a girl come to the gym, hop on the treadmill, sprint for 30 seconds without a warmup or cool down, and then leave. xD

because i only get an hour for lunch at work and it takes about 10 minutes to get to the gym and 10 minutes back that is me on the elptical, i go in haul *kitten* for about 40 minutes and back to work (granted i do change into gym clothes) LOL



the funniest thing at the gym is my gym partner: she YELLS like full blown YELLS at the end of her 40 minutes on the treadmill but i love her and she has lost so much weight... i think i am gonna YELL at my fat to go away too!

HollyMac20

I think I get watched at the gym :-P

I was at the local house of pizza picking up dinner one night and this guy next to me goes "your the girl from the gym!"

Must be because I am actually busting so hard I look like a fool...oh well!