Gym Etiquette

Thaea

I hate when 80 year old men make dirty remarks, and I hate when overly-beefed weight lifters make loud porno sounds when they're lifting something heavy.

karinaes

oh .. & let's not forget the .."let me just sit on this machine for a long time even tho this person standing next to me is obviously waiting for me to get off of it!"
they make me so mad!

ninerbuff

I really think people should be given a gym etiquette memo when they join a gym. Maybe its just me but i really wish people would put deodorant before they go to the gym and they should know not to talk on their phones for long periods of time while exercising. i don't want to hear the happenings of your life lol

Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels this way

In my gym cell phones aren't allowed because there is a rehabilitation exercise area throughout and they can disrupt equipment.

kyylieeeeee

I go to a pretty decent-sized Gold's, and no one seems to follow the cell phone rules.

There are also a few people there who seem to not realize that singing aloud to their iPods is NOT ACCEPTABLE. Just because I have my headphones on too doesn't mean I can't hear you on the elliptical right next to me. And if you're comfortable enough to belt your lungs out, shouldn't you maybe increase your resistance? (Or exercise in your own private home?)

Over the last two summers, there were a few times that kids around age 10-13 would lurk around some of the machines and just sit there looking bored, obviously waiting for parents. And they wouldn't move for the entire 60 minutes I'd be at the gym. Where the heck are their parents, and why aren't these kids doing something like playing basketball or at least sitting on chair rather than a machine?

My biggest problem at the gym, though, is with the few people who consistently do not wear sufficient clothing. No matter how hot you are at age 50, don't show up wearing hot pants and a sports bra. Shorts and a tank aren't that much more difficult...and a lot less distracting. I really think there should be a rule that you must have a shirt on/with you at all times.

Elizabeth_C34

I agree with most but regarding smell-it's not the lack of deo that bothers me but the perfume and cologne that some have on!!

UGH YES! And they leave that smell on the machines too. Nasty.

millerll

Hey you! Yeah you - the guy standing in front of the dumbell rack doing your set. You're standing in front of me and I can't see the mirror. No, I don't watch myself in the mirror because I'm vain (well, OK, I AM a little vain, but that's beside the point). I need the mirror to check my form and positioning. So how about you get your weights and walk a few feet away from the rack so the rest of us can get to it and see the mirrors? Hmmm?

Oh, and you there - Mr. Beer Belly - for the love of God, do us all a favor and buy a proper shirt. Yes, I know your arms are getting pretty buff, there, Arnold, but I really don't need to have the memory of you all decked out in your skin-tight Under Armour shirt burning into my corneas for the rest of my life.

That is all.

kayleeblue

Just had this happen the other day..I go to the Y and use the free weight room..there were like 5 guys in there working out..Not screwing around, but truly working out..Then in the corner you have 3 girls in their early 20s playing with the medicine balls. Then in the center of the room you have 2 young girls, maybe 14 sitting on the stay balls...the 52 inch playing get this...paddycake!! I was so pissed! I do use those and they were playing on the last two. There definitely needs to be an age limit!!

ladybug1009

Ah! How could I forget putting the weights back!? If you're going to lift a weight however many times, is it really going to kill you to lift it once more to put back on the rack?

Don't mind weights clanking, though, as someone else mentioned. [b/] On some lifts (like heavy dumbbell presses) dropping them is the only safe way to get them back on the ground. [/b] If you start objecting to that you're heading into Planet Fitness "come and work out but don't work out TOO hard" territory....

I went to a gym where this guy would do this with EVERY SINGLE weight he lifted. I would be quietly exercising on the treadmill and then all of a sudden hear this loud crashing sound because he would drop the weight bar. It honestly isn't safe for him to do that because not only could he drop that on his toes, but he could give someone a panic attack because of the sound. I almost fell off the treadmill a couple of times because it scared me. And this wasn't Planet Fitness.

YukonJoy

Ah! How could I forget putting the weights back!? If you're going to lift a weight however many times, is it really going to kill you to lift it once more to put back on the rack?

Don't mind weights clanking, though, as someone else mentioned. [b/] On some lifts (like heavy dumbbell presses) dropping them is the only safe way to get them back on the ground. [/b] If you start objecting to that you're heading into Planet Fitness "come and work out but don't work out TOO hard" territory....

Only if you are power lifting.

Otherwise, if you are strong enough to lift them up, you are strong enough to put them back down.

Luckily though, I work out in a small gym and it is usually mostly empty or just me and a couple guys who are respectful. There are no cell phone users, perfume wearers, bench hoggers, valley girl gossipers, pencil necks or jock wannabes. There are very rarely any times at my gym where people are actually being obnoxious.

Which is why I don't work out at rec centers. Ugh!

Jeff92se

Ah! How could I forget putting the weights back!? If you're going to lift a weight however many times, is it really going to kill you to lift it once more to put back on the rack?

Don't mind weights clanking, though, as someone else mentioned. [b/] On some lifts (like heavy dumbbell presses) dropping them is the only safe way to get them back on the ground. [/b] If you start objecting to that you're heading into Planet Fitness "come and work out but don't work out TOO hard" territory....

Only if you are power lifting.

Otherwise, if you are strong enough to lift them up, you are strong enough to put them back down.

Luckily though, I work out in a small gym and it is usually mostly empty or just me and a couple guys who are respectful. There are no cell phone users, perfume wearers, bench hoggers, valley girl gossipers, pencil necks or jock wannabes. There are very rarely any times at my gym where people are actually being obnoxious.

Which is why I don't work out at rec centers. Ugh!

I do power cleans to an over head press with 115lbs and 135lbs for reps. Sorry but I have to clank them on the ground sometimes.

LaComadreja14

I dont agree with the sweat thing, its the gym you have to expect that and the cell phone thing goes for most situations not just the gym, imo.
I dont go to the gym because (and maybe its just my area cuz this is the same reason I dont got to church oddly enough, lol) people stare at you like who the eff are you and what do you think you are doing here? Its annyoing.... so is the way people stare when they think you've been on a peice of equipment for too long. Dagger eyes.. i feel like saying back off b*tch I dont see your name on it, wait ur turn.
I'd rather save the money + avoid that weird feeling when you know someones watching you by working out at home

d2footballJRC

I go to the gym for up to two hours sometimes... If I am at the gym for over an hour my deodorant is going to get owned. I think if you have problems with deodorant and lack of the gym really isn't a place you are going to like as the byproduct of being at the gym creates the sweat which creates the BO.

As for the people yacking away on the phones, that annoys me as well. Most of the time I have headphones on though so I could care less.

aWashCloth

I work at a community gym, and I totally agree with people needing more gym etiquette. My top list of pet peeves, that I have to clean up after is:

1) Put your dumbbells away! Seriously.. its so unsafe and people will have a hard time finding what they want if they are all over the floor.. and I do have a bit of a hard time putting the 100lbs dumbbells away.
2)Remove your weights from the barbells and other free weight machines. The next person who wants to do it may not be able to lift all that extra weight, and it looks so dirt!
3) DON'T DROP THE WEIGHTS!! I cant stress that enough.. It breaks the weights and it just makes me cringe every time!
4)Clean your sweat off EVERY piece of machinery! Even the stuff you feel you didn't sweat that much. That way when you DO sweat, you don't leave a huge puddle for the next person.. soo gross!
5) Pick up your water bottles.. and throw them in the recycling if they are empty. I'm not your mother.. I shouldn't have to do this myself.

d2footballJRC

As for the power lifting and weight to the ground thing, I'm usually pretty good at not making much noise.. One day though I don't know what got into me, I was doing some clings and lifted an amount a lot more then I thought I could do. I slammed the weights down and flexed.. ultra nerdy but I felt so bad azz being able to do that amount and got caught by surprise I could.. Too much testosterone or adrenaline. I thought the chick on the exercise bike was going to fall off it at first, she looked at me and laughed pretty hard. I told her I'm a T-REX!

Jeff92se

How do you break the weights by dropping them? They are solid iron/steel. You could drop them out of the gym's 2nd floor window and not break them.

Anyone try to gently put down two 75lb dumbells after doing a set of flat bench presses? You'd probably hurt your shoulder doing that.

ReinasWrath

I'm ok with sweat obviously!! It is a gym and you never know when you'll be the one starting to reek. What I hate is people staring at you long enough that you feel uncomfortable,or peeking over constantly at my stats, or hogging equipment for over an hour and a half!

jkestens63

I don't mind if you work up a stinky sweat but when you walk in the door reeking - that's just a hygeine issue.

Over perfumed/cologned.... just don't.

And why are you in full blown hair and make up if you actually plan to work out & sweat? Oh that's right, you're there to chat on the phone, read a book, gossip with the other gals. But then I'm sure you tell you're friends you go to the gym every day and "work out".

Gentlemen, be more discreet about adjusting your junk. I understand that things may move but don't start grabbing yourself and trying make it just right when you are standing next me. Its kinda gross and inappropriate. Step off into a corner or something.

Can we all agree that just respect one another is the way to go. Sometimes people will hog a machine - be polite about asking if they are going to be long. Don't tell the person they've been on there long enough and then stand there and stare at them for the next 10 minutes (this particular woman has also hurled racial insults at others in the gym, will stand there and bad mouth you to anyone who walks by, and then goes crying to the staff). Trust me, not going to get my *kitten* of the machine if you are rude to me. I know sometimes I'm on a machine more than the recommended 30 min (which is why most of the time I will go in at the crack of dawn to spend a little extra time on it, forgive me for running late once in a while) and if you want it I don't have a problem with that, just don't be a jerk about it.

I do try to ignore most people, I'm not a socializer at the gym but sometimes their actions get your notice.

jkestens63

Oh and one other thing, take off the sunglasses - you are not a superstar and never will be.

kassandra81

People who loiter on the machines. Complete their set of 15 and sit for 10 mins, really???? They must have a ton of time on their hands to just hang at the gym like that! I certainly don't. I want to get my stuff done, work out hard and well, and go home. I have other stuff to do.

People who don't wipe down their machines. They have the spray and towels all over the gym, it's not that hard! I remember getting off a machine, walking over to get the paper towel and spray only to walk back and find some guy using the machine. Gag! lol. It kinda made me laugh though, and I've seen this guy a few times around the guy so I told him that I never wiped it down and he said "oh, it's ok" really? really? blech!

People who SCREAM with every movement. There is a girl at the gym, and she is a screamer. She's made me laugh on occasion becasue she sounds like she is in agony!!! Yet her weights are only at 10-20lbs... really? lol

People (but I've only seen the men doing this) who constantly stop in front of the mirror where I am in view of for being on my machine and start flexing and checking themselves out. Hrmm... move! lol well I've seen the women checking out their *kitten*.

Sweat - I can handle. It's the gym. Only once do I remember a group of guys in a corner of the gym, and I had to go there to use one of the machines and I started to gag. It was so bad. It was more of the food that they ate coming through, blech!
Perfume/Cologne - No go!

AlsDonkBoxSquat

Phones in the group ex classes, I don't really care one way or another otherwise, but in the middle of classes? Grunting like you're having an O, I do a little grunting to get that bar up from time to time, but there's that and then there's sexual screaming in the weight room.