Gym "guys"

samntha14

Ms. "All Business" -

This one I like. She comes to the gym in a beat up t-shirt or tank top and some generic workout pants. She doesn't have her makeup done. She doesn't bother with machines. She goes straight to the free weights after her warmup and spends the next hour or so going through a series of resistance workouts you typically don't see women doing, moving poundages that could give a lot of the guys a run for their money. Half the guys in the gym have massive crushes on her but nobody will approach her because the intensity with which she goes at her workouts gives off an air that says "OFF LIMITS! I'M HERE TO GET STUFF DONE!"

This is ME!! In fact I have perfected my ***** face to the point that only the "hound-dog" will talk to me let alone look at me. But I smile when I need something LOL.

(Just traded in my old t-shirt for a tank. It's hot)

ki4yxo

i ignore other people at the gym... im just there to do what i do

Pretty much! The observations are kind of funny though...

gatecityradio

Everybody at the gym annoys me

That is why I workout at home.

This

ki4yxo

Everybody at the gym annoys me

That is why I workout at home.

This

Wish I could fit a treadmill in the house! I'm lucky
we have a gym that is only $10 a month, no contract,
no bank drafts, just pay as you go! Plus for the most
part we have regulars that are pretty normal. Most of
the time you get the nod from them as you come and go...

Not too bad.

imchicbad

i am " miss business" lol. Not that i care to know if any one is watching, but i hit the weights 7 machines- free weights and the mat. I go to workout vigerously, 1 minute break in between sets, and switch ups- i do have my makeup on though because i go straight after work, no time, i get in hour later out- i keep my headphones in at all times and super loud-dont want to be bothered- but have my sweat towl hair in a ponytail, toe shoes, and sweat up a storm. then go to the cardio room eliptical 20 minutes and i mean sprint. I could care less about the "show" and i see the guys look at me like''wth lol, ive seen alot of guys using the machines and thier exercize form incorrectly, its quite halarious how many people are posers. funny thing, im always the only girl when i go.

purpledelight

To the O.P. I like how Race is only mentioned when they are Black. :laugh: :noway:

Can I get some clarification on this? Are you saying that the people who AREN'T mentioning race are ONLY talking about white people? Not trying to pick a fight here. I'm genuinely confused as to what point you're trying to make.

Some people just look for an argument.

I tried so hard to stay away from this one but I just can't help myself, I guess.

It stuck out to me the first time I read the OP as well. He most definitely did what I call "othered" the Somali guys. Whatever. I just let that stuff slide off me. Better that that get labeled as the Angry Black Guy.

The young man just pointed out that about the original post. He wasn't referring to any of the other posts. So to answer your questions, Yes, it's fairly clear that people (in the OP) who's ethnicity wasn't pointed out were probably white. No, he wasn't saying that every other post in this thread was about white people, No, he's not trying to start an argument, just pointing out a conversational gaffe that a million people make a million times a day without being aware that they are "othering" and it might be offensive.

Why are you automatically assuming the other people weren't black?

The last question is really a question for another thread, on some other site. But whatever, I'm neck deep now. The answer is because the weren't. I read about one book (fiction) per week, and as a rule of thumb if no race is mentioned, all of the characters are white. When the occasional character of race shows up, the author will make you keenly aware (violent Somalis!) by some combination of name, description of skin or hair, or maybe even go Full Mark Twain and have them speak in a ridiculous accent. There are some books where none of that happens and I'm free to imagine the characters in my head as various races, but the second they do that labeling thing, I realize that every character up until that point was supposed to be white. Sometimes I don't care, sometimes it makes me sad. Depends on how stupid the accent is. As always, YMMV.

Hopefully that didn't come off as angry or like I'm trying to start and argument, because that's definitely not the spirit I typed this in. Just wanted it noted that he didn't just pull that thought out of his *kitten*. Or even if he did, he wasn't the only one

ME <stands and applauds>

purpledelight

Yeah living in Vegas I often see the "club girls" the "gym rats" and so many more terms for these people. What annoys me most is that people care so much about other people at the gym. Quite honestly, I go to the gym to work out. 95% of the time I don't notice other people around me, the other 5% of the time that I do notice is when I am either (A) with my trainer, so I have to pay attention, (B) someone is on a machine I need to use next so I am waiting for it but dont want to seem pushy (C) your dropping weights, grunting or doing the "look at me" noises. I go to the gym in workout clothes, some cute some not so cute. All depends on what I got a good deal on when I was shopping for workout clothes. Sometimes I go in afterwork and I walk in in a pair of heels with a full face of makeup, but that isn't what I work out in (other than the makeup); I am there to workout none-the-less. I understand peoples pet peeves with the people who "have good bodies" and come to the gym as a fashion show or to show off their bodies more then to work out to improve or keep their bodies.

I can honestly say that some of the people I have ran into at my gym were more motivation for me; There is a woman who has a prosthetic leg who runs 5+ miles a day at the gym (again I live in Vegas and running outside at 110* can suck) she runs with determination and strength. AMAZES me!
Then there is this woman who comes in and has been for quite sometime now, she is an older (40+) mother of four. She is very overweight when she started; She was over 400 LBS when I first saw her coming in. She now is down to 250'ish, and still working hard. One day in the locker room she made a comment about how often we run into one another at the gym she felt like she knew me we had seen one another so much. She asked why if I was there all the time my body wasn't changing. She had after all lost 150'ish LBS and I still looked about the same. I explained that I have a thyroid condition so its basically like fighting an uphill battle just to maintain my body let alone lose weight, but I still keep going toward a healthier me. One day about a week or so after our conversation as I was changing and leaving she hands me a card and rushes out of the locker room. I threw the card in my bag and left as I was in a hurry. Later when I opened it and read it, it simply said Thank you for your honesty. You inspire me. Which brought me to tears. How could I inspire anyone? I wasn't losing weight hardly at all; So next time I saw her, I thanked her for her kind words and asked her how on earth I was an inspiration. She told me, cause even though your not seeing instant results you don't give up. Apparently she had platued at a weight block and was thinking that was the best she would ever be, which made her unhappy and want to give up her goals and go back to pre-gym life. She said I made her realize it wasn't completely about the weight loss as much as it was about getting healthy for her family to be around longer. We now work out 5 days a week together, and while our workouts aren't strenuous as some peoples, they make us sweat and burn calories and more importantly they make us healthier.

So while all gyms have those annoying "Look At Me" types, all gyms also have those inspirational types as well. Although I must admit the club girls and the gym rats are kind of hilarious at times and annoying at other times.

Another post that makes me proud to be human!
Way to go!!

lkc2854

All these posts gave me a chuckle and made me somewhat glad that I don't go to a "regular" gym.

I'm 58 years old and have COPD and had a silent heart attack in 2006. So my cardiologist and pulmonologist have me in a cardiac/pulmonary medically supervised exercise program two days a week. When I started it 3 years ago, I could only do 1.2mph on the treadmill for 5 minutes before my oxygen level plummeted into the 80's and my heart rate skyrocketed. Now, I do interval training on the treadmill, work out on the elliptical trainer and do both free weights and machine weights. So I've come a long way in the past 3 years, but will probably never graduate to a full fledged "gym rat", but I'm excited about the increased stamina and the progress I've made so far. But I keep pushing it just to see what my body (i.e. my heart and lungs) will tolerate. Thank goodness I quit smoking after the heart attack and being diagnosed with the COPD, or I wouldn't have made as much progress as I have.

In addition, I do a water aerobics class 2 days a week and have recently taken up a line dancing class one day a week. And I'm considering signing up for a beginning Zumba class (due to the COPD).

I have lost 102 pounds since December, 2009 and am now just working on maintaining that loss while building my stamina and staying toned. Maybe I can get to a gym some day, but I want to make sure that I'm not going to get myself in trouble medically before I look around for one.

BigBrewski

This thread gave me a few chuckles. I used to play racquetball at night during "prime" meathead / pretty girl hours. You know the time where all the muscle heads and the hard body girls hit the gym to stand around and talk to each other while the real peole that are trying to use the gym have to manuver around them. My buddies and I used to get a kick out of watching it all between games of racquetball.

Then once I started lifting weights I choose to go in the early morning where the folks there were just average joes and janes there to work out and became friends with a lot of them fast. Once you go to the gym with that crowd for a few weeks as soon as you miss a day when you show back up they all point out that you missed a day

I did get a kick out of the "bench" dudes somone mentioned it earlier in the thread but it was a set of 3 guys that looked like power lifters I wouldn't call them "tone" at all but they would show up put a ton of weight on the bench and do a few reps then add weight do a few more and talk **** to each other...then they would walk on the treadmill for 15 minutes and leave. Really...you workout consists of just benching ????

alexveksler

I am just wondering what people say about me? If you've seen my image, please share. I'd love to know what people would think about:
a 50 year old, who hogs Precor 450 elliptical trainer for 60 minutes at the max resistance and max incline. I have 2 15LB dumbells resting on my screen monitor and use them throughout an hour. I sweat like a pig in Russian banya, I look gross. I listen to my Ozzy station(after all I am 50) on my Pandora with max volume and totally checked out from the world. I grin like an idiot every time new song comes up and makes me run more and on occasion I adjust my heart rate monitor to make sure I don't kill myself.

Sometimes I catch a dirty look from someone next to me. I don't know why. Maybe because I sling gallons of sweat in his direction? (just kidding about the sweat). But I feel people look at me funny, like I am sacrificing a goat.

hesn92

The guys that annoy me at the gym are the ones who never put anything back where they go. They just leave weights and bars and shiz all willy nilly across the gym as they please.

ster81

The guys that annoy me at the gym are the ones who never put anything back where they go. They just leave weights and bars and shiz all willy nilly across the gym as they please.

Hit it on the spot right there. Nothing more annoying than this. At my gym we have this really cool older janitor that cleans up the spot in the morning. I come in before him each day, just to clean up all the weights that others left behind so he doesn't hurt himself... Plus it's a good warm up :P

lilRicki

the guy who brings his girlfriend to the gym.. he works out and she stands over him chatting and giggling..

THIS DRIVES ME! Pick up a damn weight and show your man how it's done!

Danielle_2013

There are a few types in the school gym I use:

The stinker - you know him.. the guy who hasn't changed his clothes in 3 days and/or discovered the miracle of deodorant
The dripper - who never wipes down anything after using it and leaves droplets of sweat in his/her wake
The sexy stretcher (previously mentioned - but so true!) - thin girls in lululemon who only seem to come to the gym to stretch provocatively (yes I am jealous!)

I am not Ms. Business at all sadly - I'm more like "the watcher" or "the copycat". I visually stalk the obviously fit guys in the weights area from my perch on some piece of cardio equipment to try and see what they are doing. When it is less busy, if I'm feeling brave I go and over and test out the bars and free weights and try my newly discovered exercises!
Wait.. maybe I should be called the "cheapo" as I can't afford a trainer.. ha ha

newve

bump

lilRicki

I work out at a body building gym, clearly I don't belong there but I don't give a rat's butt...my son practices football across the street, so while he's on the field, I go lift weights. While I'm there, I get a super ripped he/she come up and start pimping herself out to me...she only costs $50/hr, $80 for two of us, she will be mean but we'll be ripped...took me a second to realize she wants to be our personal trainers. This bugs me, don't solicit yourself while I'm in the middle of a deadlift, it's tacky.

HornsUT32

"The Attention *kitten*"

She was stick thin, nearly annorexic looking...with breast implants larger than her head. She wasn't wearing a sports bra, but rather a "push-up" bra so that the new cleavage from her implants was bouncing out of the bra. Then her shirt was cut (not made this way), but cut to be extra low cut. It was cut low enough to actually see the top of the bra.

She had a long blonde, perfectly braided poney tail. Her makeup was extra thick, and there wasnt a bead of sweat on her. Oh, and did I meantion that I only saw her sit on one machine..not workout..but actually sit. She walked around the gym 3 or4 times, but then I think she realized it was pretty empty..so she left.

She looked just like a barbie, and was probably as smart as one too!!!

iWaffle

We have a Dumbell Dropper at my gym,

I'll fully admit I'm that guy on one specific exercise. When I do dumbbell bench press it's basically impossible to do 6 - 8 reps to failure with 80 lb dumbbells and then sit back up and casually set them on the floor. On that last rep my arms are done and there's no way I'm doing a sit-up with 160 pounds on my chest. I don't think my abs are that strong. I try to dump them as softly as possible but those puppies are going on the floor. Gravity insists that they go there.


My favorite is what I call the "No Fan Guy". He wears what looks like basketball warm up pants and jacket with a hoodie when he does cardio or weights. He insists that the ceiling fans be off so he can sweat as much as possible when he works out. We've had epic wars over this. One time we must have cycled through 5 turns of turning the overhead fans on and off. He turns them off, and I would walk back over and turn them back on.

My other pet peeve, worse than not racking the weights, is the guy that puts the 10 lb. weight on with the stack of 45s. I've pulled off a plate and had a 10 or 5 lb plate fall onto my foot a couple of times. That makes me madder than anything.

angelakj23

This will probably not be as funny on here as it was to see in person, but there was this guy that was always at my gym on an elliptical machine going sooooo fast. It was soooo funny to see him whizzing that machine around, I was waiting for the day when he got caught up on it or just flew himself off.

Another one, I saw this video online and thought it was a hoot, this really takes coordination!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RcVtON3Zlc

vfnmoody

This one is kind of cool ...There is a 40 some thing guy who comes to our gym and never lifts a weight.. he just hangs out with his teenage(?) son.. spots his lifts and helps change weight on the bar...seems to be the way they spend time together...

contingencyplan

I'm a dumbbell dropper on the bench press. I don't do benches with the barbell for this reason. I work to failure at relatively low reps and with DBs you can just drop them when you *fail.* Of course I try to avoid it when I can, but I do it when I have to.

DFWTT

I'm the annoying guy in the free weight area that is constantly straightening weight racks between sets. Same number of 45's, 25's, matched evenly on both sides of the stand. I also de-load the bar when I'm done with it....such an atrocity. Ms All-Business....marry me...now before the beta-alanine and testosterone wears off.
My fav is the mother daughter team that Zumba close to the window so that all the dude look in. They then proceed to hit on everyone tht showed an interest.
Curlbro dude that loads 45's on the EZ bar....get the fk off, seriously.
Cardio queen that only does legs and back after an intense elliptical workout....I need some of that.
40 degree hat dude dressed like he's hitting the club afterward....got ***** slapped in the locker room after talking *kitten* to the old hiking boot guy that normally hits on the sub-20 crowd. After I witnessed this, I had the most motivated workout of my life.
The screaming, grunting, making the set easier by severely altering form crowd never gets old. I have been on a 1RM and almost dropped the bar in hysteria.

dlwyatt82

My other pet peeve, worse than not racking the weights, is the guy that puts the 10 lb. weight on with the stack of 45s. I've pulled off a plate and had a 10 or 5 lb plate fall onto my foot a couple of times. That makes me madder than anything.

I'm confused. Do you mean on the bar, or on the rack? On the bar, you load up whatever weight you intend to lift. Do you think that once you can lift 225 pounds, you should jump straight to 275 by adding on heavier plates?

danieljlucas

This is why I don't join a gym. It isn't because I might encounter these types, but because I will definately encounter all of you. The complaints about lack of basic courtesy are understandable, but categorizing people based on what workouts they choose to do, how they do them, and what they look like while doing them is just brutal.

This entire thread was soul crushing. I'm going to go eat a pint of icecream now. Goodbye.

iCupCakeNZ

lol. this thread made my night

WhiteCloud9

The Wiggler:
The guy or gal who wiggles all around while trying to lift a weight that is clearly so heavy they lose proper form. I'm more annoyed at these people because it's an injury waiting to happen.

The Strutter:
Saw him last night. I go to the recreation/swim center in my town and it's mostly families and non "meatheads." It's not intimidating so I actually enjoy working out. Once in a while a guy comes in who acts like he owns the place and wants attention. Last night, this guy jumped on a bench that I had literally just go up from, and never asked if I was done. We were the only two people in that part of the gym and there was another bench he could have used. When he was done he just strutted out slowly. Later he came back into that room, did the same exercise, except this time decided to loudly grunt through it. Yes, I noticed you because you were the only other person in the room and you ticked me off!

I know I'm not the hot girl in the cute shorts and I don't try to be. I just hope that I'm using proper gym etiquette by wiping down the machines, putting things away in their proper place, and not hogging the machines. I would like to think people see me as Mrs. Business because I come in with hair held back by a headband, no makeup, t-shirt and shorts, and really care about strength training and proper form.

melry77

The most annoying person is ME! I have been lifting at home but I still go to the gym a few days per week, sit on the recumbant bike and watch tv, it's my baby free me-time and "going to the gym" justifies leaving the baby at my moms for an extra hour. Plus we have no tv at home. No apologies here!

jessgarr27

The guy who makes orgasm sounds !!!. Eew LOL then looks around to see of anyone notices ..!! Ya dude we noticed and think your ridiculous

iWaffle

My other pet peeve, worse than not racking the weights, is the guy that puts the 10 lb. weight on with the stack of 45s. I've pulled off a plate and had a 10 or 5 lb plate fall onto my foot a couple of times. That makes me madder than anything.

I'm confused. Do you mean on the bar, or on the rack?

I'm talking about people stacking 10s or 5s on the rack in front of the 45s. I normally just move them but on occasion I've missed that they were there and at my gym the 45s aren't right on the ground.

Curlbro dude that loads 45's on the EZ bar....get the fk off, seriously.

What's wrong with curling 45's on the EZ bar? Don't use that bar too much but some times I do. Well it does look a little silly I suppose.

jenj1313

Any guy in spandex that isn't in spin class.