The Gym Etiquette Paradox

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  • MarcoRod
    MarcoRod Posts: 150 Member
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    Gorilla, my guess is that you're from the Northeast (so am I, btw) where there is definitely a strong competitive vibe. Since living in Texas for the last 10 years I've grown more patient and tolerant of others. I think maybe it has to do with people being more polite and friendlier or maybe I'm just older. Anyway, I'm the one who's benefited from this because I'm not angry or on edge all the time.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    First off, I've never really found your posts humorous till now. This was amusing.

    Secondly, you don't like other meathead because you are an overcompetitive alpha-male. And you don't mind the little old ladies because, as you said, empathy and they are all someone's grandma.
  • Lindseyelizabeth87
    Lindseyelizabeth87 Posts: 151 Member
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    I only get really annoyed by people using equipment in a snail's pace while texting or flipping through facebook pictures.
    I always feel like they're updating everyone in their life that they've made it to the gym, but they're not actually doing anything!

    It's the same as people who are texting and walking ahead of me in a crowd, when they slow right down because they're focused on their phone.. Only these people are on exercise equipment. Soo annoying!
  • sho3girl
    sho3girl Posts: 10,799 Member
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    competition. meathead(ball)s=competition for you. you want to make them look bad. little old lady=adore the ground you walk on. you have to keep that **** around to make you feel good.
    Actually, most old ladies... and most people... are absolutely terrified of me. Not kidding. In fact, ironically, the only living things that are not initially scared of me are puppies and babies. I make adults cry... yet I can't peel puppies and infants off of me. I have no idea why.

    Children and animals are a good indicator of the kind of person you REALLY are !
  • KristalandVi
    KristalandVi Posts: 44 Member
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    Nothing bothers me at the gym
    Except guys on the next treadmill. D'oh.

    Oh them yea. And the girl that comes in with full make up and perfect hair ( the one that never breaks a sweat even after an hour of working out)..Oh and the two girl-friends that workout together and dont shut the f*** up the whole time, there is no loud enough music that helps me with that.

    But other than that, nothing bothers me

    hahaha....I love that! Maybe we´ll find something more ;)

    I just hate smelly people :)

    You mean I'm not supposed to wear the same workout clothes for 6 months?
    Well, you CAN. We just suggest washing them now and again.
  • claire_90
    claire_90 Posts: 99
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    I'm the same sexy young girls I just wanna shave there heads an feed them cake even if they look at me or walk near my section!!! But men can stand next to me all daylong if they want ahha x

    I have never laughed and agreed more at anything lol
  • DaveRCF
    DaveRCF Posts: 266
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    Don't have quite the same violent thoughts but I definitely size up the guys who are about the same age/fitness level to see how many pullups they can do and of course if it is more than me, they must be kipping. I would stack it up to competitiiveness. Granny isn't a threat so no competitive juices flowing there.
  • transvenouspacer
    transvenouspacer Posts: 182 Member
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    Have you ever noticed that your tolerance and patience for others in the gym is directly related to your personal feelings for that particular "type" or "group" of individuals?

    No, just the usual jealousy of beautiful women especially the ones who actually look good in skinny jeans. Grrr
    So, why are we so much more patient with the groups of people we "like?" Why do meatheads make me physically angry for absolutely no reason, whilst little old ladies could take a dump on the walking-track, and I'd just stand there, smile and say, "Isn't Mabel absolutely adorable!?!? Good form on that one Mabel! Way to pinch it off! Have you been eating more prunes?? I can tell, well done!"

    Natural selection probably explains my disgust for others like me. And empathy likely justifies the other.

    Your grandma sounds awesome. Is she on MFP? She should be; no one would ever dare argue with her :love:

    Hmmm...could it be that you are projecting onto others how you feel about yourself? Do you like yourself? Woah..there could be some serious implications here way beyond the scope of my pathetic amateur psychoanalyzing skills.

    I'm gonna go eat something with lots of carbs now.
    Just something to ponder this morning, while you sit at your desk and try to fool your boss into thinking your actually working.

    Happy Monday.
    Keep being awesome.

    I must say, I should try one of these desk jobs sometime. I never have time to play on a computer at work. It sounds like fun though!
  • jordandroid
    jordandroid Posts: 25 Member
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    I'm real fat and I always feel like I'm 'that girl' at the gym, I work out as hard as I can and try and build a sweat up but it feels like I'm nowhere near good enough to be there. Like yesterday I was on the stationary bike for 15-20 minutes between jogging and towards the end of the workout I had to slow down and stop to drink some water, I felt so embarrassed! Like I could feel the meatheads looking at me. :(
    I'm obviously aiming to be fitter and be able to manage to run for longer and workout for longer but I feel like if I'm sweating and exhausted, I'm doing it right... right?

    :l Should I carry on like this or is there anything else I can do to 'fit in' at the gym?
  • loopingcaterpillar
    loopingcaterpillar Posts: 157 Member
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    ooooh i hate gossiping people, dont gossip in the gym gossip in the cafe! i do not care about your dilemma/pets/babies/plans for later. i'm also expecting to be annoyed in january when all the phony new year resolution people join up and hog everything.
  • swbernstel
    swbernstel Posts: 15 Member
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    Thank you for making me laugh 'til I cry.

    The thing that pisses me off more than anything else in the gym is the *kitten* doing curls in the squat rack. Let me add a caveat to this though. If you're on par with Cutler, Schwarz, Wendler, and Spud and curling more weight than the dumbbells offer. That's fine. But when you are curling the bar only or the bar with 10's, I want to turn you into a human shish-kabob with that Olympic bar.

    Just my .02. Thanks again for the endorphins.
  • bigphatcat
    bigphatcat Posts: 7,843 Member
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    People who want to talk to me while I am at the gym. I am there to exercise, not socialize. LEAVE ME ALONE!!!
  • MandaPaigeSparkles88
    MandaPaigeSparkles88 Posts: 1,289 Member
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    We don't have little old ladies that go to the gym at the college. All we have is meathead weight lifters and girls who wear more makeup than Tammy Faye Baker spend 5 minutes on the elliptical and think that they break a sweat.

    I personally prefer the meathead weightlifters. It gives me something to look at while I workout. I once almost walked into the wall while looking at a guy with his shirt off practicing his posing for weight lifting competition. Go figure.
  • FullOfWin
    FullOfWin Posts: 1,414 Member
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    Have you ever noticed that your tolerance and patience for others in the gym is directly related to your personal feelings for that particular "type" or "group" of individuals?

    No, just the usual jealousy of beautiful women especially the ones who actually look good in skinny jeans. Grrr
    So, why are we so much more patient with the groups of people we "like?" Why do meatheads make me physically angry for absolutely no reason, whilst little old ladies could take a dump on the walking-track, and I'd just stand there, smile and say, "Isn't Mabel absolutely adorable!?!? Good form on that one Mabel! Way to pinch it off! Have you been eating more prunes?? I can tell, well done!"

    Natural selection probably explains my disgust for others like me. And empathy likely justifies the other.

    Your grandma sounds awesome. Is she on MFP? She should be; no one would ever dare argue with her :love:

    Hmmm...could it be that you are projecting onto others how you feel about yourself? Do you like yourself? Woah..there could be some serious implications here way beyond the scope of my pathetic amateur psychoanalyzing skills.

    I'm gonna go eat something with lots of carbs now.
    Just something to ponder this morning, while you sit at your desk and try to fool your boss into thinking your actually working.

    Happy Monday.
    Keep being awesome.

    I must say, I should try one of these desk jobs sometime. I never have time to play on a computer at work. It sounds like fun though!

    To suggest that Gorilla doesn't like himself is to admit that you don't know him at all ;)
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Just something to ponder this morning, while you sit at your desk and try to fool your boss into thinking your actually working.

    it was this bit that i loved.....
  • transvenouspacer
    transvenouspacer Posts: 182 Member
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    competition. meathead(ball)s=competition for you. you want to make them look bad. little old lady=adore the ground you walk on. you have to keep that **** around to make you feel good.
    Actually, most old ladies... and most people... are absolutely terrified of me. Not kidding. In fact, ironically, the only living things that are not initially scared of me are puppies and babies. I make adults cry... yet I can't peel puppies and infants off of me. I have no idea why.

    My dad has the same problem. He's big and loud and he scared the *kitten* out of all my friends growing up but animals and babies can't get enough of him! Drives me crazy cuz I'm small and quiet but animals practically run from me and babies look at me like they don't know quite what to do with me. :ohwell:
  • fit4lifeUcan2
    fit4lifeUcan2 Posts: 1,458 Member
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    For some reason old men seem to always gravitate towards me and will follow me around the gym talking to me. My teenage children think its funny. They tell their father that grandpa was hitting on mom lol. I try to be nice and just nod at whatever they're saying and go along with my routine but they will go on and on about all their surgeries, hip or knee replacements etc. They even ask me if I'm a nurse and I tell them no so why they keep going on and on I have no idea. My kids say because I'm nice and always smile. For once I would like to work out and not get side tracked several times to have to listen to some old mans medical history.
  • MellyGibson
    MellyGibson Posts: 297 Member
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    When I see women in better shape than I am at the gym it just motivates me to work harder. I'm FIERCELY competitive, and even if they don't KNOW I'm competing against them, I am.

    When I see "meatheads" at the gym - if they're good looking enough I'll enjoy looking (I do like 'em big), but if they start slamming the stacks I want to go give them a good hard junk punch! (and then count the calories)

    The rest of the people in there are just backround noise for me.
  • MichelleB69
    MichelleB69 Posts: 213 Member
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    GREAT post! As for the puppies/babies bit...your cover is blown. You're like a soft boiled egg: hard shell on the outside, all mushy and warm inside. Puppies and babies instinctively get that. ;)
  • drgndancer
    drgndancer Posts: 426 Member
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    That's probably a sexual-competition thing.
    I have very little patience for egotistical-meathead-gymrats [bold](ironic, I know)[/bold]. If [bold]another meathead[/bold] were to approach me in the gym and very politely ask if he may use the dumbells whenever I finish doing curls, I'd instinctively have a burning desire to punch him in the face, then pee in every corner of the weight-room, just so he'd know that everything in there is mine.

    I seems like you know at least part of the answer to your own question. We naturally dislike people we see as competition. You see guys like yourself as competition (whether sexual, or territorial), and naturally dislike them as a consequence. You can overcome this natural tendency in specific cases where you get to know the person well enough to form a nuanced opinion of them, and you can even (if you want to) reduce how much it affects your reaction to strangers (since you're aware that you do it), but you'll always struggle a little more to like someone who you see as competition.

    Conversely, older women clearly trip your protective instinct and cause the opposite gut reaction. You again probably dislike specific older women whom you've personally experienced bad things from, but your natural reaction is to trust and want to protect them absent any other cues.

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