what do you call these people?

leska1216

Personally it's their membership why do they need to do what is acceptable to you. You dont know what their situation is. They could be thinking the same thing or worse about you. This kind of attitude is why a lot of people stay away from the gym. Work on yourself and leave other people to themselves.

Applause.

I so agree with you!!. Sometimes we need to take things slowly, we may be ill or recovering from an injury. Personally, when I go to the gym it's with 2 Wing Chung instructors (both black belts), my daughter, and 1 or 2 more people. Frankly, I can keep up with them no problem, and sometimes I find them not moving enough for my taste. I do go off and do my own thing, and sometimes they give me kaka because they think I am doing things I shouldn't be doing.

MaraDiaz

http://www.leangains.com/2011/09/fu ckarounditis.html (get rid of the spaces)

Pretty much sums it up.

Cr*p, I suffer from f*ckarounditis, I am a fan of an upturned Bosu ball :sad:

I've been told using one of those might help me with my spinal alignment (it's so off that when I run I am only getting blisters on one foot due to uneven stride).

If anyone glares at me for it, I'm going to pick the damn thing up and throw it at them.

leska1216

I'm one of these people. That's why I no longer have a gym membership, just a treadmill at home.

I'll tell you my reasons:

a) I really, really, really hate exercising. No, really. I hate it with the fire of a thousand suns. It hurts, and it gets me nowhere (at least, until recently).
b) I have no idea what to do on those machines. No idea how I'm supposed to sit or position myself so I don't give myself another injury, no idea how many reps I should be doing, or on what weight, or anything like that.
c) If I do one set on something, I feel as if people are looking at me and judging me because I don't know what I'm doing (which has pretty much just been confirmed by your post!), so rather than embarrass myself anymore, I just get off the machine and try to find something I do know how to do.
d) I get discouraged really easily, and feel intimidated, so if I've tried a few machines and can't work them out, I'll just give up and go home after 15 minutes instead of hanging around and prolonging my embarrassment.
e) I have no motivation or will to push myself. I used to have a personal trainer 5 days a week for that exact reason. If I have someone standing over me saying, "get on this, do 5 sets of 20, now!" then I'll do it, and I'll push it hard. If I don't have that person, I simply cannot be bothered. I have no idea why (psychology!).

And the reason I say it hurts is because I have numerous injuries and congenital issues (back problems, neck problems, wrist problems, feet problems, knee problems, shoulder problems). When I try to use machines myself, I am tentative because I have no idea what the correct posture is, and things just hurt when I do them wrong (and sometimes even when I do them right). If I don't have a correctly trained personal trainer with me, I'm too scared to do anything.

The reason I say it gets me nowhere is because I had a personal trainer 5 days a week for about 2.5 years. I worked hard (threw up a number of times, even). I literally lost 6 kgs (almost 13 lbs) the entire time. :sad: And yes, I was following a healthy diet plan very strictly. That is a lot of effort and a tonne of money for practically nothing. Another time, I was on Jenny Craig for 9 months, and I cycled to work and back every day. It was a 30 km round trip with some nasty hills, and I really pushed myself, trying to get quicker and quicker times each day. In all of those 9 months, I only lost 4 kgs (almost 9 lbs) :sad: (that's when I gave up on MFP - I only just returned at the beginning of December).

What I didn't know at the time was that my food intolerances were causing my weight gain/inability to shed weight. I am currently on the elimination diet developed by the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University of Sydney to work out what it is I am intolerant to (I had other symptoms too, not just unexplained weight gain and inability to lose weight), however, it's suspected to be gluten and lactose. I've been on the diet now for just under a month, and have already lost 7.1 kgs (about 16 lbs). And I have done no exercise whatsoever (in the middle of exams and assignments, and also work full time - treadmill takes a back seat!). I'm now losing weight 16 times faster than before! :bigsmile:

Anyway, I digress. My point was, there are a lot of reasons I was one of those people at the gym, and I suspect there a lot of other reasons that other people are like that. I think you should just focus on yourself, and stop worrying about what everyone else is doing (unless they're stopping you from achieving your goals?) - at least you can ensure your own sanity that way!

Kudos to you! Keep it up. I do understand what you are saying, and by the way, it's no ones business.

katescurios

Think I might be one of those people when it comes to the weight machines and the very basic answer is that I have no idea whatsoever what I should be doing with the infernal machines. How heavy the weight should be, whether my 'form' is right or anything else and all the people who work there or look like they would know what to do all look very intimidating to me.

So I stick with the exercise bike and treadmill and keep going till I feel like I can't go anymore. Sometimes I decide I'd like to try to add some weights so I go up to the machine, I read the label, I give it a go and then I get scared that I look like an idiot or that I'm doing something really wrong so I move on.

Pretty sure I'm not the only person who finds the gym a really intimidating and foreign environment, has to be said that evil looks from 'serious gym users' really doesn't help!

leska1216

I always used to wonder at the chicks that come in in full make up, work out without sweating and leave the gym make up still intact.
:huh:

But at the end of the day, if their money and time being wasted.

Some people really have a sweat fixation lol. So I also wear make up to the gym, and I don't sweat that much. I am obviously doing something wrong....who gives a sh@t what other people look like/do at the gym. Why don't you moaners just get on with your own workouts and stop worrying about what other people are up to.

Most of the time when I go to the gym I am coming from someplace: ie: from Church, a function/event somewhere, etc, so I do go to the gym in makeup and dressed up. I leave the gym in makeup, messy hair, sweaty tshirt, shorts, sox, running shoes and my leather coat. Everything else goes into the gym bag.

What's the big deal? Makeup or no makeup, it doesn't matter.

FirstCoastLisa

I applaud your post on the basis that you used the word "pernicious" if absolutely nothing else.

I liked the use of "tomfoolery" too!

mem50

Peacocks? Trollers for dates? I just wanna be seen and looked at personality? Newbies that don't have a clue what they are doing? As for me, when I did the gym and saw one of the fiddlers with equpment I would go over and ask if they needed help. Normally I got a grateful look and a big Yes. The other times I got the down your nose look-over and ignore. Their loss. I'm a nice person.

BTW...smileys rule :smokin:

ldrosophila

Edit: just discovered "yert" should be spelled "yurt", my bad. Not a word I see spelled out everyday!

How dare u spall yurt wrung. Thar shud b no spallng mastooks on MFP. Next tym be a dixshunary...darn yurt misspaller.

jsenecal12

I can understand your frustration. I had a similar experience at the gym Saturday night. I was sweating my *kitten* off and doing intervals on the treadmill in the ladies area, and there were these two young chicklings (couldn't be more than 18 or 19 years old). They were laying on the floor facing each other on on workout mats texting/facebooking and showing each other pictures. I was there for over an hour and they hadn't done a damn thing.

This isn't a slumber party, baby girls! If you're at the gym, move your *kitten*! If you're going to do stupid stuff like that take it into the lounge area.

It frustrates me, but then again, stuff like this makes me laugh because they're paying monthly membership fees for nothing. I guess that part kind of makes me feel better? But then again, girls like this are in my way and I have to step over them to get to weights.

"Baby girls?" These girls weren't bothering you at all, and you're mocking them for something so simple as their age? How about be happy for them that at least they have fitness in mind so early on in life? Just because they weren't there working as hard as you doesn't give you the right to attack them.

ColleenHollis

Funny replys ) I have a self assigned heckler in his 70's who makes a point every morning to state how sweaty I am or how I'm going to break a machine. I just laugh it off but it is a bit annoying. I'm there for a workout. Social hour can happen somewhere else.

WinnerVictorious

What are all these people doing? Some days I feel like yelling at the whole gym.

they are there to spy on you for the government.

shhhhhh! don't let them know you know.

_SABOTEUR_

Personally, they don't bother me much. What bothers me is when they have amazing bodies and that's all the exercise they need to do to stay fit. But, that is clearly jealousy.

daffodilsoup

When I was first started pursuing a healthier, more active lifestyle, just showing up at the gym was a huge accomplishment compared to what my lifestyle used to be. If they aren't doing anything to actively irritate you, it's best to focus on your own workout.