what do you call these people?

I don't belong to a gym, but I did go with my aunt to the Salvation KROC center while I was visiting family in Michigan. It truly is a state of the art facility with all the bells and whistles. I was very impressed with the place, and was a little jealous that my aunt had full access to this wonderful place for free, since she works there.

i only have my free weights normally, and my DVDs.

While I was there, I witnessed this same exact thing - I couldn't believe my eyes.

People were walking around the indoor tracker slower than if you were browsing at the grocery store.

I normally work out at home, so I figured when I went, everybody would be there to do actual work like I did.

I seemed to be the only breaking a sweat.

It was bizarre, to say the least.

I wish I could afford to go to a gym unemployment sucks. Yes I can workout out at home and I do but I'd like to have access to more equipment and classes

Sounds like a religion in this thread. People pretending to be all holier than thou but there are plenty of folks that just show up to a lot of things without any heart in it. That's just how it is.

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!

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!

Wow that really sucks, big kudos to you for not giving up as I'm sure many would have done given your results, and I'm glad you found the source of the issue!

This is a random thought, jerk of a topic. And if you're annoyed by smileys, look away.

When I go to the gym I see tons of people, the majority, just don't seem to be that serious about being there. They don't do sets, they do like 1 set of something and move on (trust me, they're not circuit training). They don't break a sweat. They fiddle with the equipment for 5 minutes, use it for 30 seconds and move on. They lift for about 10mins and leave, if I'm lucky.

I dunno, I thought the point of going was to do something useful. When I'm done I'm drenched in sweat. Sometimes I'm near exhaustion or get nauseous (and not just at the people :laugh: ). I know what I can handle and I take it to that point.

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

To the ones that are there really doing work I am in awe of you. There was a morbidly obese guy on the treadmill today, he was doing a fast walk for at least 30mins if not longer. I almost thought that wasn't too hard, then I noticed the incline he had it cranked up to. Dude was sweatin to the oldies like Richard Simmons was behind him with a bullwhip. Hat's off to that guy. :drinker:

But the amount of tomfoolery and pernicious sillyness going on at the gym is going to cause me to have a full on meltdown. :devil:

If you are able to spend time watching people at the gym for long enough to notice that they are not working hard enough and catalogue their lack in such detail.
You are one of them; you’re clearly not working hard enough to justify your own attendance of the same gym.
I go to the gym and focus and leave when I’m done, unless someone died in front of me as I’m working out I doubt I’d notice. Stop looking for an excuse to not work hard and either get on with your own workout or stop *****ing about people slacking the same as you.

have you thought that they may be seeing what something does? At the gym I go to, I only really know about the elliptical. I go around some of the machines and do a few to see what they are and what they do. I may do 5 of something, I may do 500 depending of if I feel comfortable. Instead of judging them, why don't you go say hi and not be a jerk?

Good grief. In the time it took you to write all that you could do some research and learn some things that would help you. Solve your A-D reasons at least.

Such as? Way to dismiss other people's issues and concerns, dude. I was trying to be supportive and perhaps give you an answer to your question.