Proper Gym Etiquette

Another gym "pet peeve" of mine is related to peacocks.

Don't come in to the gym with your best-bro/life partner/ shower buddy, set up a machine to do some heavy lifting, then strut around talking about getting big guns. (Yeah bro, you ARE big, but I would be too if I used the 'roids.)

Then you proceed to spend the next 40 minutes to do three sets of barbell rows with a single 35# plate on each side and using only 1/2 the ROM you should, grunting like a moose giving birth the entire time.

I'm fat, I'm not as built as you, but I'm still rowing double you and not grunting like a mammoth at the proctologist.

THIS!

It used to be my favorite part of the day watching dudes try to squat 300+ (but only dropped about 4 inches and thought it was a squat), or bench the same weight and not even go 1/3 of the way to their chest!
All while tying up an area for 30+ minutes, and making sounds that I imagine someone would make if being violated by a phone pole.

Don't hog multiple racks/machines to do your Crossfit routine while the gym is packed.

This gets me the most I think!!!!! Ugh - there are a few people that do this at my gym and they just expect everyone else at the gym to not use what they are cycling through (like 5-6 different things) so they can just go from one to the next without waiting. EFF that!!!

Edited to chime in on the hair and make-up on some females. Why come to the gym with prom hair and makeup complete with fake lashes if you are serious about working out, and then get on a stationary bike and slow pedal. Then walk around playing with your hair not trying to find any eqipment - just looking for people to check you out. -_- You are NOT there to get fit. Go home.

If you can carry on a conversation during a set you're not lifting enough weight and you're wasting everyone's time, including your own.

If you can do multiple sets of 25 reps you're not lifting enough weight and you're wasting everyone's time, including your own.

Resting after your last set should be done away from the platform, machine, bench, etc.

If you haven't broken a decent sweat in years let alone this particular workout, please don't worry about wiping the machine/bench down as if you're prepping it for surgery. I appreciate the thought, but if everything is dry as a bone, it's good with me, and I'm kind of in a hurry.

I agree 100% to most of these. Especially not re-racking the weights when you are done and loitering on machines. I only have an hour lunch break to workout and don't have all day to wait for a machine. I take a late lunch specifically because the gym is dead between 1-2. In order to maximize my time I do supersets, every now and again someone will get on the machine I need next and that is fine - I wasn't using it so I get it. However when you are simply sitting down on the bench to rest or text your friends I get flippin annoyed.

Also although it doesn't personally affect my workout I want to say if you are doing anything at the gym while talking on your cell you are not working hard enough. :P

Enjoying this thread. Just gonna add my thoughts even tho they have already been shared.

I dont use the cardio equipment much at all but I do know you have to sign up to use them and only for 30 minutes at a time, during busy times. If its not busy, no one else is signed up, go for it.

Hate when people come to Zumba class late (and I've gotten there early or at least on time) and you crowd right in front of me or next to me where there really isnt room. Find a spot in the back.

Dont drop your weight bar in body pump class on the wood floors. Really?

Guys, you might want to think of wearing underwear if yuo wear those baggy shorts, esp when I am behind you in yoga.

Gals, you should consider checking yourself out first before you wear the see thru pants, when you bend over, you can see too much.

Regarding makeup - I wear it and my hair is done, but thats because I'm coming straight from work. On weekends, I am plain faced and scary.

If Zumba class is at its capacity, try to be considerate and dont act like you have a ton of floor space. You dont. Look behind you, again you dont have a ton of floor space and I dont appreciate being stepped on because you can't be bothered.

Finally in the locker room, do you have to use the entire bench across 20 lockers for your stuff?

In response to Don't ever go to a Planet Fitness. Holy love of Jesus. I don't even know where to start....."

I disagree.However if you are going to go to a Planet Fitness then talk to some of the staff members first and find out when the quietest or best times are to go work out there for your needs. My local Planet Fitness opens early Monday morning and is open through Friday evening. Saturday/Sunday hours are 7 am to 7 pm. Late night or early morning is the best time to go and it truly is a "no judgement zone." If someone is hogging something especially during the busier times then staff will talk to them. Obviously there are going to be a lot of newbies at a place like this but that's not an issue. You don't have to join a place like that. You can also go to a place like RetroFitness where you can sweat, fart and grunt all you want. Then there are the "check 'em out/meat market clubs" mostly located in larger cities and at spa locations. Well - fine if you are going to join a place like that because your eyes need the exercise - I don't have an issue with that either. And of course let's not forget the small independently owned places - some of which provide a level of service you won't find elsewhere. Begins to sound like a large grocery store doesn't it? So my advice is this: first shop around. Most gyms will give you a guest pass or two so that you can see how it is to actually work out there. They may also give you a two week discounted rate for the same reason if you talk to the manager and are up front about what your needs and wants in a gym are. They may also let you come in and observe what is going on while you make a decision on whether or not you wish to join and talk to you about it. After all - they want you to be a happy member if you join their gym. There are very few areas where there is only one gym - so you do have a choice. Find one that suits your own style and don't expect to walk in to one and change everything there. If sweat on the equipment bothers you (as it should) then find out what the gym policy is and if it is indeed enforced. (Again - talk to a manager - not the minimum wage person who is talking with a friend on Facebook while working.) If it is supposed to be enforced and isn't then make a complaint. If nothing happens then you have a couple of choices: 1. join another gym. 2. talk to the offending member directly and if they tell you where to go then make your complaint. 3. If after doing that you are told where to go by staff call the local health department. Many places put signs up because the local or state health department requires it not because they intend to enforce it. 4. Finally yes - it is OK to be a troublemaker if you get nowhere with the above. Contact your local newspaper with a story idea about getting in shape. The pitch is that of online apps such as MFP (come on - get them some free press too) along with local workout places and personal trainers who might come to your home. Next touch upon the whole cleanliness issue etc. and be sure to mention the place/places where you have had constant problems. Finally remember - you don't need to work out at a place which looks like Felix Unger slept there but if you need an Oscar Madison style level of cleanliness then do yourself and everyone else a favor and buy your own equipment and work out at home! Trust me - I believe that everyone should be cleaning up after themselves - but I realize that many places don't enforce that and that many people have a sense of self-entitlement and therefore they won't do it. So bring your own disinfectant wipes and wipe it down yourself. And if a person is hogging too much stuff or "claims" a station as their own with a towel then (after checking out the gym's policy) pick up their garbage with a disinfectant wipe and put it on top of a trash can where it belongs. If they complain to you that "hey I was using that" you can always tell them - "nope you weren't - you were trying to hog it and we all have to work out and share." Oddly enough it is not usually the muscleheads who are doing this but people who just don't think. Stand up to them and they will usually back down. OK - I'm done with my rant.

Wipe your sweat even if you think you didn't sweat.

Don't "reserve" a machine by leaving your towel or water bottle then walking away for more than 5 minutes. This isn't your personal gym.

Don't "reserve" a cardio machine by leaving the TV set attached to it on. I can't tell if someone is still using it or just forgot to turn off the TV when they were done.

People hogging the machines for a long time just sitting there and staring off into space. The other day at the gym I had to wait nearly 30 minutes for this one guy and his gf to get off the leg press machine. First, he'd do 1 set, get off then she'd sit there chatting with him but not using the machine. Then she'd do 1 set and get off. He'd get on, they would chat again. This went on for so long.

Don't stare at women using the inner/outer thigh machine.

Don't workout next to someone if you really don't need to!!!!!! Drives me crazy!!!!!
Example of last week!

Treadmills!

(Me). (The girl who decided to use the one next to me). (Empty) .(Empty).(Empty).(Empty). (Man)

Crazy people! Use the Space!

This bugs me too. There will be like 10 other cardio machines available exactly like the one I'm using, but someone inevitably avoid all those and comes next to the one I'm on. There's nothing special about the machine next to me. It's like all the other treadmills there. Maybe I have a huge circle for personal space, but I prefer if they use another machine instead.

I guess I have the best gym... the only issue I have w/ mine is that they seem to be out of paper towels all the time.... there are 4 paper towel stations and usually at least 2 are empty.

People always wipe the machines down, and I never have to wait for a piece of equipment (there are over 450 pieces of workout equipment at my gym). The managers are very personable and friendly, the trainers are fabulous, and the place is always clean. I have a personal trainer there and I love it.

If they could just fix that darn paper towel issue, it would be perfect!! :0)

My biggest peeve... I am running on the treadmill in an empty row at the gym. (I come in the middle of the day) and someone takes the one RIGHT NEXT TO ME! Then gawks at the numbers and setting on the treadmill. Maybe I have personal space issues but I like to enforce the every other rule. Get off my **** dude!

Please wipe off the machine, even if you don't think you sweat.

&

Wipe your sweat even if you think you didn't sweat.

To those who "don't sweat"... Yes, you do.

If you can't act like an adult and wipe off the machine, please get your exercise at the barnyard from whence you came.