Staring and Competing at the gym
alyhuggan
Posts: 717 Member
I've only been at a commercial gym since September (home gym before that) and I was wondering if this happens to anyone else
It seems every time I'm at the gym guys will sit and stare at me while I'm working out. My training partner regularly mentions it. It's exceptionally irritating. What's even worse is there's been several times where people will try and compete with what I am doing. Does anyone else find this happens to them?
It seems every time I'm at the gym guys will sit and stare at me while I'm working out. My training partner regularly mentions it. It's exceptionally irritating. What's even worse is there's been several times where people will try and compete with what I am doing. Does anyone else find this happens to them?
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I will admit that if the person on the machine next to me is going faster than me, I will push it more than usual.
Today I did a hot yoga class for the first time. The place was packed, very little room.
Two very fit, toned girls were on the mats directly on front of me. I think they thought I was staring at them. Of course, I had my glasses off due to sweat, so I have no idea what I was looking at. One blur looks much like another!0 -
Should clarify when I mean they try an compete with me:
I've actually had someone part way through a leg workout drop doing squats, load up a barbell for deadlifts and try lift more than me, he failed on his first set, unloaded the bar and went back to squatting! I was absolutely astounded!
There's been several times where someone will try and copy my exercises but use more weight and they just look silly!
Today as an example, I was pause benching, then went for incline dumbell bench, then did cable crossovers. Some guy copied those three movements doing about half the weight on the first two, then seemed determined to beat me on something so went heavier on the cables. Looked like he was about to tear his rotator cuff! This happening isn't a rare occurrence either
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I have people race me in the lane next to me. They win, too, because I am not a fast swimmer.
But I can keep going and going and going at that same pace forever.0 -
To the person who hops on the treadmill next to me.....it's on like donkey kong.0
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they miring lol0
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I'm sure it happens to everyone, but just try to ignore it. It's one thing to try to go faster on the elliptical, but it's a whole other thing to try to lift something that is clearly much to heavy for you.
Personally, I'm too focused on what I'm doing, especially in pole class, to worry about what others are doing. In my spin class they dim the light so much you can just make out the instructor. I guess they know that a lot of people are naturally competitive. But truthfully the best person to compete against is yourself (sorry if that got too PBS Kids at the end).0 -
But truthfully the best person to compete against is yourself (sorry if that got too PBS Kids at the end).
Not at all! That's how I've always trained! My first year and a half was with a friend who had a year of training on me so I learned to not compete with others as you will never progress as well! That's what I've taught my new training partner
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Nope.0
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jacobhyatt91 wrote: »they miring lol
might have to say "you mirin brah" to the next person I catch :P0 -
#CoolStoryBro0
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Unless someone does something pretty stupid, I rarely pay enough attention to notice.
A few weeks ago a young man and his lady friend were doing there thing over where I working the pec/rear delt. I was doing in weighted pull^s in between sets, when I was walking back from the pull^bar I noticed dude jumped on the machine I was on and tried to move the weights, his lady friend mumbling something about stop being an idiot. Kinda felty bad for the kid...0 -
nope, or I just don't notice …
sounds like you have too much time on your hands OP ….0 -
But truthfully the best person to compete against is yourself (sorry if that got too PBS Kids at the end).
Not at all! That's how I've always trained! My first year and a half was with a friend who had a year of training on me so I learned to not compete with others as you will never progress as well! That's what I've taught my new training partner
It's also the best way to avoid injury. Those idiots at your gym are going to end up tearing or breaking something.
If I tried to compete with girls at my pole class who have been going for over a year, and I haven't even completed a full month of training, I would either give up or hurt myself and set myself back. And that would be the worst b/c I absolutely love pole, and going a week without it would seem like torture.0 -
Yup, happens all the time to me. Just last week while I was squatting the bar, bro on the rack next to me went and unloaded all that extra iron off his bar and did the same thing! True story!
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I go to a university gym where I'm twice as old as most of the attendees and less than half as old as the majority of the remaining. Nobody is trying to compete with this old lady/young whippersnapper.0
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I go to a university gym where I'm twice as old as most of the attendees and less than half as old as the majority of the remaining. Nobody is trying to compete with this old lady/young whippersnapper.
Hah! Show up at my gym and it's game on. Always ready to show the kids how we get it done old school.0 -
I just do what I went to do.0
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Unless someone does something pretty stupid, I rarely pay enough attention to notice.
A few weeks ago a young man and his lady friend were doing there thing over where I working the pec/rear delt. I was doing in weighted pull^s in between sets, when I was walking back from the pull^bar I noticed dude jumped on the machine I was on and tried to move the weights, his lady friend mumbling something about stop being an idiot. Kinda felty bad for the kid...
I can understand seeing somebody doing an exercise I've never done or using a machine I've been wondering about and then trying it out while the memory of how to do it is fresh in my head.
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No. No dudes trying to compete with my 90 pound bench.0
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arditarose wrote: »No. No dudes trying to compete with my 90 pound bench.
This made me literally LOL! You go girl!0 -
Stares at my commercial gym, frequently. Doesn't bother me. I'm either moving a lot of weight or doing something you typically don't see in a commercial gym.0
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I think it's human nature and mostly unconscious. It's the same for driving - people seem to want to speed up when you indicate that you want to change lanes.
I know I seem to push myself to go a little faster when the person next to me is going for it. Or if I'm trying to stay at a slower pace, I have to fight the impulse to want to catch up. Actually, I also find myself trying to keep up with the beat of any music that's playing.
Unless you're talking about lifting? That's different, you have to walk over and choose a weight. That is something different.0 -
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arditarose wrote: »No. No dudes trying to compete with my 90 pound bench.
This actually happened to me this weekend. I was waiting for a bench that was about to open and a thinner guy who was also waiting asked if I needed a spotter. I said no, not to start, warmed up with the bar and then jumped up to 85. I swapped out the weights and was loading on 25's for my 95lb set and he said "Are you sure you don't need a spotter? That's a lot of weight." Another bench opened up and he jumped on it and progressed from the bar to about 65lbs. After I witnessed that, I tracked down my boyfriend who was elsewhere in the gym to spot my 100lb set. I typically couldn't care less about what other people are doing, but the fact that he thought he'd be an effective spotter AND felt the need to comment on the weight I was lifting makes me laugh a little bit.0 -
All.the.time.
I especially get competition in the pool. Usually it is muscley guys half my age. I trounce them, every time. I recently had a guy try to race me every other lap--he was resting while I continued swimming. I still beat him.
It amuses me. 0 -
lol. How do people have such a hard time at normal gyms?0
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Everyone always stares in the gym. I hate it. People have always made me feel like I need to lose weight before going to the gym! Ridiculous! But, listen, men are naturally competitive. It's an evolutionary trait. And honestly, it's also a particular trait of a lot of d-bags. You know, the kind of guy that only lives for the gym and for the bar.0
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