Gym Etiquette?!

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rfihn
rfihn Posts: 35 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How do you deal with selfish rude people at the gym? Today i encountered this girl at the gym who spent SO long on multiple machines. 90% of the time was spent texting....

I have a 12 exercise routine, 6 upper body and 6 lower body. I switch back and forth so im pretty flexible. If someone is on a machine i just skip around and mix and match. I did 4 exercises waiting for this girl. I am NOT a confrontational person so eventually I asked her if I could use the machine while she was resting and she said "Oh.... I have one more set. I'm just stretching" Finally got the machine 3 mins later and the same thing happened again. Asked her again, nothing. She could not take a hint!

Anyways my question is, how do you handle this kind of situation?
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Replies

  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
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    I do nothing, you never know when you might mess with crazy.
  • rfihn
    rfihn Posts: 35 Member
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    Lol truth
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    I move on to something else if possible. If not, I ask if I can work in (if it's a machine and not something where weights are racked). People get lost in their own world and are oblivious to how their behavior affects others.
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    I just say , "can I jump in between sets?" And everyone I ask always says yeah. Even if it has racked weights, I just add or subtract plates, and make a new friend in the process.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    She will quit soon. Be patent.
  • Merci4u
    Merci4u Posts: 41 Member
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    Stand right there infront of her and look impatient! lol

    To be honest, I don't use gym equipment by myself anymore so its not really a problem. The one thing I find the worst is people who don't wipe down the equipment. I have to breath in your sweaty air, I don't want to sit in it too.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,459 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Does she have long rest periods, like is she doing a huge amount of weight on those machines? (I am imagining not but am giving her the benefit of the doubt.)

    Anyway, I'd ask her to work in. She might not know what that is. That's ok, in that case the phrase will confuse and maybe intimidate her and set an expectation for her to comply. So say, "Can I work in while you rest?" If she says no, not much you can do other than do an alternate exercise.

    There's a list of different exercises for different muscle groups at exrx.net (or maybe it's exrx.com, forget). Or you could get the Women's Health Big Book of Exercises (I think that's the title). So if "leg press" is on your list, that's quads, you could just do some squats with dumbbells.
  • Clarewho
    Clarewho Posts: 494 Member
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    It is REALLY annoying isn't it!! But some people are v thick skinned and won't take any hint at all. It bugs me but I usually just mix up my routine til the machine is free and if all else fails I choose to exercise the same muscle group in a different way. Grr!!
  • star1407
    star1407 Posts: 588 Member
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    Can't you mention it to the staff, maybe they could put up a polite notice. If someone's just sat there texting, that's pretty selfish imo
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    i see a LOT of that at the gym, I especially notice it when im people watching on the cardio machines.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,573 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Merci4u wrote: »
    The one thing I find the worst is people who don't wipe down the equipment. I have to breath in your sweaty air, I don't want to sit in it too.

    How about the sweaty old men who use their nasty towel to wipe down the machines instead of the gym provided paper towels and disinfectant spray!!

    I watched a guy do this a couple times then took him the spray and paper towels and asked him to use that not his sweaty towel. He was quite indignant.

    A few nights later I saw another old man doing something similar...only he was reusing a paper towel on several machines ( again not using the spray)

    WTH do these old coots have against disinfectant? ??
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    last week i was on a machine (dont remember which, doesnt matter) and had my music on/ earbuds in.

    these two ladies get on the machines next to me and are 'working out'. and talking. loudly. so loudly i can hear them OVER my music (which is really loud!). Then, two more ladies get on the OTHER side of me and are doing the same.

    I'm all... WTF?

    it was so irritating I cut my workout short.

    and if you are 'working out' and can carry on a conversation with someone, you're not doing it right. I'm not talking to ANYONE - at least not more than a few words - and certainly not full blown CONVERSATION.
  • elliej
    elliej Posts: 466 Member
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    I would ask to jump in and take turns or literally stand over her until she leaves.
  • NoIdea101NoIdea
    NoIdea101NoIdea Posts: 659 Member
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    One of the reasons I started focusing more on work outs I could do at home with my free weights rather than go to the gym was because of this; so much of my work out would be waiting to use certain machines because people were being thoughtless. And I am very fussy, if I have a routine I want to do I am not happy just killing time on a rowing machine or something whilst I wait!

    It does annoy me at how thoughtless people can be, but I am definitely not a confrontational type so prefer to just avoid it.
  • snowflakesav
    snowflakesav Posts: 644 Member
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    She will quit soon. In my experience the bench testers and those who think the benches are a table to leave their water don't make it through more than a couple weeks.
  • fairy2b
    fairy2b Posts: 126 Member
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    UGHHHH THIS DRIVES ME CRAZY!!!

    This happens to me all the time. I do circuit training so I'm busting out my reps and then on to the next one. People waste so much time just sitting on a machine. One guy was on one machine for a good 10 minutes "resting" while I did other stuff. I finally went up and said "Can I hop on while you rest?" He looked very annoyed with me, but I don't care. I'm there to get *kitten* done, so if you're not working, get out of my way!! LOL seriously though, I think some people are just oblivious. All you can do is exactly what you did, and ask. And maybe one day (after being asked enough times) they will get it!
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    elliej wrote: »
    I would ask to jump in and take turns or literally stand over her until she leaves.

    If you do the second option you got to stare at the person too. :lol:
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,196 Member
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    Uggggg. My gym has a rule against supersetting, but apparently these people are too dumb to read the giant sign which explains this.

    I ask nicely. I let them know that I am waiting. Then I ask not-so-nicely. Step three is to complain to the front desk.

    The people who do this are generally not regulars in the gym.
  • Terpnista84
    Terpnista84 Posts: 517 Member
    edited May 2015
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    I do compound moves instead of machines (except cables) so I don't have this issue but I hate not having room in front of the mirror. I've scheduled my strength training during the slower gym times which sucks because those are usually Fri-Sun and I prefer one of those days to be my off day.
  • BigLifter10
    BigLifter10 Posts: 1,151 Member
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    yopeeps025 wrote: »
    elliej wrote: »
    I would ask to jump in and take turns or literally stand over her until she leaves.

    If you do the second option you got to stare at the person too. :lol:

    Or....take it one step further (kind of obnoxious, but you COULD do it)...and proceed to tell her how she's doing it wrong, or how she could improve her results if she......(pick your faves). Anyone who stands around and keeps going on and on usually annoys the cr*p out of someone who is hanging at a specific machine area. Usually they will get tired of you and make a beeline out of there (if they don't....you might be dealing with a latent crazy)! LOL! Bonus too....next time the person sees you....they get out of dodge before you come over! Maybe that's only when guys do it...but you could give it a go! B)

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