anti-gym snobbery

Does anyone else find, that if they mention they go to the gym, some people will respond by taking on a superior air and say things like "I prefer to exercise in the fresh air" or "why waste money on a gym membership when all you need is some running shoes and the great outdoors", or "I find treadmills so boring - can't understand why anyone would want to do that"

Nothing actually wrong with these statements - but the way in which they are said I find irritating, as if they are questioning one's good taste and intelligence.

anyway, I don't mean this thread as a rant, just as an observation. Anyone else notice the same?

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Replies

  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,196 Member
    No, never.

    Kind of ironic since I am from the running capitol of the world. :)

    Most people who are serious about fitness do a variety of different things, some of which involve going to the gym.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,400 Member
    Nope
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
    Yes, but it applies to all sorts of exercise. There are lots of people on here who believe that you absolutely need to lift weights or you are never going to look good. If you talk to my favourite pilates instructor, she will tell you that only pilates and body weight training will work your core properly and help with posture, so if you are not including it in your routine, you are doing it wrong. My friend who is a swimmer, will tell you she cannot understand why anyone would choose any other form of exercise and then spend the next hour listing the benefits from swimming. My coworker who is a runner is convinced that if he ever enters a pool he will die from some weird skin infection and that weight lifting is for crazy people on steroids. My other coworker who loves his bike and uses it to come to work wonders why anyone spends time for exercise, when biking to places instead of using a car or the bus is so much fun and helps you get all the physical activity you need. And so on :)
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,196 Member
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Yes, but it applies to all sorts of exercise. There are lots of people on here who believe that you absolutely need to lift weights or you are never going to look good. If you talk to my favourite pilates instructor, she will tell you that only pilates and body weight training will work your core properly and help with posture, so if you are not including it in your routine, you are doing it wrong. My friend who is a swimmer, will tell you she cannot understand why anyone would choose any other form of exercise and then spend the next hour listing the benefits from swimming. My coworker who is a runner is convinced that if he ever enters a pool he will die from some weird skin infection and that weight lifting is for crazy people on steroids. My other coworker who loves his bike and uses it to come to work wonders why anyone spends time for exercise, when biking to places instead of using a car or the bus is so much fun and helps you get all the physical activity you need. And so on :)

    Interesting. I do all of these things, and the only area where I notice that there is very little crossover is with weightlifting/swimming. The more serious weightlifters tend to sink. :)

    ALL of the dancers that I know also run, lift, walk or do some other major physical activity.
  • blkandwhite77
    blkandwhite77 Posts: 281 Member
    I pay for a gym membership because I know I will go if I'm paying. No way am I wasting $70 a month and not using it! Lol
  • hamlet1222
    hamlet1222 Posts: 459 Member
    aggelikik wrote: »
    Yes, but it applies to all sorts of exercise. There are lots of people on here who believe that you absolutely need to lift weights or you are never going to look good. If you talk to my favourite pilates instructor, she will tell you that only pilates and body weight training will work your core properly and help with posture, so if you are not including it in your routine, you are doing it wrong. My friend who is a swimmer, will tell you she cannot understand why anyone would choose any other form of exercise and then spend the next hour listing the benefits from swimming. My coworker who is a runner is convinced that if he ever enters a pool he will die from some weird skin infection and that weight lifting is for crazy people on steroids. My other coworker who loves his bike and uses it to come to work wonders why anyone spends time for exercise, when biking to places instead of using a car or the bus is so much fun and helps you get all the physical activity you need. And so on :)

    Great point, I guess we're all evangelists of our own preferences - just some more vocal than others.
  • yogacat13
    yogacat13 Posts: 124 Member
    Judgmental people will be judgmental. Stating a preference is one thing, but denigrating someone else's choice is quite another. I find that if people make that kind of comment about exercise, they carry that attitude into the rest of their life as well, so I avoid them. The "best" exercise routine is the one you actually do consistently and enjoy.
  • Mycophilia
    Mycophilia Posts: 1,225 Member
    I do not listen to cardio plebs. Nature does not have barbells and squat racks just lying around.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,481 Member
    My mum thinks if everyone had to do house work like she did when young there would be no need for gyms.
    She's 88, so that's ok.

    I do a bit of anything and everything, but running, so I can't be a snob.

    Cheers, h.
  • KameHameHaaaa
    KameHameHaaaa Posts: 837 Member
    My mum thinks if everyone had to do house work like she did when young there would be no need for gyms.
    She's 88, so that's ok.

    I do a bit of anything and everything, but running, so I can't be a snob.

    Cheers, h.

    Ahahah...if only housework kept someone in shape. I come from a large family, we had daily indoor/outdoor chores that were posted on the fridge. Lots of housework...and I still ended up over 400 lbs... lmao. If only.
  • KateTii
    KateTii Posts: 886 Member
    I think the "anti-gym snobbery" has come as kind of a "return pendulum". Gyms (and the media) have pushed so hard that you need them if you ever hope to get in shape, that I think a lot of people reacted pushing back just as hard "actually, no you don't".

    I like my gym, I use the weight machines and enjoy the environment it gives me. I won't go cycling outside at 8:30pm but i'll get on a stationary bike at the gym at 8:30pm.
  • refuseresist
    refuseresist Posts: 934 Member
    edited October 2015
    I don't care. I do what I want, you do what you want. Not you- I mean whoever the other person is that doesn't want to do what I do.. oh never mind..
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
    I've had people kind of snigger at me and say "you're lucky you get the time!!! *Eye roll* Wait til you have kids".

    This annoys me HUGELY! I work full time, I have a house to run, food to cook, clothes to wash, bills to pay and I FIND the time because my health is important to me. No -I don't have kids. But I also know plenty of people that do have kids and still find time to get a couple of work-out's in a week..
  • refuseresist
    refuseresist Posts: 934 Member
    I've had people kind of snigger at me and say "you're lucky you get the time!!! *Eye roll* Wait til you have kids".

    This annoys me HUGELY! I work full time, I have a house to run, food to cook, clothes to wash, bills to pay and I FIND the time because my health is important to me. No -I don't have kids. But I also know plenty of people that do have kids and still find time to get a couple of work-out's in a week..

    All this tells you is that kids are a convenient excuse
  • hamlet1222
    hamlet1222 Posts: 459 Member
    The people that do have kids and also find the time are those with a supportive partner, or extended family on hand to help. I can understand why it would be impossible to get to the gym if you don't have either. At the opposite extreme, I know guys with kids who spend most of their leisure time in the gym or doing some sport/hobby that doesn't involve their kids - seems sad to me.
  • misskarne
    misskarne Posts: 1,767 Member
    *shrugs* I don't go to the gym, not because of any snobbery, but because I don't really like it. I get nervous and generally feel intimidated. Of course, it probably doesn't help that my only experience with a gym was the one of the university campus, and it was FULL of super-fit guys and girls. I seriously don't think I ever saw anyone else in there who looked even remotely close to overweight.

    I did get a kick out of my session with the personal trainer, though. I said "figure skating" and his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. He'd never had one before and I could see his mind going into overdrive.
  • ohmyllama
    ohmyllama Posts: 161 Member
    edited October 2015
    I sure have noticed it! Any- and I mean any- time that I say I'm going to the gym, or have been at the gym, I get an attitude. I think it's kinda funny though, so I make sure to mention the gym regularly! :)

    The only explanation I can find is that they're just jealous...
  • Nuke_64
    Nuke_64 Posts: 406 Member
    I went to the gym for years. Eventually, I stop going but kept paying for membership for while. When I did go, I did so because I know I should do it, not because I enjoyed it.

    Before I had kids, I had so much disposable time. Now, I challenge the need for every minute I don't spend with them that they are awake. That is not to say I don't, I just have to have a damn good reason. For my exercise now, I mountain bike, something that I love. It gives me the cardio benefits I was getting from the gym but now I want to do it. That time I can use multiple justifications for it: exercise, me time, stress relief, and more. Gym time only fills one of those buckets for me--exercise.

    It won't make sense till you have kids how much time that can or that you want them to consume. When I read about people on MFP working out 6 days a week for 1-2 hrs, I do the typical parent thing and think either they don't have kids, don't work, or have different priorities than me. Still, one should manage their time and take care of their health, if not for themselves, then for their kids.
  • Optimistical1
    Optimistical1 Posts: 210 Member
    I'm guilty of taking the superior air. Anything I find out that someone is paying $100+ a month on their gym membership. I pay $10 a month at my gym for all the same gym equipment, childcare, personal trainers and group fitness classes that every other gym has.
    Why the heck would anyone pay $100+ just to go to a gym that has a cafe, nail salon, gift shop, etc...seems like a terrible waste of money.
    There I go again, me and my superior air......