Gym Protocol

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Replies

  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    I have a favorite machine and get a little uncomfortable if someone is using the one next to it. We all studiously ignore each other, beyond a nod of greeting. I guess it’s only a problem if someone is talking loudly on their phone,which happens way too often
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
    amy19355 wrote: »
    I'm curious about something:
    How do the "want to work out without neighbors" group handle the situation when all the machines are occupied except one?
    Do you wait until there are a bunch of empties before working out?
    Or do you grit your teeth and suffer?

    I'm really intrigued by this pack vs not-pack mentality that is being brought out by this thread!

    Cardio machines? I would never join a gym that crowded that there was only one unoccupied cardio machine.
    /shudder/
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    crazyravr wrote: »
    annaskiski wrote: »
    So..

    You are at the gym, there are 50 empty treadmills.
    You jump on the one about halfway through. Another person walks over and gets on the one next to you, ignoring the 48 other empty choices.

    Annoying? Or am I too much of an introvert?

    #1. What are you doing on a treadmill that you cannot do outside.

    In December and January? Keeping my fingers and toes.

    Bah, no such thing as too cold in the Continental US; just inadequate gear :p
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,325 Member
    I rarely mind if someone is working out next to me...but I got up on a treadmill next to someone running and the body odor stench radiating off him was so bad I started choking. so I just jumped off and ran to another treadmill...normally I might be more sensitive to how it may appear to the other people...but not that time. omg :D I thought...don't you have friends who talk to you about this kind of thing?
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    edited November 2018
    amy19355 wrote: »
    I'm curious about something:
    How do the "want to work out without neighbors" group handle the situation when all the machines are occupied except one?
    Do you wait until there are a bunch of empties before working out?
    Or do you grit your teeth and suffer?

    I'm really intrigued by this pack vs not-pack mentality that is being brought out by this thread!

    Completely different situation. Where there is one machine free one had the choice to use it, or do something else.

    As originally described, it's about needless proximity, and a perception of loss of agency.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
    urloved33 wrote: »
    I rarely mind if someone is working out next to me...but I got up on a treadmill next to someone running and the body odor stench radiating off him was so bad I started choking. so I just jumped off and ran to another treadmill...normally I might be more sensitive to how it may appear to the other people...but not that time. omg :D I thought...don't you have friends who talk to you about this kind of thing?

    My company once hired someone with god-awful stinky deodorant. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one in the office bothered by it, and the other woman and I made our manager talk the guy and have him change brands. I'm sure it was an uncomfortable conversation for our manager to have, but less of an issue than our complaints :lol:
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    crazyravr wrote: »
    annaskiski wrote: »
    So..

    You are at the gym, there are 50 empty treadmills.
    You jump on the one about halfway through. Another person walks over and gets on the one next to you, ignoring the 48 other empty choices.

    Annoying? Or am I too much of an introvert?

    #1. What are you doing on a treadmill that you cannot do outside.

    In December and January? Keeping my fingers and toes.

    Bah, no such thing as too cold in the Continental US; just inadequate gear :p

    I wish I could find this vid which was widely circulated here in MA after a big snowstorm.

    A Boston newscaster was standing on the street corner taping his news segment and commenting on the empty streets, when suddenly two joggers go by. He stops them and asks them about their jog.
    It turns out that they're from CA visiting, and comment that its beautiful out, and everyone should get out and run etc, etc.

    The newscaster thanks them and goes on with his segment, and the joggers move on. But several seconds later (caught on camera behind the newscaster), the joggers go down on sheet of slippery ice.... oops!
  • annaskiski
    annaskiski Posts: 1,212 Member
    Not the Boston one, but here's another one:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98mBl9d0dew
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    edited November 2018
    ..still better than the hampster wheel. (+ they were actually kind of lucky had they been prepared with adequate gear- you rarely have consistent snow/ice cover like that which is perfect for traction devices...usually one gets stuck with mixed conditions, opts to forgo the spikes due to mostly bare pavement and goes down crossing the icy street (ETA: black ice)...or you get to trudge/bunny hop through snow).
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 1,970 Member
    It annoys me to no end when there is an open row of equipment and you jump on the one right next to me - I realize you may have a favorite, and if there's only a few to choose from, fine, but if there are 20 of them, you don't need to be RIGHT next to me.
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
    amy19355 wrote: »
    I'm curious about something:
    How do the "want to work out without neighbors" group handle the situation when all the machines are occupied except one?
    Do you wait until there are a bunch of empties before working out?
    Or do you grit your teeth and suffer?

    I'm really intrigued by this pack vs not-pack mentality that is being brought out by this thread!

    If the gym is busy, then personally, I've already adjusted to the fact that people are going to me near me, but it doesn't feel as weird and personal if there's a crowd as when I'm more or less alone and someone needs to park themselves RIGHT NEXT TO ME. I was always fine to go for a quick lunchtime run with people on either side of me because then it's necessity rather than a weirdly deliberate choice to be unnecessarily barging into into my bubble.

    I also wanted to add to this to say that for some of us, working out is a good opportunity to mentally recharge and get some quiet time. I very much value solitude when I work out because I am a textbook introvert (that is, someone who can find social interaction tiring rather than energizing, even with loved ones) and it's one of the only parts of my day where I don't have to talk to anyone if I don't want to. The gym didn't offer me that consistently, and so I was happy to build a home one and stop having to work out in public.

    One of the reasons I now bike commute year-round (in a snowy part of Canada with long, cold winters) is because it offers me some time to be alone, rather than pressed up against strangers on a train. It's very valuable to my mental health and I am a happier, healthier person when I get some time totally to myself, away from my boss, my coworkers, random strangers, and even my husband.

    (Also, I am one of those Millenials that Boomers hate because I wear headphones a lot in public. Not while I'm paying for my groceries or buying a coffee and need to interact politely with someone, but certainly when I'm walking down the street or store aisles or taking transit or going for a run. I need the armour.)
  • Charlene____
    Charlene____ Posts: 110 Member
    Doesn’t bother me one bit in the gym. Now on the subway, don’t you dare sit down next to me and don’t even think about trying to talk with me.
  • callmecarina
    callmecarina Posts: 145 Member
    annaskiski wrote: »
    #1. What are you doing on a treadmill that you cannot do outside.
    #2. I would not care for the proximity at all. Its like peeing at the urinal. I am comfortable with myself lol

    Existing as a female. The difference between a gym and outside is that at least at a gym the intent of other gym-goers is to workout, whereas outside you can't eliminate creepers who creep just because you are there and because they can.

    For me, I do get bothered, but it really depends on the circumstances. I'm quite extroverted, but I have introverted tendencies when I am actively not hanging out with friends or family (recharging), and am quite self-conscious at the gym so I do get annoyed if there's a completely empty row and someone parks it right next to me. But at my gym some of the treadmills suck and have broken features, so I get it. It's not enough to ruin my day or make me move, per se, but it's enough to annoy me.

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