New Year's Gym Etiquette
Josh_Friedman
Posts: 112 Member
Happy New Year! If you could give one piece of New Years' gym etiquette to all the new folks coming into your gym, what would it be? Asking for a friend lol
0
Replies
-
This is more about change room etiquette, and while not my #1 piece of advice, it's top of mind because there's a woman who does this every morning in the change room:
If you're showering at the gym, bring a towel. Don't waste an entire roll of paper towel to dry yourself off every single day because you're too lazy to bring your own towel. And the constant *rrrrrrrrip* of the paper towel is also incredibly annoying.9 -
#1 would be "Please do not run circuits during prime hours in a gym not designed for circuit training" followed closely by "Rack your damned weights when you are done".
... and of course don't wear your gym clothing more than one session without washing it. New sweat generally doesn't smell too bad but my gawd - getting that outfit you wore yesterday and didn't wash wet with sweat again will smell like rotting feet.
15 -
Congrats for starting your (friend) fitness journey! Advice: Don’t take up a prime machine/bench/squat rack to sit there on your phone the whole time. Also, if you’re waiting for a machine do not hover over the person finishing up. Best of luck! ☺️4
-
Please re-rack your weights and return dumbbells to their proper storage area.7
-
Gym etiquette is not terribly different that regular, grown-up, life etiquette. Be considerate of others and clean up after yourself.22
-
These are things I see from regulars, too.
- Don't chill on your phone for 15 minutes between sets at the deadlift platform. Dude, there's only one. If you've got your phone with you anyway, set a timer for your rest and then get back to work!
- Stay off your phone in the locker room - do that in the lobby.
- Don't leave your stuff on machines or equipment that you aren't actively using.
- Wipe your sweat off of the equipment, please.
7 -
Congratulations on starting...to your friend of course! As others have said, rerack your weights and wipe down equipment after use. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions if you don't know the right way to use anything or don't know the proper form. Try not to "save" things unless you are really using them. If you need something that is being used, it is perfectly ok to ask how long they will be using it. This allows you to rearrange your schedule if you need to.3
-
I would say ignore all the regular grumpy gym bros who are giving you the queer eye and enjoy your workout.7
-
These are things I see from regulars, too.
- Don't chill on your phone for 15 minutes between sets at the deadlift platform. Dude, there's only one. If you've got your phone with you anyway, set a timer for your rest and then get back to work!
- Stay off your phone in the locker room - do that in the lobby.
- Don't leave your stuff on machines or equipment that you aren't actively using.
- Wipe your sweat off of the equipment, please.
Yep, this is something a regular at my gym does, but please don't feel compelled to talk to your husband on speaker the entire time you are in the locker room. Or preferably, no phone calls in the locker room.3 -
I don't single out noobs or vets. There are times people might want to know proper adequate so here is a small list.
1. Be aware of your surroundings. Don't leave your wipes or equipment everywhere. People may need room for spotting or loading there barbell.
2. If someone is on a taxing set, give them some space for safety. If I'm squatting 4x times your body weight, I prefer you to not be right next to me at that moment thinking we are both safe.
3. Talking to someone who during training more than likely isn't welcomed.
4. Don't strip weights from other's working area if you have plates available else where. I literally has a cup of young men pulling weight off my bench even though there was plenty of weight three feet from their area No biggie other than I spent 5 minutes loading my bench so I don't have to search in between sets.
5. Try to leave things where you found it so others know when you are finished with it.4 -
In addition to all the above, please do not douse yourself in perfume/cologne. Some people (me) are allergic and get migraines.10
-
jseams1234 wrote: »#1 would be "Please do not run circuits during prime hours in a gym not designed for circuit training" followed closely by "Rack your damned weights when you are done".
... and of course don't wear your gym clothing more than one session without washing it. New sweat generally doesn't smell too bad but my gawd - getting that outfit you wore yesterday and didn't wash wet with sweat again will smell like rotting feet.
The first part is the piece of advice I would give to most gym people, but I find it is the old timers, not the newbies who are guilty of it. The newbies don't often have some precise circuit that they've designed for themselves that takes up six machines and 4 free weights at once. That's usually the guy who's been doing it for years and think he owns the gym because he can lift more than the average guy.6 -
Don’t stand close to anyone doing Olympic lifts. Particularly people like me who are still learning - the bar path could be fast and aggressive* and I can’t stop mid snatch when someone walks in the way!
*it will be one day...! 🤣5 -
Josh_Friedman wrote: »Happy New Year! If you could give one piece of New Years' gym etiquette to all the new folks coming into your gym, what would it be? Asking for a friend lol
Put you shirt back on... that is all I ask.
3 -
Nudity is expected in a locker room, but be aware of where you are pointing exposed "private" areas. The locker room at my gym has a bunch of turns and it's all too common to go around a corner and get an unwanted full view of someone's nether region while they are bending over to dry their feet.3
-
If you feel the need to take selfies / mirror photos / whatever pictures at the gym, do NOT do it in the locker room. The locker room is meant for people to change clothes, take a shower etc, which means you very easily become an accidental perv who takes pictures of half-naked people.
Even in the gym/lobby, please be mindful of not having other people in the background of your photo, especially if you publish them somewhere. I go to the gym to put my game face on, not my photo face.7 -
These are things I see from regulars, too.
- Don't chill on your phone for 15 minutes between sets at the deadlift platform. Dude, there's only one. If you've got your phone with you anyway, set a timer for your rest and then get back to work!
- Stay off your phone in the locker room - do that in the lobby.
- Don't leave your stuff on machines or equipment that you aren't actively using.
- Wipe your sweat off of the equipment, please.
Yep, this is something a regular at my gym does, but please don't feel compelled to talk to your husband on speaker the entire time you are in the locker room. Or preferably, no phone calls in the locker room.
After those numerically very few but very viral scandals where some ^&*# took a gym locker room photo of someone they found Not Cute (sometimes in an undressed state), and Tweeted/Snapchatted/IG-ed it with a snarky comment, I consider it gracious to keep any of these devices in the gym bag until out in the lobby or at least hallway.
My gym even has signs up prominently saying "no cell phone use in locker room" . . . yet people have them out all over the place.3 -
These are things I see from regulars, too.
- Don't chill on your phone for 15 minutes between sets at the deadlift platform. Dude, there's only one. If you've got your phone with you anyway, set a timer for your rest and then get back to work!
- Stay off your phone in the locker room - do that in the lobby.
- Don't leave your stuff on machines or equipment that you aren't actively using.
- Wipe your sweat off of the equipment, please.
Yep, this is something a regular at my gym does, but please don't feel compelled to talk to your husband on speaker the entire time you are in the locker room. Or preferably, no phone calls in the locker room.
After those numerically very few but very viral scandals where some ^&*# took a gym locker room photo of someone they found Not Cute (sometimes in an undressed state), and Tweeted/Snapchatted/IG-ed it with a snarky comment, I consider it gracious to keep any of these devices in the gym bag until out in the lobby or at least hallway.
My gym even has signs up prominently saying "no cell phone use in locker room" . . . yet people have them out all over the place.
There’s a difference though between using your phone in the locker room to text or check email (which I do because I am self employed and go to the gym when everyone else, including my clients, is at work) and making phone calls or taking selfies.
0 -
A few I gym etiquette items I can think of:
~ If your gym has a track, follow the flow scheme for that day. And if you are walking, keep to the right to allow runners to pass you. And if you are in a group, please only be two people wide. Taking up the whole track then giving snotty looks when someone asks you to pass is flat out rude.
~ Wipe your machines down.
3 -
These are things I see from regulars, too.
- Don't chill on your phone for 15 minutes between sets at the deadlift platform. Dude, there's only one. If you've got your phone with you anyway, set a timer for your rest and then get back to work!
- Stay off your phone in the locker room - do that in the lobby.
- Don't leave your stuff on machines or equipment that you aren't actively using.
- Wipe your sweat off of the equipment, please.
Yep, this is something a regular at my gym does, but please don't feel compelled to talk to your husband on speaker the entire time you are in the locker room. Or preferably, no phone calls in the locker room.
After those numerically very few but very viral scandals where some ^&*# took a gym locker room photo of someone they found Not Cute (sometimes in an undressed state), and Tweeted/Snapchatted/IG-ed it with a snarky comment, I consider it gracious to keep any of these devices in the gym bag until out in the lobby or at least hallway.
My gym even has signs up prominently saying "no cell phone use in locker room" . . . yet people have them out all over the place.
There’s a difference though between using your phone in the locker room to text or check email (which I do because I am self employed and go to the gym when everyone else, including my clients, is at work) and making phone calls or taking selfies.
It's difficult for others to tell what you're doing with your phone, even though you know. IMO, it's making others uncomfortable that isn't the most thoughtful thing. While I don't think we're responsible for everyone else's anxieties or misperceptions, I think this one is kind of understandable/predictable in our cultural context, and it's not that hard to manage to avoid.
I agree that it's possible to leave the phone inside the gym bag, and look down at it there to check emails or texts without taking it out, and that's not as big an issue, since there's no possible way to be subtly taking a photo AFAIK.
If you've ever seen any of the horrifying viral photos, it's usually taken while the #$^(* is pretending to use the phone normally, but has the front-facing camera activated while taking a photo of another woman's body in the background, while the #$^(* is making a "funny" face in the foreground.
(Again, my gym has signs up in the locker room saying that cell phones are not to be used there.)4 -
claireychn074 wrote: »Don’t stand close to anyone doing Olympic lifts. Particularly people like me who are still learning - the bar path could be fast and aggressive* and I can’t stop mid snatch when someone walks in the way!
*it will be one day...! 🤣
Please be aware of your surroundings generally. I swear people in my gym have a death wish. They walk a foot in front of me when I am in the middle of doing kettlebell swings.
Please don't exercise right in front of the equipment rack so that everyone wanting to fetch/return equipment has to wait while you challenge yourself to a ten minute plank.
1 -
SchweddyGirl wrote: »~ If your gym has a track, follow the flow scheme for that day. And if you are walking, keep to the right to allow runners to pass you. And if you are in a group, please only be two people wide. Taking up the whole track then giving snotty looks when someone asks you to pass is flat out rude.
This is a huge peeve of mine. I have access to several gyms with indoor tracks, and in most of them, people routinely ignore (or fail to notice) the signs about direction or which lane is reserved for runners. And even when they do stick to the walkers lanes, the slow walkers often walk side-by-side in a way that forces runners to squeeze past them.
Not to mention that on several occasions, I had to stop short because walkers would nonchalantly step in to the runners lane as they pass other people. I remember letting out a loud "Oh, come on!" one time, which the walkers discreetly ignored.
And don't get me started on this crazy woman who was jumping rope in the runner's lane.0 -
SchweddyGirl wrote: »~ If your gym has a track, follow the flow scheme for that day. And if you are walking, keep to the right to allow runners to pass you. And if you are in a group, please only be two people wide. Taking up the whole track then giving snotty looks when someone asks you to pass is flat out rude.
This is a huge peeve of mine. I have access to several gyms with indoor tracks, and in most of them, people routinely ignore (or fail to notice) the signs about direction or which lane is reserved for runners. And even when they do stick to the walkers lanes, the slow walkers often walk side-by-side in a way that forces runners to squeeze past them.
Not to mention that on several occasions, I had to stop short because walkers would nonchalantly step in to the runners lane as they pass other people. I remember letting out a loud "Oh, come on!" one time, which the walkers discreetly ignored.
And don't get me started on this crazy woman who was jumping rope in the runner's lane.
This is genuinely a question (not a criticism or suggestion), as I don't run anywhere inside or out (bad knees), so I truly don't know:
Do runners sharing a track with walkers not do the kind of "passing on your left" (or whatever) that I'm accustomed to doing on my bike, when sharing a trail with pedestrians? Maybe it's quieter at the track, so you expect people would hear the runner coming, or something?0 -
Be willing to let someone work in with you. Especially, if there's only one machine/rack and that item is a hot commodity.0
-
SchweddyGirl wrote: »~ If your gym has a track, follow the flow scheme for that day. And if you are walking, keep to the right to allow runners to pass you. And if you are in a group, please only be two people wide. Taking up the whole track then giving snotty looks when someone asks you to pass is flat out rude.
This is a huge peeve of mine. I have access to several gyms with indoor tracks, and in most of them, people routinely ignore (or fail to notice) the signs about direction or which lane is reserved for runners. And even when they do stick to the walkers lanes, the slow walkers often walk side-by-side in a way that forces runners to squeeze past them.
Not to mention that on several occasions, I had to stop short because walkers would nonchalantly step in to the runners lane as they pass other people. I remember letting out a loud "Oh, come on!" one time, which the walkers discreetly ignored.
And don't get me started on this crazy woman who was jumping rope in the runner's lane.
This is genuinely a question (not a criticism or suggestion), as I don't run anywhere inside or out (bad knees), so I truly don't know:
Do runners sharing a track with walkers not do the kind of "passing on your left" (or whatever) that I'm accustomed to doing on my bike, when sharing a trail with pedestrians? Maybe it's quieter at the track, so you expect people would hear the runner coming, or something?
I'm sure that some do, and some don't. Even if they don't though, you'd have to be pretty stupid to just step into the runner's lane without first seeing if a runner is coming your way. It's not like the great outdoors, after all, where the runners and walkers don't have separate, dedicated lanes.0 -
SchweddyGirl wrote: »~ If your gym has a track, follow the flow scheme for that day. And if you are walking, keep to the right to allow runners to pass you. And if you are in a group, please only be two people wide. Taking up the whole track then giving snotty looks when someone asks you to pass is flat out rude.
This is a huge peeve of mine. I have access to several gyms with indoor tracks, and in most of them, people routinely ignore (or fail to notice) the signs about direction or which lane is reserved for runners. And even when they do stick to the walkers lanes, the slow walkers often walk side-by-side in a way that forces runners to squeeze past them.
Not to mention that on several occasions, I had to stop short because walkers would nonchalantly step in to the runners lane as they pass other people. I remember letting out a loud "Oh, come on!" one time, which the walkers discreetly ignored.
And don't get me started on this crazy woman who was jumping rope in the runner's lane.
Also be sure to notice which lanes are for runners. On tracks in my area the inside lane(s) are typically for runners (usually posted,), which is contrary to what many people think since when driving the faster traffic should be to the outside lane.1 -
If you are going to swim laps, please wear goggles! The pool is often also busier at this time of year and I cannot count the number of times I have had to try to share a lane with someone who isn't wearing goggles and can't see where they are going. Nothing like avoiding a flailing set of arms and legs coming right at you to get your heart rate up!
Also, on the locker room side...please do not take a 40 minute shower if there are a limited number of showers available and people waiting. Get in, get your business done and get out!0 -
Take advantage of the free tour that the gym gives you. They can show you where everything is so you aren't wandering around feeling like you're in people's way 1
-
Follow the facility rules for getting along with others , including don’t use your phone in the locker room 😩
Do your thing, stop worrying about what others think of you because in all honesty they’re doing their thing, not watching you.1 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »SchweddyGirl wrote: »~ If your gym has a track, follow the flow scheme for that day. And if you are walking, keep to the right to allow runners to pass you. And if you are in a group, please only be two people wide. Taking up the whole track then giving snotty looks when someone asks you to pass is flat out rude.
This is a huge peeve of mine. I have access to several gyms with indoor tracks, and in most of them, people routinely ignore (or fail to notice) the signs about direction or which lane is reserved for runners. And even when they do stick to the walkers lanes, the slow walkers often walk side-by-side in a way that forces runners to squeeze past them.
Not to mention that on several occasions, I had to stop short because walkers would nonchalantly step in to the runners lane as they pass other people. I remember letting out a loud "Oh, come on!" one time, which the walkers discreetly ignored.
And don't get me started on this crazy woman who was jumping rope in the runner's lane.
Also be sure to notice which lanes are for runners. On tracks in my area the inside lane(s) are typically for runners (usually posted,), which is contrary to what many people think since when driving the faster traffic should be to the outside lane.
Just last night, a woman raised a fuss when I said, "You know, you're in one of the runners' lanes." I said it twice -- but only twice -- because she didn't seem to hear me the first time. So yelled, "I know! Tell that to the hundred other people doing the same thing!" Which was nonsensical, but I brushed it off.
Then she snapped my photo and said, "I'm going to report you for harassment!"
"All I said is that you're in the wrong lane," I said. "You're harassing me now!" she replied.
Yes, some people just fail to notice the signage, no matter how large it is. Through the years though, I have learned that a lot of people just don't care.2
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 424 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions