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
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Replies
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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
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Please re-rack your weights and return dumbbells to their proper storage area.7
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Gym etiquette is not terribly different that regular, grown-up, life etiquette. Be considerate of others and clean up after yourself.22
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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.
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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
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I would say ignore all the regular grumpy gym bros who are giving you the queer eye and enjoy your workout.7
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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