Gym Etiquette

This thread speaks volumes.

I find even with deodorant on I sweat like a pig but hey isn't that a good thing!!!

never had the BO issue at the gym...but the cell phone thing. if you are going to the gym, shouldn't one be focusing on that...

i'm with you...i don't get it.

TURN Off the cell phones and wipe up that sweat all over the treadmill

I don't know....I think the gym is one place where you would expect people to be stinky. How do we know they didn't put on deodorant? They may just be busting *kitten* and smell like it. I think not putting the free weights back or wiping down machines after usage might be better examples of poor "gym ettiquette", but I typically don't notice what others are doing at the gym or worry too much about people on their phones because I'm always listening to music and doing my own thing. To each his/her own....

it's not the lack of deo that bothers me but the perfume and cologne that some have on!!

This is the only thing that ever bothers me enough to have to move away. I can't breathe and get an instant headache.

I HATE when people do not wipe of equipment after using it!!! It grosses me out sooooo bad. Haven't people heard of thing like MRSA and other bacterial infections. My gym makes it so easy to clean of the equipment. They provide pre-moistened wipes that can be found ALL over the gym. So I am forced to clean the machines before and after using them. I think that should be the number one in etiquette at the gym.

I started working out in a hardcore bodybuilder-type gym, so gym etiquette was really hammered home. Now I work out in a more "mainstream" gym, the number of people who don't have a clue can get really annoying.

Just little things like:

1) Don't hog weights / machines / benches. Let other people use them - if someone else wants to use it while you're in the middle of a series of sets, then work in with them. (This is even more annoying when someone is sat on the machine for hours on end and just talking on their phone rather than actually working out).

2) Bring a towel and wipe off equipment after use.

3) Don't interrupt people in the middle of a set.

4) Getting sweaty is good. Getting sweaty in kit that hasn't been washed for a week isn't. Don't stink out the whole gym (and this goes for deodorant, too. Too much deodorant in the air is hideous when you're out of breath).

5) Don't needlessly monopolise equipment. Yes, the whole "doing curls in the squat rack" thing is now a bit of a gym cliché, but I've lost track of the number of times someone has decided to do curls in front of the chin bar while sitting on a bench (yes, three items tied up.... to do curls), just so they can see their mighty 11 inch guns curl that 10 lb weight in the mirror behind the chin bar.

But of all of them, number 1 is IMO the most important and also the most widely ignored. I get off the bench etc after every set, but I've lost count of the number of times a "sitter" has then moved in and I've had to ask to work back in as the whole idea of "working in" or rotating sets is completely alien to them. I honestly wouldn't mind too much if someone was stuck on a machine I wanted to use if they were working hard. But usually they just use the equipment as a seat while they fiddle with their ipods or they end up using tiny weights with appalling form.

Gah, don't get me started on gym etiquette.....

Ah! How could I forget putting the weights back!? If you're going to lift a weight however many times, is it really going to kill you to lift it once more to put back on the rack?

Don't mind weights clanking, though, as someone else mentioned. On some lifts (like heavy dumbbell presses) dropping them is the only safe way to get them back on the ground. If you start objecting to that you're heading into Planet Fitness "come and work out but don't work out TOO hard" territory....

Smelling at the gym is simply going to happen, but yes not wiping machines, slamming weights, sitting on machines youre not using, etc is just plain RUDE!!

oh .. & let's not forget the .."let me just sit on this machine for a long time even tho this person standing next to me is obviously waiting for me to get off of it!"
they make me so mad!

I go to a pretty decent-sized Gold's, and no one seems to follow the cell phone rules.

There are also a few people there who seem to not realize that singing aloud to their iPods is NOT ACCEPTABLE. Just because I have my headphones on too doesn't mean I can't hear you on the elliptical right next to me. And if you're comfortable enough to belt your lungs out, shouldn't you maybe increase your resistance? (Or exercise in your own private home?)

Over the last two summers, there were a few times that kids around age 10-13 would lurk around some of the machines and just sit there looking bored, obviously waiting for parents. And they wouldn't move for the entire 60 minutes I'd be at the gym. Where the heck are their parents, and why aren't these kids doing something like playing basketball or at least sitting on chair rather than a machine?

My biggest problem at the gym, though, is with the few people who consistently do not wear sufficient clothing. No matter how hot you are at age 50, don't show up wearing hot pants and a sports bra. Shorts and a tank aren't that much more difficult...and a lot less distracting. I really think there should be a rule that you must have a shirt on/with you at all times.

Hey you! Yeah you - the guy standing in front of the dumbell rack doing your set. You're standing in front of me and I can't see the mirror. No, I don't watch myself in the mirror because I'm vain (well, OK, I AM a little vain, but that's beside the point). I need the mirror to check my form and positioning. So how about you get your weights and walk a few feet away from the rack so the rest of us can get to it and see the mirrors? Hmmm?

Oh, and you there - Mr. Beer Belly - for the love of God, do us all a favor and buy a proper shirt. Yes, I know your arms are getting pretty buff, there, Arnold, but I really don't need to have the memory of you all decked out in your skin-tight Under Armour shirt burning into my corneas for the rest of my life.

That is all.

Ah! How could I forget putting the weights back!? If you're going to lift a weight however many times, is it really going to kill you to lift it once more to put back on the rack?

Don't mind weights clanking, though, as someone else mentioned. [b/] On some lifts (like heavy dumbbell presses) dropping them is the only safe way to get them back on the ground. [/b] If you start objecting to that you're heading into Planet Fitness "come and work out but don't work out TOO hard" territory....

I went to a gym where this guy would do this with EVERY SINGLE weight he lifted. I would be quietly exercising on the treadmill and then all of a sudden hear this loud crashing sound because he would drop the weight bar. It honestly isn't safe for him to do that because not only could he drop that on his toes, but he could give someone a panic attack because of the sound. I almost fell off the treadmill a couple of times because it scared me. And this wasn't Planet Fitness.

Ah! How could I forget putting the weights back!? If you're going to lift a weight however many times, is it really going to kill you to lift it once more to put back on the rack?

Don't mind weights clanking, though, as someone else mentioned. [b/] On some lifts (like heavy dumbbell presses) dropping them is the only safe way to get them back on the ground. [/b] If you start objecting to that you're heading into Planet Fitness "come and work out but don't work out TOO hard" territory....

Only if you are power lifting.

Otherwise, if you are strong enough to lift them up, you are strong enough to put them back down.

Luckily though, I work out in a small gym and it is usually mostly empty or just me and a couple guys who are respectful. There are no cell phone users, perfume wearers, bench hoggers, valley girl gossipers, pencil necks or jock wannabes. There are very rarely any times at my gym where people are actually being obnoxious.

Which is why I don't work out at rec centers. Ugh!

I do power cleans to an over head press with 115lbs and 135lbs for reps. Sorry but I have to clank them on the ground sometimes.