Gym/Locker Room Etiquette

Using the sauna as a changing room! This one woman came into the sauna and proceeded to remove her swimsuit, dry off while sitting on the bench and change into her street clothes. So awkward. It took her forever, too. Others are doing it, so much that I now go into the mixed sauna rather than the women-only sauna. At least in the mixed sauna people act appropriately.

Why would anyone want to change clothes in a sauna?

I can't stand when people are talking or texting on their cell phones while on the machines. I will see people running on the tread mill and answer their phone!!! Or one guy literally sent and received like 30 texts and his phone wasn't on silent, his notification sound kept dinging every 10 seconds driving me nuts!

gotta wonder what people think i am doing. I log my exercises on my phone during my cool down on the treadmill so i dont forget. wonder if they think I am texting.

I can't stand when people are talking or texting on their cell phones while on the machines. I will see people running on the tread mill and answer their phone!!! Or one guy literally sent and received like 30 texts and his phone wasn't on silent, his notification sound kept dinging every 10 seconds driving me nuts!

gotta wonder what people think i am doing. I log my exercises on my phone during my cool down on the treadmill so i dont forget. wonder if they think I am texting.

I do exactly the same thing haha - i'm new to the whole gym scene and so i've actually typed up (ok sad I know lol) all the different stuff I need to do for my whole 'workout routine' with all the details of reps/weight/speed/levels etc on so when i'm actually exercising I use the rest periods to update my 'notes' on my iphone. people prob think i'm either texting or plaing angry birds haha

My biggest pet peeve at the gym is people who put perfume/cologne on before working out. I've since quit the gym, but I don't need to choke on someone else's perfume while I'm running on the treadmill.

I am a member of Gold's Gym, and I haven't had very many issues with any of the members there. I am quite glad that I haven't seen any nekkid peeps in the sauna, for example...

I don't mind dropping weights...UNLESS, you are doing it for show. And I think we all know at least 1 person that does that, where they finish their set, have no need to drop the weights, but do it anyway and grunt loudly just to show how beastly they are. Honestly, I've only seen 2 people in my gym do that...they are quite literally high school boys. The "muscle heads" don't do that. Sure, they may drop the weights, but then again, so do I sometimes. Cause after doing my deads, sometimes I don't have the energy to put the bar back on the squat rack, so I drop it cause if I bend down all the way, I pull muscles in my back cause I have tight hammies and do my deadlifts by going slightly below the knees, then raising up, repeating 10 or so times. To prevent injuries, I drop the suckers afterwards. Sorry if that bothers some people...no, not really sorry...but I'd rather drop them than hurt my back. After my final set, I drop them, wait about a minute, then re-rack and take the plates off. Maybe if I did less than 100 pounds or so I would just bend over and put them down ever so gently...but that wouldn't do anything for my hams while picking up the weight.

I did fall victim to the "group hog" a couple of weeks ago. I needed to do lat pull-downs with the cable machine, and there was a group of 5 guys rotating themselves in and out for an entire hour! I didn't get to do my lat pull-downs that day, because when I politely asked if I could do a set after one of them finished, they responded with "we are using a certain pace and need to keep it that way, you can use it when we are all done" But, after one of them did a set, he'd sit there on the machine and rest for at least half a minute before the next one would come over for his set!!! :explode:

I hate seeing personal trainers giving horrible advice. The most recent example of this I can think of is when I overheard a trainer telling a client to sit on this torso-rotation thing-a-ma-jig machine everyday to "trim your waist" and it's like doing cardio. :noway:

I overheard someone in my gym yesterday morning making fun of someone for walking in wearing jeans...but this person had a gym bag and changed in the locker room into shorts and t-shirt! I didn't quite understand their issue since he was not working out in jeans. Would they be equally annoyed at me knowing that I go to gym immediately after work and that I have to change out of my uniform, duty belt, and boots before working out? It's not like I am working out wearing all my gear. I think what I am getting at it is that some people just need to keep their noses out of other people's business and worry about themselves instead of other people.

Wipe off the machine after you sweat all over it. Spray and wipe

I have to admit, when I was in my teens and early 20s I would go to the gym with some buddies and we'd spend a couple of hours doing a 30 minute routine. We'd spend a lot of time talking, now when I see that I want to tell them to get the f%$! off the bench or whatever, I want to get my routine done and leave. LOL I sound like an old fart.

People not putting the weights back really annoys the hell out of me, I can spend ages tracking down that other matching dumbbell. Then by the time I find it someone has taken the bench I was going to use. Basically, I just go to the gym in the middle of the day when the minimum number of people are there that way I avoid most of the idiots.

Oh, and not wearing proper work out clothes. Guys coming in jeans and street shoes and girls in full makeup, hair not tied back and no proper sports bra are just there to look good. That's what the mall is for. The rest of us are here to get sweaty and grimace, not look cute.

Um, I hardly ever wear a sports bra.. Mainly because my boob's aren't big enough to need one. I can wear a normal bra, and do things like weights and cardio just fine thanks. I do however, wear proper gym clothes(that match) and tend to look pretty damn cute if I do say so myself.. and I like it.

To OP:
My pet peeves are:
People hogging the machines(I get you need to rest between sets thats great, I do it too, but don't sit there for 5 minutes!)
People hanging out in their thong/bra in the locker room... gross
Not wiping down the cardio machines after you are done with them
Not removing plates from machines(I never thought this would bother me, until I had to un-rack pretty much all the machines I wanted because people can't be bothered by it!)
Guys who stare at girls in the weight area(I get it, I'm a girl in the weight area and wearing running shorts.. but that doesn't mean you gotta stop what your doing and stare at my *kitten*!)

I think that about covers all my pet peeves.

As a person who's gotten dirty looks and being stared at at the gym while working out, I'd like to add as Locker Room Etiquette:

I'm here to get healthier, you giving me dirty looks will only make me want to stay home and hide. Don't be a ****, fat people are people too. I know a 385 lb woman working out might be funny to SOME people but grow up and mind your own business.

That's my two cents on locker room etiquette. :P

I can't stand when people are talking or texting on their cell phones while on the machines. I will see people running on the tread mill and answer their phone!!! Or one guy literally sent and received like 30 texts and his phone wasn't on silent, his notification sound kept dinging every 10 seconds driving me nuts!

gotta wonder what people think i am doing. I log my exercises on my phone during my cool down on the treadmill so i dont forget. wonder if they think I am texting.

I do exactly the same thing haha - i'm new to the whole gym scene and so i've actually typed up (ok sad I know lol) all the different stuff I need to do for my whole 'workout routine' with all the details of reps/weight/speed/levels etc on so when i'm actually exercising I use the rest periods to update my 'notes' on my iphone. people prob think i'm either texting or plaing angry birds haha

LOL...no that's ok, in fact those are awesome ideas!! The people I was referring to are clearly having phone conversations or their text notifications are going off constantly...you can tell it's not work out related. Just last night there was a girl in my bodyworks class who kept going over to the side of the room where her phone was to check her texts and text back....I mean she did this like 7 or 8 times through out the work out! And it wasn't the type of class where you do one type of exercise and can step away and log it. We're doing multi moves and combo of cardio....definitely something you would log when you're done.