Resolutionists at the gym?

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alyssamiller77
alyssamiller77 Posts: 891 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So for those of you that are members at a gym, how bad is the resolutionist crowd right now (i.e. those folks who make a new years resolution and join the club). I know from past experience that January is always the busiest month at the club, especially up here in Wisconsin where January's arrival also means weather that is far too cold to be exercising outside. My club in particular is getting extremely busy right now. Part of it is that they're still new (having opened in November) and so they're still signing people up. That coupled with the New Years crowd is really getting crazy.

I'm happy to see the gym doing well and certainly want them to make lots of money so they can stay in business but man it's frustrating to have so many noobies there who simply have no clue about gym etiquette or even how to use a gym in the first place. College girls that come in groups of 2-4 and go from machine to machine doing 2-3 reps before deciding "this machine's too hard" and then giggling and talking for 10 minutes before moving on to something else. College guys who are there just to try and show off to their buddies how much they can bench or curl. One guy tonight was so intent on keeping his muscles flexed at all times while walking around the gym that he literally looked like someone had shoved a telephone pole up his rectum.

How I long for February and March and the inevitable return to sanity at the gym. When all of the novelty wears off, the uncommitted start making excuses to not go to the gym and only those that are truly serious and committed to their fitness show up on a daily basis. I see it every year, I know the end of the insanity will come but right now it's become pretty frustrating.
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Replies

  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
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    omg..its horrible.

    i went to the gym last week at the same time i went tonight..it was empty..tonight it was packed.
    i made a facebook post about it tonight..lol..

    i said all the resolution people at the gym..cant wait for next month when they realize getting in shape is hard work.

    its all good that they want to try..and its sad that only a very small number may actually stick with it. but ya, its a big influx of money.
  • dayylight
    dayylight Posts: 69
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    Oh my gosh! I totally agree about the gym etiquette. These two college girls jumped on the elliptical machines next to me and were talking so loud I could hear them through my headphones - which were turned up loud enough to drown out the music of the class going on at the other side of the gym. And everyone on all the machines kept looking at them as if they really wanted to tell them to shut up.

    However, my gym has only been open a year and it's locally owned so I am extremely happy to see them getting a lot of business. I'll just be staying home with Jillian for the next week or two. :)
  • Generalle
    Generalle Posts: 201 Member
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    could not agree more with all of the above. The major downside for me is that because one of my gyms (I belong to 2, one close to my work & one close to where I live so I can go in the weekends) is really small so I've had to change the time I go to that one because these 'resolutionists' take up all the machines!
    Oh well, another month or so and it should be back to normal :laugh:
  • weightofyourskin
    weightofyourskin Posts: 173
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    I haven't noticed a change at my gym, thank goodness, but then again it's a pretty small gym, women's only, and not in a super busy part of town. Then again, I've only been once this year because I came down with a cold and the decongestants make me super sleepy - not the safest time to be lifting weights...
  • 3shirts
    3shirts Posts: 294 Member
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    I'm quite lucky, my town has quite a few of the big chains so people tend to go there when they don't know any better. The gym I go to tends to only have people more committed to working out. It has a steady flow of new people and this is my second year going and I've not noticed any excessive intake of morons in January
  • camillehardeman
    camillehardeman Posts: 46
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    Well I for one like to see new people at the gym IF they are there because they are committed and want to be healthy and fit. However, we all know that there are many people who just join because they feel like they should, take up space and aren't committed to the process. That's frustrating to me. At my gym (24 hour fitness downtown in a large city) there is a pretty big influx of new faces but they haven't been too bad this year. I do most of my cardio running outside now so It's not really a problem for me personally that they hog the cardio machines (though, the definently do!). Those people are scarce in the weight room so I am fine!
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    Yeah it's pretty bad right now. It's frustrating that I had to change the time I come because I dislike standing in line for 30 minutes to use a treadmill. Normally, I'm there running with spare machines all around. I just have to wait it out til about March and they usually go back to couch surfing by then.
  • seph_house
    seph_house Posts: 101 Member
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    i was expecting an influx but my two visits so far this year has shown only the usual faces and, actually, fewer of them though i think that might just be the stormy weather we are having at the moment.

    bad for the gym but good for me! i've decided to finally commit to the NROLFW program for the next few months so i'm learning a whole bunch of new exercises (picking up a barbell for the first time. eep!) & i hate doing that when i think other people are watching :)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    What I find interesting with the etiquette is the fact the new folks are not looking around to see how things are done.

    So either they have been before and just have bad habits, so focused they don't think about things, just impolite in general.

    Couple guys grabbed their dumbbells and proceeded to do their curls or side lifts, right in front of the dumbbell rack. No one could get any sets within 4 of either side of them.
    Because of course, rest of us polite and not wanting to interrupt a lift.
    And then the normal not putting weight plates back where they found them. I guess it never crosses their mind they didn't find them on the machine, they got them.
    Someone had left their plates on a calf lift, and older lady trying to get them off had it roll off, hit her toe, and hit a hanging mirror/divider cracking that too. Poor lady thought she could handle 45 lbs.
    I see the kettle balls left in lonely corners where someone must have been doing their private workout. And after a bit realize no one is going back.

    And then someone plays their own music in the spin room during non-class times, when others may want to use the space for core exercises. Oh wait, that's me and my music, forget that one.
  • mattrolston
    mattrolston Posts: 14
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    . I do most of my cardio running outside now so It's not really a problem for me personally that they hog the cardio machines (though, the definently do!). Those people are scarce in the weight room so I am fine!

    Yeah same at my gym, the cardio is packed, weight machines not so much & I have the free weights more or less to myself
  • MissMalinSara
    MissMalinSara Posts: 137
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    Haha I totally agree with this! I'm waiting for the day everyone decides to screw their resolutions!
  • helloburger
    helloburger Posts: 243 Member
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    I would like to say even though I don't go to a gym, surely you all were new once at a gym.
    How about you try help these people rather than look down on them. You meantioned that some people are looking around lost. HELP THEM! I'm sure that you would feel pretty good if you could use all you knowledge and experience to help someone continue their resolution. It's a daunting experience walking into a gym for the first time, so try make it a less painfully experience for the new members. I have idea what gym etiquette is, neither will they do just explain it to them....
  • meg_jesse
    meg_jesse Posts: 11
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    I have been really naughty and not been to my gym for months and I know when I go back Monday, I'm going to look like the resolutionists, lol. Oh well I know this time I will still be there come Feb/March time. Looking forward to getting back into the gym.
  • Luthorcrow
    Luthorcrow Posts: 193
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    To be patient with all of the "New Year Resolution" people that will flock to the gyms for the first 3 months of the year and then disappear by April.

    Also, to not growl at that personal trainers and their students using the power rack for a TRX station. Ok, I am still going to scowl. ;)
  • LadyConundra
    LadyConundra Posts: 37 Member
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    I have mixed feelings about these ppl. Though I am glad that 95% of them will be gone in a matter of weeks, and the other 4% by March. I welcome the 1% that will stick it out. I am a 1%-er. I got serious about my health in January (after having my membership for over a year, unused). I have lost a ton of weight and am still going strong. I wish that more would stick with it because we have a serious weight problem in this country.

    With that say...... Get off my machine. Stopped acting and talking like you own this gym. No walking on the treadmill for 5 mins at 2.0, while talking to your BF on the next machine is not considered a work out. And yes grunting and dropping the weight and acting like a BA is not welcome nor wanted in this gym.

    Thank you. *stepping on my soapbox* :)
  • appleseeds
    appleseeds Posts: 212 Member
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    THERE ARE NONE AT MY GYM!

    In fact, over the last month there have been less than half the people around then there usually are.

    :D

    Maybe the resolutionists dont do group fitness classes?

    (All I do it group fitness classes and swim laps!)
  • nomoremuffintop42
    nomoremuffintop42 Posts: 129 Member
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    I would like to say even though I don't go to a gym, surely you all were new once at a gym.
    How about you try help these people rather than look down on them. You meantioned that some people are looking around lost. HELP THEM! I'm sure that you would feel pretty good if you could use all you knowledge and experience to help someone continue their resolution. It's a daunting experience walking into a gym for the first time, so try make it a less painfully experience for the new members. I have idea what gym etiquette is, neither will they do just explain it to them....

    thank you..i finally joined a gym last week after sweating it out in my locked boring bedroom with jillian michaels and my treadmill for the last year...iam so grateful that i was given this gift from my parents for xmas that i have 2 hours a day to myself ...on my first visit to the gym i asked the trainer what the protocol was and he said there wasn't one...hello...so i just hoped on the treadmil ect....it might not be the newbie but the staff...yesterday i had a training session which was great but i was never told this was extra with my membership....i just wanted someone to show me how to use the machines and give a little guidance...i can do the rest on my own....i understand what you are saying about teenagers,ect..but don't lump us all in the newbie section...you were once a newbie yourself....
  • sbedwards1077
    sbedwards1077 Posts: 32 Member
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    Our gym has trainers there to help the new people. That said, I only get an hour to work out a day during my normal work week. I really don't have time to help the newbies. I just go about my normal routine and suggest they talk to a trainer if they look lost.

    I personally can't wait till it becomes more normal again :) Every year this happens and every year only a handful of new people stay. I actually hope the new people succeed! I am just not qualified or have the time to help them.
  • alyssamiller77
    alyssamiller77 Posts: 891 Member
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    I would like to say even though I don't go to a gym, surely you all were new once at a gym.
    How about you try help these people rather than look down on them. You meantioned that some people are looking around lost. HELP THEM! I'm sure that you would feel pretty good if you could use all you knowledge and experience to help someone continue their resolution. It's a daunting experience walking into a gym for the first time, so try make it a less painfully experience for the new members. I have idea what gym etiquette is, neither will they do just explain it to them....

    thank you..i finally joined a gym last week after sweating it out in my locked boring bedroom with jillian michaels and my treadmill for the last year...iam so grateful that i was given this gift from my parents for xmas that i have 2 hours a day to myself ...on my first visit to the gym i asked the trainer what the protocol was and he said there wasn't one...hello...so i just hoped on the treadmil ect....it might not be the newbie but the staff...yesterday i had a training session which was great but i was never told this was extra with my membership....i just wanted someone to show me how to use the machines and give a little guidance...i can do the rest on my own....i understand what you are saying about teenagers,ect..but don't lump us all in the newbie section...you were once a newbie yourself....

    I'm certainly happy to help any time I can. The problem is a lot of people either just don't care or are actually unapproachable about it. Many people don't like to be told that they're practicing improper etiquette, and you can't really tell who's who until you try to correct them and then if they don't take it well it can get ugly. If I see a person who's using a machine incorrectly or who is having obvious problems figuring out how to use something, I'll go over to them and suggest the proper technique. However, how do you approach a person who leaves plates hanging on a smith machine or leaves his jacket hanging on one bench while he goes over and works on a stack machine?

    Just so I'm clear, I know my post comes off kind of pompous and judgmental. I certainly do not root for people to fail in their resolutions. However what I do root for is a gym experience where people care enough about other people to either practice good etiquette or try to learn it. The people who are committed to improving themselves typically will do this, those that have joined on nothing more than a whim and a new years resolution typically never get it (and that's not to say that no one who joins a club as part of a resolution is committed, many are).
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    I work at a gym on a college campus. Right now, kids are still on break, but once they get back our numbers go through the roof. Generally lasts until spring break as kids are crash dieting and over exercising in preparation for drunken beach shenanigans.

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