Pet Peeves in the gym?

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kararayne

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we all have some haha like we all do our own thing but it's hard not to notice certain things.

- one time i had to leave soon and wanted to work legs more, this guy was using the incline leg press for at least 20 minutes just doing calf raises, when there was clearly an actual calf raise machine right next to it not being used. literally right next to it.

- I haven't really seen this as much since i switched from the ymca to goodlife, but when people just stand around and talk for most of the time. , or especially when they sit on machines and talk not using them.
 
The gym etiquette situation. Varies dependant on the gym and style of trainer.
Some are more like social clubs with cardio machines and a sprinkling of weights, and in this it is considered rude to sweat too much or be seriously training.
One example that my wife had, ironically at a Y was to be told to tame down her training as it was upsetting the men to be outlifted by her, when she refused they excluded her and tried to claim for the full year, but not for long.

There are the iron gyms where the rudenss is usually being too busy posing to put away the iron or place dumbells on the floor or the racks at the end of a set rather than drop them from standing or shoulders when on bench.
One I trained at was very roid based and I did overhear a conversation between the guy at the desk (owner) and only other trainer there were discussing administering the latest 'supplement.' The other trainer declared it wasn't fair to ask me as I didn't even use it, and the owner agreed. I was relieved and a little shocked that among the majority there it would be considered rude not to shove a needle into another mans butt.

Main pet peeve for me is people not allowing working in. I always do where practical, and remember a couple of body builders wanting to use leg press for a superset while I was on it. I allowed it and they were concerned because their rests were by the clock and could extend mine. I pointed out I was a power trainer so good with long rests, bloke scowled and woman laughed nodding. Bloke was massive and lifted the same as me, woman in fairness was a bit larger than me and lifting around 75% so impressive stuff.

One of my other peeves is PTs grabbing everthing they will need for a 45 minute session during peak times even if they will only use it for one set at the end. Bit of consideration goes a long way and if you haven't got enough talent to find alternatives, how are you a PT?
 
Something that annoys me a lot (on forums more so than in real life, because I don't meet people like this in real life) is when people call each exercise a workout. Granted, you might have a workout consisting of 1 exercise, but when you have 5 exercises on that day all in 1 session, you're not doing 5 workouts that day.

It annoys me when people don't put their weights away, not so much because I care about the gym being neat and tidy, but because weights on a bar announce to the world "I'm using this." If there's someone there actually using the weights, then I can come over, ask to work in and it'll all be good, or if you don't let me work in with you (you're a ****) or I don't feel like asking because it'll involve too much fiddling around adjusting the set up for each of us (eg you're a 6'5" beast squatting 290kg or a 5'0" skinny girl squatting 30kg), at least I can be satisfied knowing that the equipment is going to good use. If there's no one there using the equipment, I expect that when I get sick of waiting and finally decide to just take it, you're going to come back and throw a hissy-fit about me stealing your equipment. And I don't like where that's headed.
 
As long as people do not stink profusely I can generally put up with their lack of manners. But when someone is pumping out some odours I get really irritated at the arrogant peeps who hog machines.
 
- when overweight women tell me lifting weights is going to make me 'huge'.., or that they don't want to lift weights to avoid getting huge (awkward). lol. no matter how much bigger i get with muscle, it'll still be smaller and look better than if i was fat.

this isn't as much of a pet peeve as it just kinda bugs me that these people are wasting their time., theres these two women who come into the gym pretty often, walk on the treadmill for maybe half an hour max and then leave. not even on an incline. just like, why, why pay 55$ a month to do something you can do outside.

lol, one time this girl was walking on a treadmill while drinking like a litre size coke. just like, why are you drinking more calories than you're burning..
 
haha i hate when that happens, guys walk away from the machines all the time at my gym, and it could be empty for like 5 minutes so i go over, look around for the person that was using it and can't see them anywhere so I finally use it, and they come back like ' i still have another set'.
 
The gym that I just quit a couple months ago was lousy with rude old people, and when I say "old", I mean 50's/60's. I could deal with guys not wiping down equipment or unloading bars as long as I didn't have to put up with those old people again. That gym is the main reason why I don't use the smith anymore. The older people in that gym, and this is not a joke, would start to unload the smith while you were sitting in it! I was doing inclines on it one time and an older woman came over and starting unloading my weight while I was sitting on the bench and told me "I just need it for a second". I couldn't believe it. It was always to do their vertical push ups on. Never to actually use the machine for intended use. There were a couple times where I walked the bathroom and when I came back, the machine was completely unloaded and one of them was using it. I'm not one of those guys who leaves for 5 minutes and comes back mind you. If I leave, it's to pee, and I always leave my water bottle and towel on the bench to let people know. This also happened with the leg press, and once I even had a woman unload my dead lift bar while I was in the bathroom to put it up in the cage to hang from the bar and to leg lifts, and left the weights laying on the floor. I'm so glad I'm out of that gym. It was a nightmare.
 
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One of my biggest pet peeves is the girls who will go to the gym to be seen, but in the process will just sit on machines or do one light set, usually taking up space on something I want to use to get an actual workout on. Some girls go to the gym to actually work and sweat, not to "impress" guys by showing up and looking cute.
 
Yeah, I was sitting on the bench after a set and the woman started taking my 45's off and putting them back on the weight rack. I was speechless haha.
 
JustinRVA said:
The gym that I just quit a couple months ago was lousy with rude old people, and when I say "old", I mean 50's/60's. I could deal with guys not wiping down equipment or unloading bars as long as I didn't have to put up with those old people again. That gym is the main reason why I don't use the smith anymore. The older people in that gym, and this is not a joke, would start to unload the smith while you were sitting in it! I was doing inclines on it one time and an older woman came over and starting unloading my weight while I was sitting on the bench and told me "I just need it for a second". I couldn't believe it. It was always to do their vertical push ups on. Never to actually use the machine for intended use. There were a couple times where I walked the bathroom and when I came back, the machine was completely unloaded and one of them was using it. I'm not one of those guys who leaves for 5 minutes and comes back mind you. If I leave, it's to pee, and I always leave my water bottle and towel on the bench to let people know. This also happened with the leg press, and once I even had a woman unload my dead lift bar while I was in the bathroom to put it up in the cage to hang from the bar and to leg lifts, and left the weights laying on the floor. I'm so glad I'm out of that gym. It was a nightmare.
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That's abysmal. More examples of people who, by their behaviour, prompt me to wonder why no one has casually walked up to them and set them on fire yet. I mean, that's such rude behaviour, and given that something like 4% of people are psychopaths, the odds of it not pissing off the wrong (or perhaps right?) person seem unbelievable.
stockwella26 said:
One of my biggest pet peeves is the girls who will go to the gym to be seen, but in the process will just sit on machines or do one light set, usually taking up space on something I want to use to get an actual workout on. Some girls go to the gym to actually work and sweat, not to "impress" guys by showing up and looking cute.
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One of my peeves is people judging others in the gym for appearing to be there for different reasons.

Besides that, I just don't understand the hate towards people who do go to the gym to try and attract members of the opposite sex while there, given that 90% of people in the gym are there to attract members of the opposite sex outside of the gym. Why not attract members of the opposite sex while you're there?

(Also, remember, every time a hot girl is looking, all males in the gym increase their weights by 25%. Proven fact. This isn't just a girls trying to impress guys thing.)
 
Goldfish said:
(Also, remember, every time a hot girl is looking, all males in the gym increase their weights by 25%. Proven fact. This isn't just a girls trying to impress guys thing.)
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This is true. If every weight room had glass walls that hot girls stood behind and watched, every guy would be huge in no time from putting so much weight on the bar to impress. Every guy that has picked up a weight is guilty of that.
 
My wife is former power-lifter and when we first knew each other she started training at the same gym as me. Was very amusing sometimes to watch the reactions of guys as she walked in, one of less than a handful of female members, which would change when she started lifting more than they could. There have been a number of occasions when I have seen guys trying to lift beyond their ability in order not to be outdone by her, amusing but dangerous.
It is easy to misjudge people anywhere, including gymnasiums and we have all been guilty of it, but I would say the chances are a woman wearing a padded low cut top, immaculate make up and nails and evidently not training at a level greater than a walk is likely there for attention. There are male equivilants too. The act of training hard may make you look nice outside of training time but glowing red and white complexion, viens ready to burst, facial expressions of effort and discomfort are not pretty, neither is sweating like a firehose which many working hard do.
I have been wrong when seeing people walking into gyms both ways. Seeing a few women walking in looking ready to pose who then went hell for leather and finished up looking like they'd been thrown through a shower. Guys who looked hardcore who were so evidently doing the bare minimum and would go for the acne production supplements whenever they wanted a bit more.

Rudeness in gyms takes many forms, all can be annoying. As a power trainer who doesn't recover particularly well between sets I can easily become a facility hogger. To counter this I have often not just allowed others to work in but invited it when I saw they were too worried to ask.
Never encountered people taking stuff regardless, a few have looked to and I have said I am still using the plates etc.
There is the rudeness of people who will stand in front of you as you are evidently using a mirror to check form, annoying when choosing to train there if there is other space, more so when so evidently not even training just being a pain.
Not unloading and putting away weights. Many of us find lifting 20kg or more plates off a bar easy enough for others this is dangerous so it is courtesy to put our toys away.

The biggest issue in gyms and elsewhere is inability to see things from the perspective of another. It is easy for a couple who enjoy sitting on exercise bikes having a chat for an hour a day to criticise the people looking like a hernia waiting to happen and vice versa. Truth is we all train our own way and as long as we are being safe and considerate it should be fine. Remember no matter how perfect you think you are, someone thinks you are a prat, and to their definition you are one. Keep this in mind and let people be what they are and train as they like. If they are being inconsiderate or dangerous let them know, often inconsiderate acts are done through ignorance and once informed they change, there are exceptions of course.
 
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