Sick of bad gym etiquette!

M

mom2twoboyz

0
You would think it's common sense, that if someone is standing right next to a machine while someone is using it, that they're next to get on it, right? Or you would expect people to know not to use the machines like a park bench, either use it or get OFF of it! Also, not wiping your sweat off the machine?

What is wrong with people? I hate to pinpoint but honestly I have run into this only with the older male population, I'm talking 60+. I have not had a problem with any other group, and this is ongoing, like every time I'm at the gym. I have to ask guys to get off the machine so I can use it, they just sit there and chat with someone on the machine next to it. And I've had some guys nearly step on me to get to a machine that I was waiting for.

Then they act like you're the rude one! ARRRGGHHH!

just wanted to vent. :)

Disclaimer: I am not saying ALL older gentlemen do this, I'm just observing the fact that in my case, this is the group I've had a problem with. Don't wanna ruffle any feathers here. :p
 
"Pretty lady" syndrome, I would think. Like if someone was younger, they'd be like, "Oh yeah, I can wait for the next one, no problem."

But yeah I can relate to the wipe your sweat thing. To be honest though, I just don't wipe the sweat anymore. Plus, at my school, they have a miniature track around the basketball court indoors, so I just use that than the machines. Don't have to worry about sweats or stuff.
 
People just get out of my way.



lol, no I don't talk much at the gym but I look for eye contact all the time. If I'm in the rack and they are near and give me eye contact I'll flat out ask if they are waiting (with a smile) if they are I give them the time I need to finish or ask if they want to work in. If sombody showed up to cut in I'd back the first person, no problem.
 
Gym etiquette

Boy did you open a can of worms!!
First Place there is nothing grosser than a sweaty body leaking all over the benches machines etc.
Second Place body odor!! Geez take a shower before you come to the gym.
Third Place working out then taking a bathroom break and coming back without washing your hands.
Forth Place cutting in line or jumping in before you ask if the person is done.
Fifth Place perfume or after shave by the gallon. Don't they know that it really fills the air everywhere?
Sixth Place not returning the weights. When you get to the Smith Rack etc and there's 400 lbs left on the bar.
Seventh Place thongs, boxers or dudes in bike shorts and sweat bands. Give me a break.
Eighth Pace farts!!! Nuf said.
Ninth Place grunting and dropping weights. Not necessary.
Tenth Place too much talking about BS etc. Shut up and sweat.

Well that's my top ten. By the way I'm 60 as of 9/3 and I don't waste my time on the machines. The iron rules!!

Isn't it great to go to the gym. I go at 2PM so I have lots of privacy and room. Even with all the bad stuff a killer workout fixes everything.
 
I'll admit, I don't drop my weights but they hit the rack loud sometimes, though I’m not trying to be loud. As for grunting, it just happens if I’m using a max weight and there is just no helping it..Same goes for the gas thing...only happened once and the crew gave me a hard time, but in good humor.

oh, yeah I happen to sweat too...can't help it...I do clean up
 
Last edited:
Thats why I work out at home. My weights, my time, my loud ass music, etc. etc.

Not to mention its free to walk downstairs and train.
 
There are a lot of people at my gym who do a few reps on a machine, then sit there for 3-5 minutes and then do a couple of more reps and repeat indefinately. If you ask them if you can work in, they say quite nastilly: "I am using it". I call them "campers", since they are camped out for the duration and not actually exercising much. They seem to cross all boundaries of age and sex, but seem to inevitably be the people who look like they DO NOT ever go to the gym. I guess that is the downside of going to a "fitness center", but that is all that is conveniently located for me.

On the up side I have met a lot of people over the years at the gym that have become lifelong friends and/or business partners and contacts, so there is some benefit to rubbing elbows with the unwashed masses.
 
Last edited:
Kraken said:
Thats why I work out at home. My weights, my time, my loud ass music, etc. etc.

Not to mention its free to walk downstairs and train.
Click to expand...

Exactly, all these are reasons I turned my garage into club Johnny83 ! I just need some mirrors on the walls.
 
I experience rudeness here or there but nothing that makes me rage that hard.

I just do my work, people get out of my way, if I want something, I ask, etc.
 
One thing I have to say about going to "meat head steriod freak" gyms is they all seem to know proper gym ettiquette. When you go to Bally's or places like Bally's, it consist of mostly people who typically don't know what the hell they are doing.

Things that bother me the most are the people who don't use spotters for weight lifting that usually requires spotters. I don't care if you are as strong as Arnold Schwarznegger in his prime and benching only the 45 pound bar, you should always have a spotter!

Another thing is the people who sit down on the machines between sets waiting to do their next set.
They should always get their asses off the machine and stand by it in between sets just in case someone wants to use it too, so the other person that needs to use the same machine has the ability to work their sets in between the other person who is currently using that machine.

Those couple things are to me, gym ettiquette 101.

Jason Salamone
 
Last edited:
I hear ya on all counts...

If someone is even near a machine that I'm working on, I'll ask them if they are waiting. If they are waiting, I always give them a quick nod to acknowledge them and maybe even let them know what rep I'm on.

I see way too many people just doing their own thing with absolutely no regard for anyone else. The bottom line, people need to be aware of others, be considerate and in short; treat others as they'd like to be treated!
 
I hear your pain but I do not use machines at the gym, I would actually feel like the gym had robbed me if I went and did my whole workout on the machines/smith machine. Perhaps you can try switching to free weights, there is never a queue to use free weights at my gym (well the heavy a$$ weights at least).

The only problem I've seen is some guy who does step-ups on the benches and then leaves his dusty shoe prints on the bench for the next user to clean. If you are gonna do something like that clean it up.
 
blackbeard said:
I hear your pain but I do not use machines at the gym, I would actually feel like the gym had robbed me if I went and did my whole workout on the machines/smith machine. Perhaps you can try switching to free weights, there is never a queue to use free weights at my gym (well the heavy a$$ weights at least).

The only problem I've seen is some guy who does step-ups on the benches and then leaves his dusty shoe prints on the bench for the next user to clean. If you are gonna do something like that clean it up.
Click to expand...

Yeah, gotchya, but when I wrote "machines" I was referring to pretty much everything in the gym, whether it be the smith machines or free weights. I've seen people do their set of bench press, then just sit up and sit there on the bench...stuff like that. I see it every day. When everybody is using all the benches and you need to work in, it holds up your workout, and you're like wtf! My workouts calls for 30 sec breaks in between sets, so when that happens, it feels like it screws everything up.

Jason Salamone
 
I'm at a Fitness Center, with all ages and levels of fitness. My husband works out with all serious body builders and he has a totally different experience. So I suppose a lot of the etiquette comes from using the gym for years. There are a lot of people at my gym who seem to be just getting into it, and even a lot of people who are part of physical rehab programs, because they do rehab upstairs. So, that's what I get for joining a fitness center. I love the facility though and what it has to offer. I also could not see myself (at this point) at a serious weightlifting gym, I have to admit I'm a little bit intimidated, even by the free weight room at my gym. It's always full of big beefy guys. I enjoy the scenery, but feel out of place, lmao.
 
Kraken said:
Thats why I work out at home. My weights, my time, my loud ass music, etc. etc.

Not to mention its free to walk downstairs and train.
Click to expand...

johnny83 said:
Exactly, all these are reasons I turned my garage into club Johnny83 ! I just need some mirrors on the walls.
Click to expand...

yup. Ditto. That is why we built our own gym. I can do whatever exercises I want, to whatever music I want, whenever I want, and nothing to deal with...:)
 
mom2twoboyz said:
I have to admit I'm a little bit intimidated, even by the free weight room at my gym. It's always full of big beefy guys. I enjoy the scenery, but feel out of place, lmao.
Click to expand...

You should not feel intimidated. Everybody has to start somewhere. If you are serious most of those "big beefy guys" would probably be more than happy to help you out, give you pointers, etc. There are always a few @!*&heads in every gym, but they are just as likely to give lip to another "big beefy guy" as to you. There will always be some goodhearted kidding going on in any group with an excess of testoserone, but you just have to have thick skin, no matter who you are.

One pointer: the biggest or strongest guy there may NOT know any more about working out than anyone else, he may just be the most genetically blessed. In fact a lot of the genetically blessed know the least about proper exercise and nutrition, because they never really needed to learn it, since they are to able to outperform most everybody else while doing almost any haphazard routine and eeating whatever they want.
 
mom2twoboyz said:
You would think it's common sense, that if someone is standing right next to a machine while someone is using it, that they're next to get on it, right? Or you would expect people to know not to use the machines like a park bench, either use it or get OFF of it! Also, not wiping your sweat off the machine?
Click to expand...

Easy solution, stop using machines.
Use this as a chance to move to free weight compound movements, you'll get better results and there are fewer sweaty machines to sit on

World B said:
Third Place working out then taking a bathroom break and coming back without washing your hands.
Ninth Place grunting and dropping weights. Not necessary.
Click to expand...

1) How do you know they been to teh toilet, not washed their hands and come back? Do you follow them? If so then you're just weird! ;)

Grunting and dropping weights? I can see your point with dropping weights but not grunting, if you're lifting very heavy then sometimes a grunt comes out unintentionally, I hardly think it's a great gym menace anyway

blackbeard said:
I hear your pain but I do not use machines at the gym, I would actually feel like the gym had robbed me if I went and did my whole workout on the machines/smith machine. Perhaps you can try switching to free weights, there is never a queue to use free weights at my gym (well the heavy a$$ weights at least).
.
Click to expand...

Well said :)

dswithers said:
One pointer: the biggest or strongest guy there may NOT know any more about working out than anyone else, he may just be the most genetically blessed.
Click to expand...

Sorry, have to call BS here. You're right that the strongest doesn't always know the most but they don't get big through genetics, it's probably just because they worked harder with a crappy training plan than the skinny guys did with a great plan.

There are too many excuses for under achievement in lifting, genetics has to be number one by a mile
 
My number one gripe at the moment is people standing way too close to me, I had one guy last week who somehow manage to stand with his legs either side of my bar in between deadlift sets, wtf? At what point could he have thought that was a good place to stand?

The smell people can give off is awful too, I love people sweating while lifting but some smell like they use the same gym gear every day, like it's unlucky to wash their jock strap or something, it can make you feel sick

And people who seem incapable of putting weights back get me so pissed off, how difficult can it be to put things back where you got them from?
 
Typhon said:
And people who seem incapable of putting weights back get me so pissed off, how difficult can it be to put things back where you got them from?
Click to expand...

Yea i hate that.

And Lmao at the first point!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top