I haven’t heard of grunting while lifting weights. The people at my little public gym aren’t world class lifters, nor are they steroid-infused muscle-bound behemoths.
Some guy in the state of NY got kicked out of his gym because he was supposedly grunting while lifting. I was reading it in the NY Times, but here’s a link you don’t need to register for:
A Google search of “gym grunting” brought up several hits, but also about gym grunting in general. Apparently it’s rampant.
I have a list of about 20 annoying gym behaviors, but grunting isn’t on it. Actually, people talking at the gym is my number one annoyance. They have to yell 'cause the cardio machines are right near the weights. I can barely listen to my headphones because of all the loud conversations going on around me. (And who can talk and work out at the same time??)
I’m paranoid that sometimes on my last rep I might let out a heavy breath, but I guess I’ll watch out from now on.
And now if I hear someone else grunt, I’ll be annoyed because I’m supposed to be annoyed. I know that sounds weird, but sometimes when I hear about how such and such behaviors are supposed to irritate me, suddenly they do, even if they didn’t before.
What about at your gym? Is this prevalent? Do you grunt?
Some of the grunting is perfectly reasonable but a lot of guys GRUNT in order to draw attention to how fucking buff they are. My gym is quite large, two floors and the heavy weights are in the corner of the first floor. You can sometimes hear the grunts from the opposite end of the second floor. I get more annoyed by people who sing along with their headphones.
I get quite irrationally annoyed about the people at the gym who don’t seem able to exercise without clutching a mobile phone in one sweaty mitt. I mean, what’s their problem? Do they think they’ll die if they put the damn phone away for an hour? What happens when they sleep? Do they take the phone to bed with them? I’m more and more convinced it’s the adult version of a comfort blanket.
The other thing that gets to me is the number of sweaty individuals who don’t take a towel with them so that if you use equipment after them, you have to dry it off first. Ewwwww! And then there’s the generally stinky bunch who don’t know what deodorant is and don’t seem to have much more than a passing acquaintance with soap. Maybe where I live we just have stinky blokes, but I can tell you it’s just not fun.
I would never grunt intentionally. But if I’m doing a very heavy, maximal lift sometimes I do let out an involuntary grunt. People who sing along to their headphones or make noises to attract attention are just annoying. People who really push themselves might breathe differently from people who do not.
Planet Fitness is well-known for going out of their way to discourage any kind of serious lifting. I’m not fond of that, but if you’re going to work out there, you have to play by their rules.
Did anybody read the article? It’s very much a he-said she-said sort of thing!
(bolding mine) WTF? She was intimidated by someone’s grunt? Ok, it’s the rules but it seems awfully silly.
Aside: “80 miles north of NYC”? Come on! Is that the only way to identify where my goddamn HOMETOWN is? Wappingers Falls, outside of Fishkill, across the river from Newburgh, close to Poughkeepsie. I realize they’re small towns, but still- the newspaper is based in Albany! Why couldn’t it have been" 100 miles south of Albany"? Grrr.
I’d say it’s similar to the grunts or “unh” that Maria Sharapova lets out when she plays tennis. Sure it’s okay if your on center court during a tournament and everyone is there to watch you, but if you were playing on a court next to someone doing that you’d immediately want to tell them to “shut the hell up!”
[hijack]Because 80 miles is closer than 100 miles? Because it is not an Albany newspaper story, but an Associated Press article, run in newspapers across the country? And because more people who are not from New York State can visualize where NYC is than can do the same for Albany? [/hijack]
There is a huge (no pun intended) difference between an involuntary gasp/grunt that is forced out of you when expending your most intense effort on lifting, and the “HEEEEEEEEEARRRRGHHHHSHEEEEEEEKKKGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH” that is, as the article said (paraphrased) “meant to impress everyone with your physical prowess (though certainly not your manners or intellect)”.
I doubt the first kind is what they were talking about when they said grunting. I wish our gym would be more adament about enforcing the rules. Far too many patrons have an “I’m the only/most important/must be catered to at all costs member who belongs” mentality.
The second type is eye-rollingly stupid and NOT impressive at all. I recently changed gyms (same chain, but moved up to their 21 and over only luxury club), prior to that, the grunters were pretty frequent, there was always at least one at all hours, no matter when a person would go in to workout.
At the “Gym Plus” we occasionally get a grunter, and though it’s not against the rules, they are quickly quelled by dirty looks and “I’m so impressed [heavy sarcasm]” eye rolls.
I have to admit though, as a couple of other posters said, this isn’t in my top 10 most annoying gym rants. Number one would have to be those women who spread out their gym bag, its contens and the entire contents of their cosmetic armory on the locker room benches.
The article in the Times was more about the fact that Argibay was suing Planet Fitness for embarassing him (his coworkers now make fun of him).
The rules at this place (whether they are foolish or not) are posted pretty prominently. Furthermore, he didn’t leave when asked and the police were called, guaranteeing that it would make the local papers. Now he is suing and the whole country knows. He should be embarrassed. He wasn’t thrown out for grunting, he was thrown out for being an asshole.
He should be embarassed? Why? Because he doesn’t conform to the image of people in those idiotic gym commercials in which they are shown to be lifting weights or doing aerobics while smiling from ear to ear? You are supposed to strain, sweat and at least grimace. If you aren’t you’re wasting your time. I saw a woman on a leg machine once do reps while reading a magazine. :eek: Workouts are supposed to be work.
BTW, my pet peeves at the gym: not putting the dumbells back in their proper slot on the dumbell tree (hey dickhead, how hard can that be? :mad: ) and putting back weight plates wherever you feel like it instead of with other plates of the same size (this forces people to constantly take plates on and off to get to the ones they want). Cell phone use? You’re not supposed to use them anywhere, but I don’t really care unless it’s in the lockerroom (cell phone cameras, ya know )
When I go to the gym to lift weights, I’m wasting my time if I do not try, in some way, to improve on recent efforts on at least one exercise. This does not necessarily mean lifting more, but might also mean doing more sets or reps, changing the tempo, pausing during the lift, using different hand position, etc. I expect to work hard when I go to ther gym to lift weights. I might let out a grunt once a session every four sessions or so. It is not meant to be attention seeking or intimidating. In fairness, I should point out I work out on a nearby military base (great equipment and very cheap) and am not really seeking attention given the lack of local eye candy. Anyway, my top pet peeves are:
People who tie up the squat racks so they can curl, or do other exercises that don’t require the squat racks.
People who put their weights away in the wrong spot so that the weight you want is behind eight other plates.
People who put a large plate in a small slot so that other weights can’t be put back into the proper spot without removing several other plates
People who can’t flush (common in the military, it seems).
Gyms which only permit water and not other workout drinks.
Gyms which don’t have any significant amount of free weights. (Common in boutique gyms).
Gyms (at hotels) which only have a Smith machine for squats and presses.
Gyms which play sucky music.
Gyms without water fountains.
Gyms which discourage overhead lifts or get upset about a rare dropped weight.
Do they have Squirt Bottle Police to check to see if you are sneaking in unapproved beverages? You don’t mention what kind of gyms pull that sorta stunt, but lemme guess: snotty fussbudget “lifestyle” gyms that wanna sell you their snake oil drinks? And gyms without water fountains? Holy shit, I’ve never seen that before. :eek: The gyms that discourage overhead lifts: that sounds like a liability thing and is thus understandable, but still…it’s a gym. And the dropped weight thing: it’s distracting when someone does it, but really, ya wanna make eggs, well, once in a while yer gonna break a yolk…
Gotta split with you on the music thing. I’m pretty focused on my workout so if the music is good or bad I don’t really even notice. OTOH, if the music is too loud, that I find distracting. Sucky music, however, is no problem.
I sometimes grunt or growl on really heavy reps. It’s usually when I’m trying to get a single at a very difficult weight. I’m guessing it may occur every couple of weeks–once a month maybe? It’s obviously deliberate, but it’s not a “shout.” I work out in my basement with the same buddy every time. I’m not trying to impress anybody when I do it.
I am trying to control my breathing and somehow it helps psychologically. Twice I got a horrible headache that forced me to stop the workout (and the headache remained for the rest of the day) because I held my breath on something really heavy. There’s a name for this, but I forget what it is. Anyway, that’s why I like musclehead gyms, when I do go to a gym, where people are there to lift heavy weights. Nobody cries if somebody grunts, and if somebody is doing it to draw attention, who cares, the world is full of jerks.
The gym on the military base I work out at does not allow any drinks but water. They sometimes check, having nothing better to do. I don’t know the reason for the policy and occasionally flout it. I’m not a huge fan of “workout” drinks like Gatorade or protein drinks (I can drink these before going to the gym). But having never seen a single spilled drink there in four years, what’s the point? And what is the difference between water and diet Coke anyway?
I have seen many gyms without water fountains in South America (Argentina, Peru and Colombia) and a few in Australia and Canada (one gym in my home town is so crappy I think of the business as a Mafia front). These gyms simply want to sell customers bottled water for a dollar a pop rather than supply it. Most customers simply bring their own water, of course.
Overhead lifting is part of weightlifting. It’s a gym, with equipment designed for that purpose. They have the right to set their rules, but I don’t see how liability is a big factor here. And how many people do any overhead lifting?
I bring my own sucky music to the gym. When most people have MP3 players, the loud music is worse than its actual suckiness, I agree. If I have my headphones on, maximum volume, and can still hear the overhead song…
I can’t remember the last time a dropped a weight, but it is easy to see happening once on a maximum lift. Shouldn’t be worth my membership.
Anyway, these are pet peeves. They don’t cost me any sleep. And I would choose not to join gyms with overly restrictive policies. The ones I have seen are mostly while on vacation. I would rather work out and get some exercise than not work out and can live with restrictions I don’t like for short periods.
Because he doesn’t conform to the image of people in those idiotic gym commercials in which they are shown to be lifting weights or doing aerobics while smiling from ear to ear? You are supposed to strain, sweat and at least grimace. If you aren’t you’re wasting your time. 
I saw a woman on a leg machine once do reps while reading a magazine. :eek: Workouts are supposed to be work.
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