No, it’s really not. If you’re annoying, a pest, an equipment hogg, don’t clean up after yourself people will notice you and get annoyed and maybe think unflattering comments about you, regardless of your size.
If you come to the gym, do your work out, don’t act like a selfish jerk, people aren’t even going to notice you. Really, the woman That Guy was describing is what I refer to as an osmosis exerciser - that is, they figure if they’re around other people exercising, they will get the benefit by osmosis without having to do any actual work, or break a sweat. These are the same people who grouse that despite 'Working out like crazy" they can’t seem to shed a single pound.
It’s a delusion. Everybody has them - it’s just nice if people can try to ensure that their delusions impact on other people as little as possible.
I understand the fear - I still think people are looking at me in a negative light and I’m not even overweight anymore.
But people who are really there to work out simply are not watching other people - until they’re sitting on a weight bench they need, twiddling their thumbs.
Come to the gym with a plan, don’t just wander aimlessly picking random machines to use (which I think is part of the problem, people just don’t know what to use or how to use it). Pay for a session or two with a trainer if you can, it could really help.
And don’t listen to people who tell you to do a million reps with teeny tiny weights is the only way to go if you’re a woman. Or that you have to do hours & hours of cardio to get results.
Hmm…here’s a gym etiquette question I’ve idly wondered about from time to time.
I’m a runner - I rarely go to the gym except in the dead of winter, when the ice is finally so bad that I can’t run on it anymore. It has to be Really nasty to drive me indoors. Below 10? Not a problem! Bring on the layers.
So, when I get there, I head for the treadmill only. Do my thing, and leave.
Now, is it really necessary for me to wipe down the treadmill? I do, but always feel a bit silly. Usually, I’ve only touched the buttons when I started it up and shut it down. Otherwise, only my feet touch the treadmill. Maybe little bits of sweat are hovering around me, but it’s usually pretty cold if I’m in the gym, and I don’t sweat that much.
I feel like the strict answer is: yes, I should wipe it down. But I still feel a bit silly.
Thoughts?
Edit: might as well weight in on the fat-issue. I’m pretty much oblivious when I’m at the gym. I’m not even aware of the people next to me and certainly not thinking snide thoughts about anyone else.
Yes, if you’re touching it you should wipe it down. Obviously if you’re not really sweating it’s not much of an issue either way but it’s a good habit.
Now, is it really necessary for me to wipe down the treadmill? QUOTE]
I have had the same thoughts, but decided to always give the buttons a quick wipe. It costs me very little time and if nothing else keeps up the standards of etiquette.
My gym rant: People who leave their clothes and crap all over the single 8-foot bench in the locker room. There are 50 lockers. USE THEM. And close the locker door while you’re at it. There are also coat hooks and a convenient out-of-the-way place for your shoes not five feet from where you left your crap for me to trip over.
Also, the ab machine is not a clothes hanger. Toss your hoodie somewhere else.
Actually, as long as a woman is even reasonably attractive, most guys are probably thinking thank god there is a decent looking chick here for me to check out while I’m standing around between sets.
So he hopped off immediately and she presumably didn’t have a problem moving right away too? I’m sure there are serious annoyances at the gym, but these aren’t particularly strong examples.
You totally don’t get it. It’s not that this one lady is there. It’s that 30% of the people in the gym this month haven’t been there since last January, and won’t be there again until next January. Things are crowded, and it’s hard to get on machines. There are a dozen signs in my gym that say, “If you sit on the machine when you’re not using it, you’re an asshole*”. It’s like doing curls in the squat rack, or flys on the flat bench. Sure, it’s a minor annoyance. But when it’s there every single time you want to start a new exercise, and you know the people doing it are either not doing jack shit, or they’re going to overexert themselves and not come back, it’s annoying as fuck.
*They actually say, “Please do not sit on the machines to socialize between sets,” or something to that effect. But it means what I wrote above.
ETA: Or am I getting wooshed, and you’re parodying parenting threads where people say, “I don’t have any kids, but I’m sure…”
I’ll be honest, I was getting in a little dig at the lady hogging machine at the expense of her being overweight. But what really got my blood boiling was how incredibly rude she was when I asked to work in. And the fact that she was literally doing nothing more than sitting there reading the paper, especially considering how riduculously little she was doing, 8 REPS OF 5 FUCKING POUNDS, then sitting there reading the paper for 10 minutes, she might as well not be at gym. She could sit on her sofa, lift her hand to her shoulder 8 times, and she’d be do doing the exact same thing! In her mind, she probably thought just physically being at the gym magically would make the pounds melt away.
If at the gym, whether your fat or not, I’m going to view you in two ways:
#1 If you’re actually working out, doing your best, and generally considerate and follow proper gym etiquette: Way to go! Especially if you’re overweight and actually doing something to try to get into shape, you get double props.
#2 But if you are like the lady I ran into, generally doing nothing than taking up space and causing problems for the rest of us, you’re gonna get the stink eye from me.
Pardon my ignorance (I’ve been to some gyms but not many), but where exactly would one do flies, if not on the flat bench? What is the flat bench actually for? Rows and nothing else?
I do the utmost to follow gym protocol (and will politely point things out to other people as needed) but I’m also* curious: if you want to do flys with free weights, where are you supposed to do them?
I’ll admit I sometimes do curls in the squat rack but that’s because the mirror behind it might be the only one available and I need to watch my form because my left side is weaker. I will move if someone seems to need the squat rack for it’s intended purpose though.
Preach it, sister! Of course it is a minor minor inconvenience. But multiply it by the eleventy-zillion such instances of cluelessness you encounter on a daily basis, and it starts to wear. Sure, these 2 people moved as soon as asked, the asker knows that not everyone will respond as politely. And the point is it would be nice if ivylass didn’t need to ask in the first place, doing these idiots’ thinking for them. Like someone said upthread - we’re basically talking about common courtesy and awareness of one’s surroundings that folks should learn in pre-school…
In the admittedly low-intensity, workplace gym I use over lunch, the biggest offenders are actually some of the most serious lifters. A group of 2 or 3 will do sets together, and stand around chatting for minutes and minutes between sets. Not to mention the grunts, groans, and encouragement. And there are a couple of women who do what seems to be 100s of reps on a particular machine with a single plate.
But I’ve adjusted my lifting workouts to avoid them. I simply plan on doing 3 sets each of 4-5 upper body and 4-5 lower body lifts each day, and instead of resting between sets I do one set upper body followed immediately by a set of lower body, and then back again to the upper body. If someone jumps onto a particular machine/bench before I have finished my 3 sets, I can just switch to another exercise and come back and finish that one later. That allows me to pretty much avoid any machine that someone is monopolizing.
On days I do cardio I tend to prefer the elliptical, but if they are all taken I’ll readily sit on a bike or a stairmaster.
Of course I would prefer to be running and avoid such issues altogether, but that is no longer an option for me.
That’s just my personal nomenclature for the solid benches that have racks for a barbell. I’m not sure what they’re actually called that differentiate them from a more portable flat bench that doesn’t have racks (perhaps a “flat bench with racks”). But, if the portable adjustable benches without racks are free, and you’re* doing concentration curls or flys, or basically any exercise that doesn’t require the racks, and all the benches with racks are taken, then it’s functionally equivalent to using the squat racks for benching or treating a machine like it’s a park bench.
*By “you’re”, I of course mean the general you. The specific you sounds like she’s the kind of gal that cares if she’s doing this sort of thing; I doubt you annoy the “experienced” gym people one bit.
Here, I can agree with you. I’ll only use the rack bench(?) if necessary and will switch to the plain one if one becomes available and someone needs to use the the rack.
To be fair, I’ve mostly solved this problem by switching to dumbbell presses instead of bench presses, but the dumbbells at my current gym only go up to 100 pounds, and I can already do those pretty easily when I’m fresh.
ETA: Do you do your curls with the flat bar that’s in the squat rack? Doesn’t that hurt your wrists?
By the way, even when you fill up your water bottle and there’s nobody in line, it still leaves the water warm for the next few minutes while the system replenishes itself.
Depending on the fountain, of course. I was at the gym in my hometown over Christmas break and the pipes must have been closer to the ground, because that water was cold!
For those nervous about going to the gym because they’re concerned about their appearance:
Everyone else there is, too. Seriously, you’re not at the gym if you’re not trying to improve something about yourself – whether it be weight, health, or your killer 6-pack abs. But, even the folks with the killer 6-pack abs are there because they think they need to improve something.
Yes, it seems improbable when you look at them, but it is true. So don’t worry; you’re all self-conscious people hoping no one notices your huge (to you) flaws.
However. If you are lounging around, putting yourself on display, everyone else is going to be aware that you are not trying to improve yourself. If they’re charitable, they’re just going to wonder why you’re there. But, they’re grumpy because they’re sweaty and in pain and irritated because they’re at the gym: they’re not likely to be charitable. They’re likely to make catty remarks, that will hurt your feelings.
Honestly, the way to avoid catty remarks that hurt your feelings is to DO something. Not sit there, hogging the machine, or bench, or locker, or tv. Even if you’re doing it wrong, at worst you’ll get corrected by someone, but that’ll be more help than the gym-slugs will be seeing.
