I’m actually going to have to disagree and offer a counter-point to this. Working out does involve a level of dedication and commitment, and as such, using a gym for free doesn’t offer much incentive to continue to work out. However, by paying for a gym membership, it’s sort of like having collateral on a loan and it provides extra incentive to work out. That is, by having access to a free gym, all you’re losing by not working out is getting out of shape, but by having a gym membership and not using it, you’re also wasting money.
As another example, it’s the same sort of reason I felt more motivated when I was paying for my education than when my parents were, or how I took better car of my car when I was paying for it than when I was driving my parent’s car. It doesn’t always have to be money, but I do think having something of value to you on the line helps provide that incentive.
I think this is also why so much home gym equipment doesn’t get used because after it’s purchased, there’s no further investment involved in using or not using it, the money is already spent. That sort of investment isn’t really necessary once you have some sort of exercise regiment in place, but I do think if someone is just starting out or having trouble sticking to it, that realization will help… not to mention the other resources and benefits that go along with it.
Tragedy of the commons. If every apartment dweller had a relative who didn’t live in the complex but who used the gym, then the gym would quickly become overrun by people who hadn’t paid into the the funds, yet were putting significant wear and tear on the equipment, as well as crowding the gym so badly that the people who actually paid for the use of the gym were not able to use it.
Okay, but there is this situation that may be unique to gyms, and that is: If everybody who had a LEGITIMATE membership showed up, the gym would quickly reach GRIDLOCK.
This is because a known, very high percentage of people who sign up for gym memberships will either never show up, or will show up once a year, first week of January. Most of them take the tour and write out the check, and spend the rest of the time thinking, “Okay, I need to get to the gym. Sometime soon.”
Pay for the gym membership does not actually increase the likelihood that you will use it. (Estimate, somewhere online, that 90% of people who sign up with a health club will completely stop going after 90 days.)
So virtually every gym in the country is counting on that fact when selling memberships.
The apartment complex is selling it as a perq, knowing that most of the denizens will not ever use it, but they can boast that their place has a gym. Quite probably, no one is ever in that gym.
Right, but with food, once it’s gone, it’s gone and nobody else can buy it. And if nobody buys it, it spoils.
In the case of the workout room, it can sit there for years without going bad.
Well, hell, now I’ve lost whatever point I was trying to make.:mad: Never mind.
Okay, wait, I think I’ve got it. This situation is more like, his aunt buys the food, but she doesn’t want to eat it. So she offers it to him.
If everybody in the apartment gave out the code to everybody they knew, yeah, it might be overrun. But if everybody who lived there and who didn’t use it let one person use it in their stead, I don’t see how that’s ever going to be a problem. If the tenants use it AND give out the code, that could be a problem.
Meh. Using it isn’t illegal (as far as I’m aware), so if you want to use it, then use it. I wouldn’t care one shit about the advice given by a bunch of anonymous fake internet people.
Of course it’s unethical. You are using something that isn’t yours, you didn’t pay for and you know full well that the owners would not want you to use it. That said, it’s not like it would be a huge crime to use the place from time to time, assuming that actual members weren’t inconvenienced. You’re just visiting with your aunt and thought you would get in a workout - right?
Quite early in the morning is exactly the time that most people who have jobs will pick to work out.
Ask your aunt to inquire about the legal details of letting somebody other than a tenant use the workout room. Especially when they are not visiting the tenant–just dropping by. If such use is not OK, don’t do it.
I think a whole new discussion could be started about the definition of “guest.” IANAL but I can’t believe that Judge Judy (or a real judiciary) would go along with the definition that it’s someone who has any relationship to anyone in the complex and so could use the gym…even with the express permission of a resident.
Questions about wear and tear on the machine aside, put yourself in the place of the management company. You let the residents use the equipment and probably don’t mind if they bring a guest while they do so. But do you explicitly intend to state that this extends to an open invitation for the residents to pass out the combination to anyone they want for use any time?
What if a resident feels sorry for a homeless guy on the street so gives him the combination so he can sleep in the gym overnight? He would put less wear and tear on the machines than the OP. He’s not keeping someone from using the machine. And he could claim he was a guest. Does that make it right?
This was posted as an ethics question. (See title.) I think that, ethically, the owners of the property didn’t expect this use and that would make it wrong.
If you don’t ask, and especially if you lie about it, you know you are behaving unethically.
The reason they have a lock on the door is that not everyone is invited to use the facilities. They are not open to the public.
If your aunt somehow had a key to the next door apartment that was empty, would you think it ethical to start living there? Just going in for a couple of hours, using the bathroom, etc.