Why the Gym sucks

I used to pride myself on my sedentary lifestyle. However, my current physical condition is not making me a huge hit with the ladies, so I’ve taken the following steps:

  1. I went to my gym and bought my sister’s fiance a 1 year membership for his birthday.

  2. I forced the gym membership people to “reset” the membership that I signed up for last October and never used.

  3. I made my sister’s fiance promise to nag me to go every day.

I’ve been going 3X per week. And then last night it hit me. As I pedaled on the stationary bike, I remembered why I hate the gym so much…

  1. There’s that asshole who gets on the bicep machine after you and smirks at you after seeing how little weight you’ve been lifting. Then he sets the thing at like 400 lbs. and does 50 curls without breaking a sweat.

  2. Then there are the muscleheads who want to use the machine that you’re currently using, so they stand uncomfortably close to you and drum their fingers on the machine next to yours. Then they try to make you feel as uncomfortable as possible for actually finishing your set instead of immediately dropping what you’re doing, running over and kissing their feet and exclaiming “Forgive me, master, for making you wait to use the seated rowing machine. It will never happen again!”

  3. Did I forget to mention the “tippers?” They’re the gym regulars who consider themselves amateur personal trainers and bug you in the middle of a set and say things like “If you do more weight and fewer reps, you’ll build muscle quicker” even when they know nothing about you or your fitness goals.

  4. Riding a stationary bike for a half an hour when I have a $700 Gary Fisher bike gathering dust in my apartment is ridiculous. But that’s what the trainer wants me to do.

  5. Power Bars are seriously freaking ridiculous. Every time I see the $3 price tag, I keep remembering the Murderhorn episode of the Simpsons. (“Those Powersauce Bars are made out of apple cores and Chinese newspapers.”)

  6. People who dress up to go to the gym suck. I wear $6 pairs of shorts and old fraternity t-shirts. Some people act like you’re underdressed if you’re not wearing $50 Michael Jordan basketball shorts from NikeTown. Why would you spend so much money on clothes you’re going to sweat through in 10 minutes?

  7. I cannot stand women who work out five times a week until they’re in perfect shape, wear skin-tight catsuits, and then get upset because I looked at their butt when they bent over to change the weight on the hip machine. I mean, come on. It’s bad enough that I’m stuck on this ridiculous stationary bike for half an hour… Now I have to turn my head whenever an attractive woman bends over in my field of vision? Sheesh.

  8. People who monopolize the cardio equipment and act like they can ignore you just because they’re wearing a Walkman thoroughly suck.

Now I remember why I hate the gym. It’s too bad I didn’t remember this before I told my sister’s fiance to make sure I go at least 3 times a week.

:stuck_out_tongue:

I, too, wear old T-shirts and leggings for my daily workout. I just don’t understand spending the equivalent of 3 paychecks on clothes in which to sweat.

Also, muscleheads not only feel entitled to the machine you are using, they will leave it covered in a deep pool of nasty-smelling sweat. Grrrr…

I will see your offended “babe” and raise you one “hunk.” The one so convinced of his inate charms that he simply must postion himself in my line of sight and carry on with his work-out, glancing at me every so often to see if I’m noticing what a major, studly “hunk” he is.

(I recently joined a gym that is exclusively for women. Having made a good friend of the owner, I am the proud possessor of keys to the building and can work-out on my own schedule.)

I thought that said ‘White Gym Socks’.

Since moving here, I have not been to the gym. Not even once. There isn’t one in town with childcare so I’m forced to do (ugh) healthy things in the (ugh) outdoors. Thankfully, I have a mountain to climb just right out my window.

I liked going to the gym in Yellowknife. There were nice young men to help me, who didn’t laugh at the old lady sweating on the cross-trainer and stairmaster. Plus, I could watch Muchmusic guilt-free. Did I mention the nice young men? They were very nice.

I hate people who are already in shape who make me feel like I don’t belong there because I’m not in shape. Duh, I’m trying to get in shape.

I don’t go to a gym right now, I swim at the public pool. I’m not a great swimmer. But I go every day and I swim my laps in the slow lane and I work hard. Don’t act like my very presence inconveniences you, go swim in the fast lane if you are so freakin’ fast.

Cardio-equipment monopolizers are evil. The ones at my old gym would wear headphones, ignore the elaborate sign-up system, and set the clocks on the machines to look like they perpetually had only 10 more minutes to go, resetting over and over and over.

And hey, if you don’t want your small children to see naked people, don’t bring them into the women’s locker room at the public pool. Don’t give me the evil eye and comment on my morals for taking my suit off in front of your 6-year-old.

I love that I can swim for free and that most people are basically nice and encouraging when they see me and that I feel and look better already after 3 weeks.

:smiley:

Hate to tell you this guys, but 90% of this stuff is your own problem, not the fellow patrons or the gym atmosphere.

Yeah, I don’t really get why these guy’s would wear expensive stuff like that, but hey, why should you give a shit? You bitching about them, looking down on them, sneering at them, does that make you any different or better than the people who think the same about your choice of attire?

This kinda attaches to the first one. Yeah, theres probably that one dumbass who actually smirks, theres probably that one bitch who rolls her eyes at your choice of clothing, but 99% of the time no one else in the gym could give a rats ass. I just think that the emotions that drove you to the gym in the first place might be festering a bit on your mind while you’re there cycling like a hamster.

This also is in your head, IMHO. They are waiting in line, like every civilized human would. If you’re in a crowded gym and machines are tough to get, you’re not going to meander across the room while you wait for a machine to spare your feelings. Doing that would probably garuntee they’d miss the shot at the machine when you got off to the next guy walking by. If you want to use a machine, you hang near it and wait for it patiently. The fact that you feel they are pressuring you is your issue, not his. Granted he’s probably hoping the fact that you see him waiting will keep you from taking a nice leisurely breather between sets and all, or ask him to work in, but I think that entirely fair.

Keep in mind that your taking a negative attitude like this into the gym isn’t making the entire experience better for everyone either. Simple fact of the world is that you share it with other people, time to get used to it. Even the assholes with assholes, but don;t let that turn you into one.

Sorry to come down on ya, because you do have some valid points there as well. Just want to add a little perspective.

I Like going to my gym. I use the gym at my university, which is still a small school, so there aren’t that many people who use the gym (it can get fairly full on mondays, but i’ve never seen a wait). Most of the big buff guys dont throw attitude at people (i’ve never had it happen to me or seen it happen). And people will usually ask politely if theyre in your way, or if they can rotate sets with you (you go one set, they go theirs, vice versa). People are also conscientious about the treadmills (30 minutes max). I can usually take as long as I want on the elipticals because not too many people use them.

The nice thing is, quite a different range of people use the gym there. There’s everyone from the Military guys, to the older women who are going to stay fit. So, it’s not the domain of the fit and fine.

Of course, i usually feel intimidated in the free weight room because that’s the domain of the muscle gods, but they really dont care about me (the anxiety is all in my head :)).

Take it easy, Omniscient. Going to the gym makes lots of people insecure. That’s natural, especially when someone is starting out and they’re intimidated by all the weird equipment and all the people who seem to have already achieved what they’re trying to get. Pointing someone’s own insecurities out to them isn’t helping matters.

I’ve gone to various gyms in a number of different cities over the last eight years. In my experience, all gyms have the same people. The vast majority are reasonable folk who are considerate of other members. Fit or flabby, secure or insecure, they don’t give anyone else any trouble. They’re just there to have a workout.

But there are always a few pumped-up fools who give attitude. In my opinion, they are some of the most insecure people of all. Every gym has some. They can be men or women, and they don’t even necessarily have to be in extremely good shape. Some of them are in terrible shape. But they basically live at the gym. It’s all they do. Their body is their hobby, and if you’re using a machine they need / are looking at them the wrong way / are NOT looking at them the wrong way, then you get attitude. Don’t hate them. Pity them. They have no life. They are trapped in their beautiful bodies.

And just remember: every body starts out the very same way. The huge muscleheads and buff aerobic bunnies all started out like you and me.

In any case, you’ve paid your membership dues, so you have just as much right to be there as anyone else. Don’t let 'em get to ya.

I love my gym. They’re remodeling this week, so I have to go to one of the others (if at all) and I don’t like them as much.
They greet me when I walk in the door. People smile, I’ve never run into anyone who was truly hogging the machines or freeweights - occasionally people will stake territory in the pool (which is annoying) but not enough to be truly bothersome… and the instructors that I’ve dealt with are great. Most people are there to work out, and I’ve never seen or heard anyone make nasty comments about another person there. (Not to say it doesn’t happen, but I haven’t heard it.)
I admit I tend to go at weird times, weekends, 90 - 30 minutes before closing, so it’s very rarely crowded. But even when it is, it isn’t bad. I never thought I’d believe it, but my gym is not an unhappy place.

On the other hand, when I visited one of the reciprocal gyms in another city, it was horrid. It was the domain of the ultra-fit, and the people were nasty (and did look down at the old t-shirt bike shorts wear, and lower amounts of weight, and people who had not yet achieved perfect fitness).

There are alternatives to the gym,

I spent the winter working out at a climbing gym and this summer has been taken up with Kung Fu.

Both of these have provided me with an incredible workout (both cardio and muscular) without being boring or intimidating…

Personally, I need to feel like I’m doing something beyond lifting weights or pedaling to nowhere.

I find that the serious bodybuilders I have known are pretty decent guys. I think that the disdain some of you seem to feel from the big guys is your own insecurity speaking. Serious weightlifters are too busy working out to pay attention to what people are wearing.

Yeah, you’re right, Omniscient. I’ll tell ya what… The next time I’m in NikeTown, I’ll pick up half a dozen pairs of Michael Jordan shorts and a pair of sneakers and just forget the car payment this month. That oughtta stop me from bitching.

You’ve been to my gym? I thought I saw you there the other day.

Many things that are “fair” also suck. Paying taxes sucks. Getting selected for jury duty sucks. And people that rush me suck. And since the title of this thread is “Why the Gym sucks,” I thought I’d mention it.

Yeah, I should be especially careful that my negative attitude vibes don’t accidentally cause someone to be inconvenienced. Just think…I could be walking past someone doing bench presses and a negative attitude particle could break orbit, slam into him and cause an aneurysm. That would suck.

Ha! Good one.

But I don’t go to the gym, even though there’s a free one right beside my building. (It’s included in the rent.)

If you’re having such an umpleasant experience it may be time to give it up and find a new gym, or develop other interests that’ll increase your fitness.

I’m a volunteer trainer at my local Y, and I’ve had hundreds of folks start a fitness program and get discouraged (for a variety of reasons - many of which you brought up)and then quit. Sitting on the stationary bike a drudge? Try something different. Mix up your routine. If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, you’re more likely to hurry through it or complete the excercise in improper form - which leads to injuries which leads to you having an even more unpleasant time. It sort of feeds on itself.

Another thing to look at is your motivation - are you trying to increase your level of physical fitness for health reasons, or are you trying to impress people? Given the first line of your post, I’m guessing that you’re more concerned with what other folks think about you than your level of fitness. There’s not anything particularly right or wrong about that, but it doesn’t distinguish you very much from the people who are more concerned with the cost and cut of their workout gear, or whether you noticed that they just benchpressed 200 lbs.

Find an activity that you enjoy, dress comfortably and appropriately for that activity, and vary your routine so that it doesn’t become stale. It this involves going to a gym - great, go to the gym. If not, find whatever works for YOU. You’ll get more out of the whole experience and save yourself aggrivation, money, and you’re less likely to hurt yourself.

Barbarian doesn’t work out? What a great waste of a name.
Ya know what really sucks is people resting on machines.
The gym is all about just the opposite of resting.

I just wanna get laid again. Isn’t that motivation enough?

The possibility of living longer and being able to move sofas and shit by myself are just bonuses.

Is it just me bieng paranoid, but does it seem like every gym has “The Naked Guy” who loiters around the locker room just a little too long waving his… bits around and generally making everybody else feel uncomfortable?

You try to ignore it and get the hell out of there as soon as possible, but there he is shaving, fixing his hair, clipping his toenails — stands up quickly…Waggle, waggle, waggle.

Ugh!

For crissake, wrap a towel around yerself!

You can read my opinion here. :slight_smile:

I do work out, just not at the gym. I use freeweights in my living room, and spend lots of time either running or biking.

Gyms are just boring and stinky.