The newbies at the gym. The ones who resolved to be healthy this year but are unsure about what to do, where the classes are and, well, how to properly behave at the gym.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of gym veterans who have the worst etiquette. They don’t re-rack weights or talk on their cell phones on the elliptical machines.
There’s nothing more annoying than trying to find inner peace in my yoga class and hearing the loud thud of weights being dropped by the muscle heads in the weight room just outside.
So if you’re heading to the gym today — or sometime this year — <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/fitness/weight-loss-challenge/2011-01-05-gyym-etiquette_N.htm" USA Today has some great tips such as share equipment, respect people’s space, wipe machines after use and keep your opinions to yourself.
As for my advice, here’s what I would add:
• Don’t hog equipment. The other day I was waiting for a 40-pound weight bar and it was being used — actually, not used but held onto — by two girls in a classroom who were doing some kind of circuit training. Except they were using about seven different pieces of equipment each. I was annoyed.
• Don’t socialize. It’s OK to talk story. But having yapping for an hour — and taking up space in the weight room — is not acceptable.
• Don’t hit on me. I’m not here to meet people. I’m here to workout.
Got any gym pet peeves or advice to newbies? Post ’em here!
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15 Comments
it’s bad enough that clubs oversell by 5x capacity, but come Jan 1, with the newly resolute, they can be as overcrowded as a subway car on the last full work day of the year (which by my reckoning occurs Nov.15).
i have a business proposal for you: let’s open a gym: women only, six floors, all ab cruncher machines. we’ll get rich. rich, i tells ya.
“hearing the loud thud of weights being dropped by the muscle heads”….. LOL. I would add the loud “grunting” that sometimes occurs in these situations.
@Eric I almost wrote “neckless” but I decided to be nice. It’s a new year! 🙂
You picked my two biggest peeves already…
First, people who SIT AROUND on equipment. After every set I do, I get off the machine and if someone is standing around looking like they want to use it, I ALWAYS offer them to work in with me between my sets.
Second are people who do a series of sets in one area, and instead of swapping weights after each set, they take EVERY dumbbell or weight bar of each varying weight that they wish to use for the whole workout to the area–which inconveniences multiple people.
Working out at the gym to attract a girl is like working at the marina to attract a yacht.
I’ve been a member of 24 Hr Fitness since 1999. I’ve seen it all. This time of year, all clubs are packed, no matter the time of night. Everyone’s New Year’s Resolution is to get fit. Then right around March, newbies loose interest or burn out too quick. Stop going. Suddenly there’s lots of room. No waiting time for machines. My rule is, it’s not how long you work out, how much time you spend on the treadmill, or how much weight you lift, how many reps, etc. The most important thing is that you show up. You make the effort. Week after week, year after year. 10, 15 years straight. I think only 1% of 24 Fitness members fall into this category.
haha I know a bunch of people who go to the gym to socialize rather than work out. Make-up, nice workout clothes, the whole nine! I guess part of feeling good is looking good, too? 🙂
I’m with you…don’t talk to me or even look at me. At Hawaii Kai 24-Hour, there is a male patron who never, ever wipes up his sweat. And he had the nerve to bump me off a machine so I wouldn’t disrupt his circuit. Whatever pilau man! I hate to work out so when I’m at the gym, I’m usually in a bad mood so to have to deal with rude gym rats makes the workout even harder.
@ShawnNakamoto That’s why I like to get my workout done in the morning before work. I feel like 1) people are there to cram in a workout, so they’re not wasting time and 2) the machines (and showers) are cleaner. 🙂
LOL… my version of your last point would likely be the opposite, please hit on me more frequently so I can justify the expense and pain of being here 🙂
Seriously though, I’ve waited for people to complete three reps on a piece of equipment because they continue to sit there until they are ready for their next set of reps. Walk around and let someone else use it for crying out loud. Sometimes the wait is 15 minutes… are they afraid the thing is going to run away???
As for the elliptical? Listened to a long argument the other day between two laides trying to determine which TV channel to watch. They’ve now added a few more TV sets which means there are now way too many things going on so they have to turn the sound off… talk about a silly solution. Never thought I would love to see people on the machines with iPods but that day is here.
I now know why people buy their own ellipticals.
@dbjack ‘I now know why people buy their own ellipticals’ – it’s to hang their clothes on, right?
@turkfontaine @dbjack LOL! Exactly!
Sorry about the comments… I must have disabled it when I posted. My bad. I was wondering yesterday why I didn’t have any comments… I started to worry…
I wish I had the energy to work out in the morning but that would mean going to work with frizzy hair (I flat iron it to submission). Vanity and extra sleep wins!
Excellent post at the time of the year when fitness clubs are as full as a church pew on Easter morning.
It starts in the parking lot, where people pretend there are spaces painted in the aisles and driveways near the front door. People go at a crowded time of the year (or any evening) for a workout, and they won’t walk across the parking lot from/to a legitimate parking space?
How about the channel changer who doesn’t ask anyone if they’re watching what’s on and changes the channel to the same show that is on another screen three feet away? Not everyone loves Judge Mathis that much that we need to watch him on two screens at once.
How about the profuse perspirer who is hardly wearing anything and the drops of sweat are flying everywhere? A tee-shirt instead of that string tank top, and the sweat might stay in his/her shirt, instead of all over me.
How about the guy in the locker room whom I don’t know but wants to start a conversation with me while standing completely naked less than one pace away? I don’t want to have anyone introduce himself and want to start a conversation about life while he’s naked. I’ve got stuff to do besides making naked acquaintances in the men’s locker room.
What really bugs me the most is this woman who shows up in her yoga pants, pretends she is there for a yoga class, and pretends she doesn’t want me to ask her out. OK, maybe I’m a bit delusional.