Gym Pet Peeves

[Hello_Kitty]

Along the lines of the locker room dilemma post, I submit my own random (and not entirely rational or justified) list of gripes:

Not wiping sweat off equipment. Particularly when the user has sweated buckets on it.

Requesting to 'work in' under the following conditions: The gym is not crowded and there is no great demand for a particular piece of equipment but the person is a prima donna who thinks that everyone should accomodate his/her desire to do supersets OR the person is attempting to engage in flirtation with a captive audience.

Getting snippy with me when I say "nah, that's ok you can have it" after you've requested to work in with me under the aforementioned conditions. Hey, I ceded it to you so you've got nothing to complain about. I don't HAVE to work in with you just because you want me to, asshole.

Striking up a conversation with me when I am engaged in an arduous cardio workout. What is it about my red face, heavy breathing, and profuse sweating that would make you think "Hey, she must really want to chit chat right now!"

Prolonged nakedness in the locker room. Ok, briefly after you've showered is fine, but do you really need to blowdry your hair, tweeze your eyebrows, AND apply your makeup in the altogether in front of the mirror?

Unsolicited workout advice. Often given by those who have no business rendering any, judging from their own appearances. Also a tactic used by inept gym flirters, similar to the 'working in' ploy.

These are just a few off the top of my head....

[MissMillie]

1. I hate

beautiful people who "work out" and don't even break a sweat.

[emulatorloo]

2. Getting all put out when I ask you if I can "work in" on the leg extention

machine, when you are just sitting there reading the newspaper resting between sets.

Yes the gym is not crowded right now, but I am here to do leg day and there is only one leg extention machine, and you are just resting on it, so it is not a big deal for you to get off your ass and let me do a set. Read your newspaper over there. . .I will be done in a second.

[Droopy]

3. I don't know why people

just sit there at a machine between sets. I do a set and then move on to other machines that work different parts of the body, then come back to the first machine after I've done some work on the other machines. I think you get a much better workout that way. It turns a weight lifting session into a cardio session as well if you are constantly moving.

[MemphisTiger]

4. Super sets are great

but they can be hard to do when the gym is croweded, say when you need both the decline bench and the lat pulldown machine.

[4_Legs_Good]

7. Well, that's how I work out mostly

I understand your point, but I like to rest for 60 sec between each set. I know other people work out differently, and you're welcome to ask to work in, or sit there and stare at me making me know you're waiting for the machine, and I'll usually cut things a little short.

I wonder how many times I count to 60 in a given day. It's kinda like a mantra now.

david

[Hello_Kitty]

9. I don't do that

I rest very briefly between sets. I'd certainly never read a newspaper! Working in with people disrupts my rhythym. So like I said, I'll just give up the equipment to the person asking, to avoid an argument. I figure I'll let them do their sets and I'll come back to it later or do something else that's similar. I go to a big gym with tons of equipment so there's always alternatives, though I realize that's not the case with other gyms.

But when I tell them, nicely, they can have the machine because I don't care to work in, they look at me like I'm the Wicked Witch of the West. Yes, it's gym etiquette to allow people to work in but if you give up the equipment because you don't want to, then what is the problem? They're getting what they want!

[emulatorloo]

12. I know you, ccbombs, doesnt do that -- I was just using the generic "you"!

there is really only one person at my gym that does this. . .and I just don't get it!

[flvegan]

5. DON'T DROP THE DAMN WEIGHTS!!

Yeah, we saw you, herky-jerking a bar with WAY too much on it for you to move properly. You're not even using a cheat technique. Then, when done, you don't place it back on the rack, or place the dumbells on the floor, you drop them that last couple inches. LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! I'm lifting weights! You, you are an idiot. That's taking precious years off the equipment, and distracting others.

Oh, yeah...my other big one: RACK YOUR DAMN PLATES WHEN YOU'RE DONE! Tell you what, jackass, I'll follow your lead. I'll go ahead and leave 590 lbs on the leg press when I'm done. You can spend the next 10 minutes unloading plates. At least you'll get an upper body workout toting those 45's across the gym, eh? How fair is that? Ass.

[MemphisTiger]

11. I agree to a certain extent

I think people should rack the plates, but sometimes when I go to failure with dumbells on bench presses I'll drop the weights. The gym usually isn't that crowed meaning me and maybe two other people. I try to make sure I don't do it if there is a risk to others nearby, but if they are across the room I'll go to complete failure and drop at the end. It's a great way to force muscle growth.

[4_Legs_Good]

6. Big guys talking about sex

There are these two obvious studs who spend more time talking than working out, who just LOVE themselves and talk about who they're gonna bang next, or their girlfriend's boob job or whatever. I have no problem with sex or boob jobs, but puuuuleaze I'm not here to listen to you yammer on for 45 minutes about whether or not you should wear a condom when you're nailing that hot chick on Elm Street next week.

I also can't stand loud people and groups who are chatting at an absurd volume the entire time. Also people who use like 4 machines/areas at once. I understand supersets, but it's hard to keep track of what's being used when the person using it is on the other side of the gym.

Also people who leave their damned towels, water bottles, or weights sitting around for 20 minutes "claiming" a piece of equipment, and often they just forgot to put something away and thus the equipment sits there for hours waiting for it's long lost user to return.

Lastly I HATE the big dudes who gain weight easily while totally swinging weights all over the place with bad form and tremendous use of inertia while I sit there time after time with relatively good form taking years to gain anything.

Feh!!!!

david

[flvegan]

10. Funny, I never see you at my gym.

I swear you go to the same one I do.

[emulatorloo]

13. Loud Talking of any kind - just breaks my concentration

I hate it.

[wildeyed]

8. See, exactly the opposite bothers me.

People are so careful to always wipe down the equipment at my gym. Even when they don't sweat and have barely used it. It is like they are OCD or something. It is a gym, not an operating room. We are not preparing food in here, people ;)

In my locker room, no one takes their clothes off, ever, as best I can tell. They probably remain fully clothed in the shower. The last gym I belonged to, everyone walked around naked. Old women, young women, fat women, thin women, women with double mastectomies, there was no shame. In my current gym locker room, there is a sign specifically warning you against nudity. I mean, we all have the same equipment, basically, so what gives?

I avoid the workout chit-chat and flirting by wearing my headphones at all time. I don't mind chatting, but I am married, so the excessive flirting is a no-no. I did meet some cute guys working out, back in the day. In fact, that is how I met my husband, now that I think about it :)

[emulatorloo]

14. That guy with the "W" sticker on his weight belt

You won, get over it.

[CitySky]

16. folks, we have a winner

how lame is that? W sticker on the weight belt.

I don't peeve about this stuff too much, but have observed recently:

(1) on an empty-gym night, when I took the faaaar right treadmill in the third row (of four long rows of treadmills, this is a big gym), the next guy who came along took the treadmill right in front of mine. A large, profusely sweaty guy. And really, none of this would have been a problem if he hadn't ALSO turned on the fan on the treadmill. PHEW! Hey buddy, could you do that downwind??? I was in the middle of a pretty convoluted set of intervals and would have lost data if I switched machines at that point, so I just gutted it out. But ouch!

(2) Lonely or insecure people in the next lane at the pool assume that it's okay to have a conversation once you've "stopped." And I really do try to encourage the insecure swimmers; it's a steep learning curve at first but totally worth the effort. But... I'm at the point where I'm timing the rest between my sets, it's either 30 or 60 seconds. To the insecure swimmer the fact that I just finished "all those laps without stopping" blows their mind, but to me it's just supposed to be a short countdown, a chance to collect my mind and my breath before the next 100 or 200 meters or whatever. I have to find a nice way to explain that... in as few seconds as possible!

[swimboy]

18. Talky swimmer in adjacent lane---my suggestion

If you can foresee this happening, instead of resting at ease, maintain an air of still being fully engaged in activity, maybe with two fingers on a pulse point, even if you are not taking your pulse, and maybe nodding your head rhythmically in a way that says very important counting is going on.

If they still talk to you (especially if they are expressing awe at your abilities) flash them a winning smile without saying a word. Your eyes should have the same expression as when someone asks you a question right after you take a mouthful of food and you want to communicate to them that you will answer them in a delightful way any moment now. Then when your actual counting or timing is up, say a warm thank you like a co-member of the fraternity of all swimmers and push off. Most people will understand that's not a brush-off.

[CitySky]

20. thanks!

I've only JUST gotten to the point where I'm timing my rests; I stare up at the wall clock the whole time, so it's a little better than it was before when I would just pause until I caught my breath.

It is funny what people will be in awe of, you know? At my pool some people think I'm fast... uh, not at my last triathlon they sure didn't! I was almost the last person out of the water. Which is why I'm starting to get a little more disciplined about this now. :) Thanks for the tip!

[swimboy]

21. Triathlons? Okay, now I'm in awe!

[CitySky]

22. okay, now you've made me blush!

see Miss Millie's triathlon thread for the distances we're talking about here. I'm no Iron Woman for sure! And it took me more than 23 minutes to swim that 800 meters in the second one.

If you're a swimmer, you have the hardest part down already! ever thought about giving it a "tri"?

[wildeyed]

17. Maybe he should enlist?

He sounds like a healthy specimen and all.

[politicat]

15. Besides the Locker room? Cell phones.

(By the way, I took the advice of everyone here this morning and laid claim to one of the curtained stalls. I got one dirty look out of it, but this is from a woman I get a dirty look from if I dare to get on a treadmill - there are 4 of them - when 3 of them are empty. She's super skinny and spends all of her time at the gym, AFAIK, and seems to hate those who are not *just* *like* *her*. She I can brush off.)

Look, if you're so damned important that you must be universally available, then you can probably afford to buy a treadmill for your office, an eliptical and weights for your home. But, if, as your call suggests, you're a sales rep for a nutritional supplements firm, then really, people will understand that you take an hour off every day to work out. Let the call go to voicemail and leave the #$%^&* thing in the @#$%^& car!!!!! Even brain surgeons aren't always available.

Oh, and a hint.... If I can hear you over my iPod pumping Greenday or a podcast into my ears, You are Talking Too Loudly and probably spilling company secrets. Don't do that.

[MemphisTiger]

19. Loud talkers are the worst

I have my mp3 player up pretty loud and half way across the gym I can hear a conversation. Guys just tone it down a bit. I guess it's the loud testosterone talking in a manly way. Uauuugahh.