I decided to write this article because lately I’ve been noticing things around the gym when I am there that really annoy me. I guess I’m writing it in good humour, but I’m sure some of you who have gym memberships will be able to relate all too well with the things I am about to mention. I guess the debate will always come up on what is considered to be proper gym ettiquette. I’ve decided to list some of the things that bother me while I’m working out, feel free to comment on my article and add some little tidbits of your own!
First off, I can’t stand when people are sitting on a weight machine or are standing around a weight machine with a bunch of people socializing. I don’t mind people who want to chat with people they know while they are at the gym, but if they are doing it around a machine I need to use during my workouts, it really gets annoying. Especially if they are sitting there for 20 minutes at a time and not even using the machine. I don’t really want to go up to them either, because I feel it would be rude to tell them to move. I just think that if they want to take the time to socialize, they should do it somewhere that won’t interrupt other members workouts.
Another thing is when people take weights off a machine to use over on another machine, but then don’t return the weights to their original location. I feel like I spend most of my time roaming aimlessly around the gym trying to find all the weights I need to use. They are kept in a specific spot for a reason, because they are meant to be with that machine. I don’t have a problem with people wanting to use them if they need extra weight, but I also feel they should return them to where they belong out of courtesy for the next person.
People who don’t wipe down the machines. It grosses me out to walk up to a machine I need to use and see it drenched in sweat. It really isn’t that big of a hassle to take a paper towel to wipe off the machine once you’re finished with it. I don’t really want to sit my body in someone else’s sweaty bacteria.
I find it to be kind of a pain also when I have to unrack someone else’s weights off of a machine. When I was a child, I learned that if I took out a toy to play with, I put it back when I’m finished. Same should apply to the gym. I hate walking up to the leg press and seeing like 400 pounds worth of weights that I need to take off before I can do my sets.
People who talk on cell phones while trying to workout or people who talk loudly beside me while doing cardio. It is one thing to have a conversation with a friend beside you, but it’s another when you can hear the entire conversation through the entire gym. It’s especially annoying when these trendy barbie-like girls are laughing and giggling around like airheads.
Having two different stereo systems going at the same time is annoying. Usually they have a main stereo playing throughout the entire gym, but then when they are having salsa or yoga classes they have a different song going. Hearing the two being played together in a loud jumbled mess irritates me.
This next one isn’t really a peeve, it’s more that I want to go help them. I don’t like watching people workout when they don’t have the proper form or are doing the exercise incorrectly. I’m seriously scared they are going to hurt themselves.
I get a little irritated when people slam the weights down too. If you are slamming weights, it’s obviously a little too heavy for you. Not to mention, you can break them by doing this.
That’s all I can think of for the time being. Don’t take it the wrong way, they are little peeves just like anything else. I still manage to get my workouts in and there’s always going to be someone or something that annoys you a little haha.