Gym Etiquette?.

doctor evil

Heya all,

I joined a gym in the last while and I`m wondering what the general etiquette is?, apart from putting a small towel on machinery to stop getting sweat on it. I`m not much of a fitness person (prefe team sport) so I`m going the gym will go well for me.

Thanks

The FitnessDock

The ones that immediately spring to mind are:

1) Put the dumbbells back on the rack once you're finished with them.

2) Likewise - unload the plates from the barbell when you're finished with that exercise.

3) Don't hog any piece of exercise equipment (e.g. a machine, bench or dumbbell). Be considerate to others and allow them to work in with you.

PAUL

boffin

I would also add...

No grunting or whistle while working out

No outfits that have a tong like leotard :eek: ...for those of you that may laugh, I have witnessed this vision several times and I am emotionally scarred after it

Santa Claus

The one thing that really bugs me is when someone is "using" 2 or 3 machines at the same time.....for example they'll do leg curls and in between reps switch to another piece of equipment and then do the same again.

I use one machine at a time and if someone wants to hop on in between my reps then no problem, but people that hog multiple pieces of equipment really annoy me....just a lack of respect for fellow gym users.

On towel use on equipment, what's peoples views on which is the best way to use it ?
I wipe down equipment before use and after use but don't put a towel on the equipment, so the towel doesn't get too sweaty from me lying on it while sweating.

The FitnessDock wrote:

The ones that immediately spring to mind are:

1) Put the dumbbells back on the rack once you're finished with them.

PAUL

Fully agree with Paul on this point. I'd add that people should really have no more than 2 pairs of different weights at their bench at any one time. I've seen people with 3 or 4 sets around their bench hogging them all until they've finished their sets!

Vinnie K

If someone is on a machine you want to use, do not stand there stareing at them, That drives me mad, granted if there hogging it but other then that, a big no.

Make sure to replace all equitment after using it, i just dont understand people who go to the gym to get fit/in shape but there too lazy to replace them.

Always use sweat towel to wipe machines after you including the hand grips.

Let people work in wit you.

Never think your better then the next guy cause your lifting more then him.

boffin

Santa Claus wrote:

On towel use on equipment, what's peoples views on which is the best way to use it ?
I wipe down equipment before use and after use but don't put a towel on the equipment, so the towel doesn't get too sweaty from me lying on it while sweating.

i'm not being funny, but isn't that why you are meant to use a towel so you lie on it and the sweat is absorbed into the towel rather than into the material or rubber on the machine! Or did I just miss a joke here???

TerrorFirmer

Isn't the whole point of a towel that you don't get sweat on the machine?? What's the point of bringing a towel if you deliberately try to avoid it getting too sweaty? or did I miss something there...

crotalus667

boffin wrote:

i'm not being funny, but isn't that why you are meant to use a towel so you lie on it and the sweat is absorbed into the towel rather than into the material or rubber on the machine! Or did I just miss a joke here???

If I lay on my towel it is soaking within the first set

crotalus667

boffin wrote:

No grunting or whistle while working out

Ok im guilty of the first one :rolleyes:

Santa Claus

crotalus667 wrote:

If I lay on my towel it is soaking within the first set

Thank you, my point exactly. After a few sets you're just putting a sweaty towel on the bench and leaving a lovely layer of sweat for the next person !

HavoK wrote:

Isn't the whole point of a towel that you don't get sweat on the machine?? What's the point of bringing a towel if you deliberately try to avoid it getting too sweaty? or did I miss something there...

The point of a towel from my point of view is to have something to wipe down a machine before and after you've used it !

Vegeta

crotalus667 wrote:

If I lay on my towel it is soaking within the first set

I am a sweaty fcuker, one set of squats and bam, instant sweat. I too use the machine and then dry it afterwards

now that I work out at home I can be as lazy as I want with my gear. Its great

Vegeta

boffin wrote:

I would also add...

No grunting

Guilty here too

TerrorFirmer

Do people actually get so sweaty that the towel is that soggy? Sometimes I don't even bring a towel, I sweat a bit when I'm lifting but not enough to soak through my clothes onto the bench and nothing a bit of paper and spray won't fix?

boffin

crotalus667 wrote:

If I lay on my towel it is soaking within the first set

Obviously I don't work out hard enough!!!

Santa Claus

HavoK wrote:

Sometimes I don't even bring a towel

Cardinal sin number 1 there...that's right up there in my book with women who wear make up to the gym !

TerrorFirmer

Santa Claus wrote:

Cardinal sin number 1 there...that's right up there in my book with women who wear make up to the gym !

Not really though, because like I said, I really don't sweat much at all, and there is plenty of paper towels and that spray stuff supplied beside the machines in the gym...

Obviously if I was doing cardio stuff I would definitely bring a towel in!

Vegeta

HavoK wrote:

Do people actually get so sweaty that the towel is that soggy? Sometimes I don't even bring a towel, I sweat a bit when I'm lifting but not enough to soak through my clothes onto the bench and nothing a bit of paper and spray won't fix?

Man I sweat like you wouldn't believe just from lifting and I only have a little belly not very over weight at all

The bench is soaked after me

I could probably ring out my jocks after a good session (groos I know but needed for clarity to show just how much I sweat)

I have to make a conscious effort to stay hydrated during sessions

boffin

Santa Claus wrote:

Cardinal sin number 1 there...that's right up there in my book with women who wear make up to the gym !

Well sometimes I'm guilty of that...its not that I purposefully wear makeup but I forget that I have it on until I wipe my brow !! I don't go to the gym anymore as I run outdoors instead but I remember some women who looked like they are were going clubbing with the amount of slap they had on!! And freshly applied!

Pherekydes

One guy used use the Captain's chair/elbow dip stand as a stand for his barbell when doing squats. He would leave the barbell there and wander off to do another exercise. Ignorant sh!thead.

cousin_borat

Santa Claus wrote:

The one thing that really bugs me is when someone is "using" 2 or 3 machines at the same time.....for example they'll do leg curls and in between reps switch to another piece of equipment and then do the same again.

I do it alot with the leg curl machine, to the smith for calf raises or the hamstring machine. They're called Super sets.

davyjose

I hate it when a guy leaves his towel on a piece of equipment on the bar and then fùcks off. Happened me yesterday and I just threw his towel on the floor and lifted.
Really IMO its down to general courtesy - don't do the things that would p!ss you off.

maxi-twist

boffin wrote:

No grunting

Are you serious? I find that grunting really helps in grinding out that last rep. Whats so bad about it?

Hanley

I don't see any problem with grunting. If you're trying to get fired up for a max lift it can help alot. Never underestimate the power of a little bit of aggression.

Sweat on the machines, wipe it off afterwards. I don't see the point in lying on a towel and soaking it...

If someone's "hogging" machines ask if you can work in.

Likewise for a towel over the bar, just say something like "do you mind if I move that so I can get a set in" (which I usually say as I'm moving the towel or whatever anyway so they can't say no).

If someone wants to work in with you, let them. Offer to help change their weights too.

You'd be surprised what a plesant and helpful attitude towards other people in the gym can achieve. No need to be bad a$$ and stare them down and throw their sh!t on the floor cos it's in your way. It's not like they;re trying to disrupt your workout.

And always, ALWAYS strip your bar and re-rack your dumbbells.

davyjose

Hanley wrote:

and throw their sh!t on the floor cos it's in your way

I normally would have no problem asking can I use a piece of equipment, but when the guy has disappeared and you've been waiting for 5 minutes, and the gym is crowded, I would say that person is being just a little inconsiderate.

Cadrach

Hanley wrote:

And always, ALWAYS strip your bar and re-rack your dumbbells.

Maybe I'm being ignorant, but does this count for everything? Like on the leg press for example, I'd have to put back six 25kg weights, and the next guy is just going to put them back on again. I rarely see an empty bar in the gym and assumed there was no need to put the weights back.

ali.c

Cadrach wrote:

Maybe I'm being ignorant, but does this count for everything? Like on the leg press for example, I'd have to put back six 25kg weights, and the next guy is just going to put them back on again. I rarely see an empty bar in the gym and assumed there was no need to put the weights back.

My take on it, is that not everyone in the gym lifts the same amount, for someone who is not that strong unloading a heavy bar (speaking from experience) is a pain in the ass, and well put it this way i started deadlifting what 35/40kg so a 25kg plate would of been over half that. I dont know if it makes sense but i try to always unload the bar now unless someone is waiting to use it and then i'd usually ask.

easyontheeye

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCj8Yr290tE

Gillie

I hate w*nkers that have an attitude in the gym. Most ppl are sound but you always get a muppet who stares at others.
The "Why are you in my gym" look.

Hanley

Cadrach wrote:

Maybe I'm being ignorant, but does this count for everything? Like on the leg press for example, I'd have to put back six 25kg weights, and the next guy is just going to put them back on again. I rarely see an empty bar in the gym and assumed there was no need to put the weights back.

Well I don't know about the guys in your gym, but I like to warm up. I wouldn't just jump on and do 300kg. It's usually more like 150x12,200x12,300x12,350x12,400xwhatever

And lets face it, not everyone's goign to use that much. I've been in the gym with my girlfriend and while she's more than capable of doing 100+kg for 12's, it's a pain in the ar$e having to strip off 300kg so she can warm up.

It's just inconsiderate.

Sangre

I hate having to unload the leg press that has 50kg plates, those bastards are awkward.

tribulus

Sangre wrote:

I hate having to unload the leg press that has 50kg plates, those bastards are awkward.

You're in Trinity gym? Blame babypink.....

I've found that people are happy to let you work in with them if you ask nicely.
I'll always offer to help people with plates and so on too if I am.

TerrorFirmer

easyontheeye wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCj8Yr290tE

Class video!

davyjose

I remember asking a guy could I work in with him and he looked at me like I'd offered to shag his ma. He was one of the skinny newby soccer-jersey wearing types who spend 3/4 of their time in the gym working on the 'the guns' curling 20 reps - mostly with his lower back. :rolleyes:

AlphaMale 3OO

davyjose wrote:

I remember asking a guy could I work in with him and he looked at me like I'd offered to shag his ma. He was one of the skinny newby soccer-jersey wearing types who spend 3/4 of their time in the gym working on the 'the guns' curling 20 reps - mostly with his lower back. :rolleyes:

Theres always a couple of those boys isnt there.

paulie.walnuts

Some excellent pointers in there. Like the one on the guns being worked by the lower back! Swinging instead of curling :-)
As long as someone is not simulating painful childbirth then it's fine for a bit of grunting during a set, it is a gym afterall. No problem in leaving one set of 20kg plates on a bar, most people will add to them so easier to leave them on.

g'em

tribulus wrote:

You're in Trinity gym? Blame babypink.....

ROFL Trying to do a session when it's his leg day is a nightmare - baxstard steals every single 20kg plate in the gym!!!

As for the gym etiquette, just be nice. We're all in there for the same reason after all, so a little bit of courtesy and good manners will go a long way. Don't hog, share, and re-rack what you un-rack.

boffin

maxi-twist wrote:

Are you serious? I find that grunting really helps in grinding out that last rep. Whats so bad about it?

I'm talking about the type of grunting that sounds like the fella thinks he's in the middle of childbirth!! Most people when they get to do heavy weights make a bit of noise but comm'on some just go overboard. Along with the grunting ,half the time their face looks like its going to explode as well!!

far2gud

Or grunting at the end of your set followed by throwing the freeweights on the floor, followed by a frantic pacing up and down the gym floor!! no need for this at all!!

rediguana

I was gym-ing during the week.

Down in the weights room, a guy (nowhere to be seen) had left 2 sets of weights (i.e. four weights) on / around a bench, with his towel still beside them.

I picked up the two I wanted and was doing curls when he came back and started glaring at me. Then he came up and said "I was using those". I just looked back at him blankly and he said "Those weights, you got them from the bench? I was using them." I didn't apologise but I asked him if he wanted them back. He graciously said I could use them but that he wanted them back.

What's the etiquette here? I really think if you're not physically using the weights, it's open season. I'm a busy guy, I don't have all day to linger when he's off shooting the breeze.

Hanley

"oh sorry, since you weren't using the bench and were no where to be seen for the last 5 mintues I assumed you were done and just walked off".

(once you're not jumping into his grave so to speak, and waiting at least 2 mintues for someone to come back to the bench then feel free to be a d!ck!!)

rediguana

I think I'm just going to start bringing my knife to the gym from now on.

doctor evil

Thanks all, I`m female so I don`t think I`ll be going crazy with the weights and Fairy Dust.

g'em

doctor evil wrote:

Thanks all, I`m female so I don`t think I`ll be going crazy with the weights and Fairy Dust.

Oh Lordy... :rolleyes:

doctor evil

Relax!, that was a joke.

cavanmaniac

My contribution: If anyone has a big nasty protein shake-type fart, the type that would take the fur off a small dog, then please choke it until you're somewhere inside or outside the gym where it won't bother anyone.

Maybe I'm old fashioned but doing a HIIT session in a cloud of someone else's arse vapour does nothing for either my mood or the chances of completing the session.

Also, and you'd think this would be a real obvious: Do NOT re-use your training gear. There's a couple of real filthbags at my gym who come in old gear smelling of stale sweat from days previously, absolutely stinking the place out of it. I can hardly breathe sometimes. Disgusting.

crotalus667

cavanmaniac wrote:

My contribution: If anyone has a big nasty protein shake-type fart, the type that would take the fur off a small dog, then please choke it until you're somewhere inside or outside the gym where it won't bother anyone.

Luckily in the gym I use there’s a fire exit that’s normally left open ,so if I feel one coming I can just step outside , unfortunately alot of the time it’s just not possible get there in time .

cavanmaniac wrote:

Also, and you'd think this would be a real obvious: Do NOT re-use your training gear. There's a couple of real filthbags at my gym who come in old gear smelling of stale sweat from days previously, absolutely stinking the place out of it. I can hardly breathe sometimes. Disgusting.

OMG :eek: :eek: THATS JUST WRONG