Annoying Gym Behaviour - Mk2(?)

reclose

Using my local gym as an example. One bench declines and the other doesn’t. I’d swap in that situation if I was doing flat but someone wanted to use the one with decline option.

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121203160#Comment_121203160

3-5 minutes is pretty normal for strength training.

If somebody can complete all there sets with 1-2 mins rests. The intensity is pretty low - which is fine, if they are trying to achieve higher volume over the workout. But if they are doing the same total sets and reps are the 3-5min guy, then they are just going light and GTFO imo.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121210441#Comment_121210441

That seems perfectly fine. I'd also go for the better bench personally. Even if you were a pair of guys, they've no grounds to want to swap.

I have asked people to swap bars with jumping off a bench. But if they are already using it, its too late imo. Same deal here.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121211628#Comment_121211628

That's fair. But you'd also have probably picked the flat bench in that instance if you weren't going for decline.

(obvious the other could have been in use when you started but not now, so still valid)

Strumms

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121196648#Comment_121196648

it’s a working gym, unless they can read minds, they won’t be aware as to who is waiting for what. 🙂 . People don’t Q for machines in my experience they’ll do something else while waiting.

example …. I could stop using the leg curl machine, ‘see’ nobody actively waiting for it, say “ grand, “ pull out the phone and be messaging and looking at social media, (which is explicitly against gym policy and signposted) …I don’t… if I want to catch up on that stuff, as I always do, I do it sat on a chair in the waiting area, getting my breath, having a drink after my workout, then I’m grand to start home… I don’t worry about ‘ who ‘ is waiting for it just that someone could be so respecting their time and contributing positively to the general etiquette of the place… im freeing up equipment and sanitising it right when I’m finished….

btw I’ve no issues with a person taking a break mid use… but finishing using something then resting on the equipment for 7-8 minutes before fecking off or in fact even less is just bell end behaviour…

Black Sheep

To the point about people not being mind-readers, well, I couldn't agree more - so it comes back to the question of, why not just communicate with them?

A polite, "Do you mind if I work in?", or even better - "Are you done with this machine?", a gentle hint, if you think they're finished and just sitting on the machine.

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121212315#Comment_121212315

Sitting on a machine after you've finishes using it is pretty rude and inconsiderate. But I'd also suggest it's pretty rare. I also reckon asking to work in would never be refused.

Most of the time people are complaining about people using phones in the gym. They are referring to people using there phones while they are still using the equipment, ie between sets. Obvious if people are taking excessive rests it's frustrating. But people using their phone during a normal between set rest is perfectly reasonable and affects nobody.

ButtersSuki

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121199465#Comment_121199465

On the etiquette of how to use a gym, this should be mandatory for new and esp. younger users.

I don't want to sound like an old man shouting at the clouds here but the amount of late teenagers and early 20s lads (it's always lads it seems) who have no idea how to use a gym is both annoying and frustrating. Everything from not bringing a towel, neer wiping down after them, standing doing barbell curls and blocking as much of the free weights as possible (it's almost like a challenge to them to see how much they can block), to taking an eternity on a machine (as they spend 90% of the their time scrolling on their phones), to never it seems being capable of de-racking a bar after they finish to my latest pet peeve flexing and posing in front of the mirrors in a packed gym. And then when you point any of this out - no matter how politely you do it - you get a big sigh and a "whatever, I do what I want" attitude back.

avfc1874

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121301176#Comment_121301176

I think that a lot of people are cn#ts, and some people are just bigger cn#ts than others, and just don't care as long as they're okay,

Leave weights on the bar not my problem, want to use a machine later, sure I'll just leave my stuff on it till i need it

I'm old school and always use manners and respect others, but i think,especially younger people think that manners is a sign of weakness .

Today 2 things with under 20s happened to me in the gym

Going to walk down the stairs,stood back to leave a young lad come up the stairs, walked by me, not a thanks or a nod,

Coming out of the changing room young lad let's the door swing back into me,

No respect these days, when i was younger 😒

silverharp

I think for the amount of people who use gyms I cant complain, you actually remember the outliers. A nice one recently was another guy and myself wandering over to get a mat, he got there first grabbed a mat, turned around and handed it to me....awww shucks

reclose

Having good experiences the last few weeks with people letting me work in and vice versa. All older people 30-50 age group.

I have noticed people doing circuits taking 3 sets of dumbbells out of action which is annoying.

I’ve also noticed the leaving water bottle trick to keep ownership of a machine but walking off for 5/10 mins and using other equipment. I just start using it. **** them.

Bawnmore

I use a small community center type gym 1st thing in the morning after school drop offs, so I'm always sharing the gym with a bunch of elderly people. They have no real gym etiquette whatsoever and no real sense of personal space, but it'd be impossible to be upset with them - they're in there every morning doing both cardio and weight machines and having a chat - it's genuinely admirable.

Cill94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121308087#Comment_121308087

I’ve also noticed the leaving water bottle trick to keep ownership of a machine but walking off for 5/10 mins and using other equipment. I just start using it. **** them.

The audacity of the water bottle play is next level

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121308087#Comment_121308087

There's a few repeat offenders that leave a water bottle, or a weight (lol) on a bench to try to retain it while they piss off and do something else.

I take it as a challenge and try get in and finish my 3 sets before they are back.

I wouldn't move a towel, seems less appropriate. But conveniently, somebody who is considerate enough to use a towel is unlikely to go awol for 10 minutes.

silverharp

I dont rate a bottle of water (the one it was sold in) as being meaningful, people sometimes just forget them and have no intention of coming back for them.

2nd Row Donkey

I've been known to leave my water bottle/towel on a bench while I run downstairs to the toilet for a whizz. Never gave it a second thought to be honest. I do this not because I want to hold the bench but because it feel daft carrying a towel and bottle up and down to the toilet unnecessarily.

A walk across the length of the gym floor (20 seconds) , down two flights of stairs, another 20 seconds to the bathroom. 60 seconds taking a whizz, 30 seconds washing hands, and back up 2 flights of stairs. All in all that 4-5 mins but there's never a shortage of benches in the free weights area of the gym.

Mr. CooL ICE

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121361054#Comment_121361054

Final gym boss brings 5 towels onto the gym floor to claim 5 separate pieces of equipment

Patsy167

There's a guy in my local gym that does his entire session of foam rolling and mobility work using the only cable crossover machine in the gym. I thought he was playing a prank at first and started laughing expecting him to be in on the joke but he's there every few days doing the same thing completely oblivious to how inconsiderate he is being.

I do wonder what these people are like in their work and home lives. Their behavior in the gym can't be the exception to how they usually conduct themselves.

Black Sheep

You mean, he does his whole workout using just the cable crossover, after he's done his mobility stuff? So he's on it for an hour, or whatever?

That would be irritating.

A little like what happens when you visit a hotel gym or small gym where there's only one rack and barbell, and you realise that the guy who has arrived just before you is about to do a completely barbell-based workout.

All that you can do is ask to work in, I guess. But that's not always practical either. On a cable crossover it could mean changing attachments, cable height and weight... On a barbell you can't work in with someone if you want to squat and they want to bench, etc.

Bawnmore

I had to go in the evening time earlier in the week, and there was actually a comical amount of younger girls (17/18 year olds maybe) in there who were all sitting at machines on their phones doin very little. I only needed the bench and dumbbells, so they weren't actually in my way at all, but they were definitely in other peoples way. I'm gonna stick to the mornings with the old folk 😂

reclose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121372209#Comment_121372209

I had a young one do similar last week. We were both going for the machine chest press but she got there first.

I decided I’d use the fly machine while waiting. I had 3 sets done by the time she’d started her first one. She was sat browsing in her phone for a few minutes before starting.

Very annoying.

reclose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121367838#Comment_121367838

In the gym this week a bloke was using 3 machines. A rack set up for bent over rows I think, leg press and one of the cable pulleys.

Towel and phone at the rack, he didn’t use it in the 15 minutes I’d seen it. Towel and water bottle on the leg press, nothing at the cable pulley, I guess he was out of things to use.

Then left without taking his weights off fc the barbell at the rack.

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121370212#Comment_121370212

How was he doing foaming rolling and mobility with the cable crossover? Do you mean in on the ground in the machine, or weird loaded mobility work

Patsy167

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121374007#Comment_121374007

He was simultaneously foam rolling and holding on to a cable for extra stretch. To his credit he is in great shape and works hard when he is lifting but no excusing the behavior on his mobility days.

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121374581#Comment_121374581

While I completely agree with the sentiment. A little voice is pointing out, that every week I ditch my mobility day (and cardio day). At least this guy is doing it

Strumms

The first treadmill I get on tonight…. The console is disgustingly filthy… some brownish looking sticky liquid has been spilled all over it… probably a protein shake…. accidents happen ok, but what sort of mongrel spills a load of drink on an expensive piece of gym equipment that fellow members will subsequently need and doesn’t bother to grab a damp paper towel and wipe it clean… ? treadmill was literally a 15 second walk to the water font which has a paper towel dispenser over it… so between getting off the equipment, going to get the damp paper towel returning and cleaning…. Probably a 90 second trip / job… but the mongrel couldn’t be arsed, thanks !

degsie

Start-of-year nonsense with 'gangs' of youngsters hanging around gym equipment for chats and oogling at social media crap. Not a care in the world that other members want to use the equipment for it's intended purpose. Swift kick up the arse for the lot of them! :)

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121622872#Comment_121622872

Seeing that in my dressing room. Painful - scrawny feckers taking body photos in the big mirrors. Just gives a completely uncomfortable vibe in there.

nullzero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121622872#Comment_121622872

My gym has seemingly become a creche for 15 year old boys since the new year.

Gangs of them kindly speaking loud enough for anyone to be able to hear them from anywhere in the gym, hanging around equipment that they use wrong and spend ages doing so.

January is a chore for regular gym users as we all know, this year seems like gym memberships were the gift of choice for every teenage boy in a two mile radius.

Black Sheep

I'm glad these teenagers are spending time in the gym. It's a much healthier, more positive environment for them to be in than some of the alternatives.

I hope my kids, when they're old enough, are hanging out in gyms, rather than drinking cans in a field.

I accept that some people feel that their gym time is their only "me" time, and they don't like disruption, or inconvenience.

If they're doing something wrong, or making a balls of using a machine, here's an idea- why not give them a tip on where they're going wrong. I don't think there's a sport or activity in history that has been actually improved by gate-keeping and tutting about new entrants.

The one thing above that I do agree with is that they shouldn't be taking pictures in locker rooms, that's on gym management to resolve, however.

nullzero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121624488#Comment_121624488

While I can agree with you to some extent, I'm lucky to get an hour every evening in the gym, I'm going flat out to get a routine done before the place closes and while it's nice to suggest we show younger members the ropes there's enough staff ignoring their time wasting and misuse of equipment to deal with it.

Ultimately the responsibility lies with the operator of the gym to enforce basic etiquette, over the past few years I've tried what you've suggested and had it blow up in my face, I'm not at the gym to educate other people's kids on how to use equipment, and when my kids are old enough I'll be showing them how to behave in a gym before allowing them to waltz in with their pals without supervision.

I've also asked the gym management to try basic encouragement of reasonable behaviour such as putting signs up about respecting other members time etc, all have been ignored.

I've also seen teenagers running around like idiots treating the gym like a playground while staff do nothing, not to mention seeing them injure themselves sometimes quite seriously.

A reasonable set of rules could negate these issues, like no under 18's after a certain time in the evening, setting time limits to stop people camping on machinery.

Sadly the options are limited these days with closures of other gyms in the area, I'd love to walk away and start somewhere else but it's not an option right now.

In the end, there's an element of being chastised for not doing something you feel is obvious in your post, but we're talking about a business that takes our money to provide us with a service, they employ staff to deal with any issues that arise, I'm certainly not inclined to do their work for them whilst paying their wages particularly when it comes to interacting within minors I don't know, which is a whole other potential can of worms.

Cill94

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121626797#Comment_121626797

Sometimes it's worth paying more or travelling further afield to train in a place where the standards are higher.