this is an interesting point most gyms provide paper towels to wipe down but enforcing is hard especially if you gym is really busy and there is a que. with regards to the stacking and not removing thats an almost impossible things to do. example i do 600lb on the diagonal leg press ( the 45 degree sled thing) for i needs 10 20kg lates plus a few little ones. thing is after i've done a serious leg session i can barely carry myself around the room let alone unload the rack.

Hey slimmings,I totally understand the amount of weight you need is different from mine. But I think you may have proved my point as to what my problem is. I may actually not be strong enough to move the plates after you may have used them, so this, on top of the whole intimidated part, makes for another reason why I feel that some men may consider us a nuisance in the gym.. Don't forget, I know your tired after all that weight, but theres me behind you, why am I expected to clean up after you?!


Maybe some are resistant because now they have to really start considering the others that don't lift nearly as much as that! I can do about 95lbs on the diag. leg press, so if I were to leave my weights, at least you would be adding to it and not having to remove them. I actually do prefer working out after a woman, because sometimes we are at around the same level and theres not a large amount of adjusting to be done (and time to be wasted!)

I have just been speaking to other women there, and heard simular concerns. I don't think that enforcing it would be of great difficulty, it is the culture of the gym that needs to change and perhaps some people need to be accountable for their actions.

Consider unloading part of your workout. Also put the weights back where they belong; don't put 20kg plates on top of the 2.5kg.

i have to take most the plates off the smith machine at the other end of the room only about 15 feet but afer 3 sets of 6 to failure its dangerous. usually i don't have any problems unloading cos i use nearlly all the 20kg plates in the gym so there is usually a nice crowd of guys hovering around waiting for me to finish to dive in and grab what they need

Warning - non technical descriptions ahead! Our gym is a small council run one, and it's tiny. Our machines are the ones with pins, where you choose the weight you want, so there isn't any lifting of plates, thank goodness.

My main bugbear is our free weight area is tiny. men often sit on the benches for ages (and I am talking 20 - 30 minutes) resting between sets, and we only have two benches. At first I used to avoid weights. Now I just approach with humour and say, can I share your sandpit please, I want to play too! My other issue is that our gym has a tiny budget and they have just invested in a set of weights which goes from 25 kg to 40 kg. They take up quite a bit of room, only 5% (and that's generous) of the gym membership use them, and people don't put them away after use. I get them back to move them. All the people who do use them have spotters, usually who haven't been using them, so the "tired" issue isn't one I accept with them. Or I get the staff to move them. We have no equipment like fitballs which annoys me as I think 50% of our membership would have benefitted from those rather than the ginormous weights, but hey ho! Some you win, some you lose.

The staff are there to help, and I know they're busy, but no one objects to helping out if you can't move weights on your own, they would rather do that than risk you injuring yourself.

As for the cleanliness issue, if someone is about to finish and I am queing I bring over some paper sprayed with disinfectant (it's hanging on the walls at two points in our gym) and hand it to the finisher so they can clean up after themselves. They appreciate not having to walk over and come back.

I think what would make gyms great is more teamwork. We all have different needs and abilities and it's about taking ownership of our space, and our responsibilities to others.

Ask if you can work in with them. If they balk explain to them that they have to share with people who want to use the benches for their intended purpose. They can go recover on the bench out in the hall.

Most people get embarassed and hop right up if you ask to work in.

Nah wouldn't work in the north of England, with these tough Lancashire folk, humour (with a sprinkle of dryness) works best. If I asked to work with them it would be instantly assumed that I fancy them and it would be taken as a come on!!!! Eeek!!!! And we;re not talking cute guys like slimmingsi, We don't have a hall! Every available space is used up, although there are chairs they should be using but they are near the managers office and some people are embarrassed to sit there!

Wow! RANT ahead!

As a gym employee (actually I only get paid when I'm training a client), I'm the lucky one who gets to unload your plates I've been known to chase down guys in the men's locker room and embarrass them into coming back and cleaning up after themselves. OK, so you're strong enough to need almost all the 20k plates in your gym? Take a few minutes rest then put them away!!!! It will help your grip.

We have 100 pounds plates next to the leg presses in my gym. I'm strong enough to press several of these per side, but I'm NOT strong enough to rack or unrack them. So I don't use them. One joker left ten of them on the leg press last week and I tried to clean up so I could train a client. I managed to get 1 off and successfully onto the plate rack, but the second one went onto the floor. There was no way I had the strength to rack it. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to pry a 100 pound plate off the floor?

Same goes for dumbbells. If you are strong enough to use 90 pounders for anything you are old enough and strong enough to put them away. Gym employees are NOT your mother.

BTW, I've pressed 10 plates and put them away.

End of rant.

Mel

Yay Mel! I get so annoyed with people who can't/won't clean up after themselves in any situation (not just the gym - folks at work who don't wash their dishes hear from me!) Our gym provides spray cleaner and towels to wipe down the cardio equipment, and most of the folks who are there when I am are pretty good about this. Some to the extreme of wiping down the whole machine after they do a 5 min warm-up and frankly didn't even sweat.

Like Kykaree, most of the machines I use have the captured weights you change with a pin so I'm not bothered by the plates issue - they're in another part of the gym. I do speak up if someone leaves the free weights on the floor.

Hi Mel,

My thoughts EXACTLY when I read Slimminsi's post. If you are so macho that you must use huge amounts of weights, then are so tired that you cannot clean up after yourself, you need to bring your own slave with you to clean up.

If you have no slave, clean up after yourself.

I am a relatively tiny older woman who is totally, but totally fed up by having to clean up after men that are younger, bigger AND much stronger than I am because they do not feel up to it.

GROW UP! to all the people that do not put the stuff back where it belongs. if ypu are capable og getting it out, you are certainly capable of putting it back.

Thank you Mel for giving me the courage of speaking my mind on this.

rabbit

firstly using loads of plates isn't "macho" its just what i need to train to failure in 8 reps. which is part of my programme and its not cos i'm a muscle head its because of my weight my legs are used to carrying it around. secondly if you are training to failure and you can carry plates around you havn't trained hard enough. like those "macho" guys who use massive dumbells then insist on throwing them when they finish a set

Training to absolute failure is one of the LEAST productive strategies you can follow. The whole "one set to absolute failure" method is a gimick developed by Arthur Jones to sell Nautilus machines. If you can develop a decent physique with HIT, you could deveop a GREAT one with more volume and less intensity. There is no reason to train until you puke or mess yourself.

Leave enough in the tank so you can put the plates back and wipe the machines down afterwords.

Sorry, Si, you're not going to find any sympathy here. You're pressing with your legs, not your arms and shoulders, right? Put the weights back!

Keep in mind that many women can't lift off the heavy plates and YOU refusing to clean up after yourself is denying them the right to use a machine. How fair is that to the other members of your gym?

In my gym, it's considered the height of rudeness not to re-rack your weights (of course, we have morons who still think the rules don't apply to them - every gym does ).

If you can't put back your own weights, you have no business being in a gym.

Think of it this way. . . would you drive until you completely run out of gas and then just walk home? No. You save enough fuel to get home or to a gas station, right? Same should be the case at the gym. Either you save enough "fuel" to put your weights back or you rest up long enough to get enough strength back to put them away. Or maybe you could work out with a friend and take turns putting plates back. That way you can work out to complete exhaustion and have him put the plates back, then next time you can do the same for him. I don't know. I'm sure you'll think of something

Luckily, our gym has a separate women's only area so I don't have to deal with this if I don't want to.

I totally agree Meg. I've actually gone after guys at the gym that didn't put their plates back. First of all it's just plain rude, and 2nd I can't always get the large ones off myself.