These obviously aren't directed to anyone here as we don't work out at the same gym together, just some stuff that gets on my nerves. Feel free to add any of your pet peeves!
1. People who don't wipe down their machine when they're done. I'm not talking about when you're doing strength training on the machines (unless you sweat all over the machine). I'm talking about getting off a cardio machine and its OBVIOUS its covered in sweat, yes sweat dripping on the machine, and people don't wipe it off. At 24 hour fitness you are REQUIRED to bring a towel, USE IT! Actually, not everyone at 24 even brings their required towel. If someone knows they're sweating all over the place, why wouldn't you bring a towel to be courteous and wipe the machine down?
2. On the machines (not cardio), I rest between reps like most people do. My resting time between reps is about 30 seconds, as far as I know 30 seconds is a good amount of time. Why people feel the need to sit there for MINUTES at a time between reps just people watching is beyond me. If you want to rest for a few minutes, stand up so you're not occupying the machine!
3. People who stand right in front of machines or sit on the machines and talk to other people. If you want to talk to people while you're doing your reps, feel free. But PLEASE don't just stand there and talk to someone when it's obvious people are all around you and people want to use the machine.
Also, people who do not re-rack the free weights or on machines with removable weights, they will leave two hundred pound weights on it. I can't lift that off! I have to run an employee down and in that time, someone else could be on that machine when I get back! I actually made this known quite loudly one day and haven't seen it happen since.
people who do not shower before entering the pool after working out. EWW EWW EWWW!!!!
Guys who walk circles around the machine you are on staring at you. How rude can you be??? Quit staring at my butt!
Buff people who try to muscle there way ahead of you. I guess they think they must be "more serious" about their workout because they are already buff- I dunno, but it's just plain rude.
and everyones public facility favorite....peeing on the toilet seat and not wiping off or flushing before you leave? What is wrong with people?
Ladies who spend an hour doing their make up and hair and wear very fashionable gym clothes, then don't raise a sweat during their work out (and also who then sit around the changing rooms for ages complaining they never see any results)
The big boys who stand in the weights area (our weights are is tiny tiny) looking in the mirror, occasionally picking up a weight, but mainly just checking thesmelves out.
People who spend 45 minutes on one piece of cardio equipment, oblivious to the 6 of us who are waiting.
Gym instructors who come and tell you how unhappy they are with their bodies (mine did that yesterday) I glared at him, told him he was gorgeous and to stop being so neurotic!!! Sheesh!!!
Everything you said is so true! I have to add in the girls in the gym who just want to look cute and not break a sweat so they dont actually do anything. Usually, these are the same girls who put on a LOT pf perfume before they walked in the door. Does anyone else notice the men who lift a lot of weight and then drop it really hard to the ground?
Plus in my gym there are just a lot of rude people in the winter for some reason ... many people don't live here in the summer, so that's maybe why I notice it more in the winter ... they just seem to want to pick a fight all the time over the dumbest stuff: lockers, fans, showers, treadmills, you name it.
Plus (this is a version of one mentioned above) ... the daily "coffee klatch" sans coffee in the weight room ... a group that sits on all the machines and just talks, plans get togethers, catches up on what happened to 'em the day before ... I don't mind people talkin' if they are exercising, but WHY are they just sittin' there on the weight machines when other people have to go to work or when other people are there to, uh, exercise?
I forgot about the lads who pick up massive weights, bang them on the floor and make me jump when they drop them!!! And then try to pretend it wasn't them!!!
There's also this stupid fat woman at our gym, who everytime she goes on the leg curl or extension, she grabs the handle to move the chair forward, and flings it so hard, the chair slams to the lowest position making a huge crash, and disturbing everyone's routine (hmmmmmmmm I just wonder who THAT could be!!! If you haven't guessed it's me!!!)
People who are too scared to ask for help and then hurt themselves worry me.
Gym staff who make you feel two inches tall when you DO ask for help, worries me too.
It annoys me when people stay on their cell phone for their entire cardio work out. Like, instead of listening to music or watching tv they will call up all their friends and catch up.
And most recently.. there was this couple who basically made out all over all the equipment. Gross on so many levels!!
Okay, this one has absolutely no bearing on me whatsoever. BUT - it drives me absolutely insane. I usually workout early in the morning - between 5 and 5:30. There aren't a ton of people at that time usually just the 5 or so regulars and then maybe 6 or 7 people who show up every now and then. Anyway, one of the personal trainers at the gym always has early morning appointments and I'll see a couple of women following her and the client around eavesdropping and copying the routine. I mean you can't help but overhear sometimes or see what they are doing but, for goodness sakes, get out of their way!
Worse than that I can't stand for someone to try and force me to visit with them while we are on side by side cardio machines. I'm not against chatting but, you know, sometimes I'm there just to focus on exercising. I had one lady who was a little chatty but I was polite and responded to her initial talk and then excused myself and put on my headphones. The woman actually tapped me on the shoulder because she was afraid I wouldn't be able to hear her with the music playing. Hello! That's what the music is for!
Along the same lines is people who talk in classes. I don't mean the usual banter with the instuctors about how hard the routine is or the "Whoo's" that people sing out at the tougher moves. I mean people who try to carry on conversations with the person next to them in a way that is disruptive. It doesn't happen often but it makes me crazy when it does. I've been in a pilates class where the instructor actually had to ask a lady to stop talking.
Another one is when people leave their crap all over the place. If you are going to drag out 10 magazines to look at while you are on the treadmill put them up when you are done. The gym employees are good about making sure everything is tidy but during the busiest times it is hard for them to keep up with it all. I've seen elliptical machines with magazines on either sides of it on the floors and on the built in rack. How hard is it put it back on the rack? And empty water bottles - arghh! - find a trash can!
Ohhh the talking on the cell phone thing bothers me, too. I don't bring my cell in because I want to respect everyone else's space and I think of working out as ME time. I think it's rude be there and yell on your phone while you're working out. And besides NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR YOU BREATHING HEAVILY TRYING TO TALK ON THE PHONE TO THEM, seriously.
I don't get why some people are so insensitive.
WastedThermos, that is DISGUSTING! I feel so gross after I leave the gym not because I just sweat but because every machine I touched had nasty germs on it, I can't believe someone would make out in the gym, eewwww.
The one that bugs me the most is one that probably doesn't bug everyone else much, but I am a little bit obsessive-compulsive, especially when it comes to closing cabinets and drawers, so . . . I absolutely HATE it when people leave their lockers open! I walked into the locker room one morning and every single locker on the row was open! It looked like someone had ransacked the place! Is it really so hard to close your locker? First of all, the open lockers are an eyesore, and second of all, the aisle is really narrow so I constantly run into the open lockers on the bottom row! Ugh.
People who don't wear workout clothes (or anything like them) to the gym. The other day I saw this girl on the elliptical wearing a skirt and clogs!!
I'm with all of you who complain about people wasting time sitting on the weight machines so nobody else can use them. I saw one woman who sat down on a weight machine and started talking on her cell phone . . . for 15 minutes!
This one really bugs me -- people who use the bench-press benches for situps. Like really, there are three benches set up for bench-presses in the weight room, and there are three benches with nothing attached. Is it impossible for you to use the ones with nothing attached? Don't make us wait for you to finish your crunches in order to do a bench-press! This is aside from the fact that you should really be doing your crunches somewhere other than the WEIGHT room.
People who change lanes constantly on the track. There is this one older man at our gym who walks around the track in the mornings when I am running. The fact that he's walking doesn't bother me at all -- what bothers me is that he moves between lanes all the time, so he might start out in an empty lane, but before I know it he is walking right in front of me! I always try to pick an empty lane on the track (there are never more than three people using the track, and there are six lanes) so I won't get in anyone's way.
At my gym there is a mat on the floor for floorwork and stretching. If you use it correctly, six people can stretch or do crunches or whatever on the mat. I hate when people sit down on it perpendicular to the direction they are supposed to, and take up the space that would normally fit THREE people! Also, sometimes when the mat is full and there are obviously people waiting to use it to stretch, some people will sit there and chit chat! There is this one pair of women who come in, do like 10 crunches, sit up and chit chat for 10 minutes, do 10 more crunches, etc. Either chit chat *while* you're doing crunches, or save the chatting for later!
People who walk out on gym classes. I take a circuit training class, and we recently switched instructors, and the new instructor has a completely different style from the old one. There is this one woman in the class who will sit there and do nothing during the warm-up because she doesn't like the style of the instructor, and then she will leave halfway through the class because she doesn't like the exercises (I've spoken with her a little, so I know she's not leaving because it's too hard, but because she doesn't like the instructor). Dude, if you don't like the class, don't come! It's that simple!
Also . . . I can't stand it when the class instructor tries to give us advice about things that are not directly related to what she is supposed to be teaching us. Like, this is a circuit training class, I'm happy for her to correct my form or tell me something about my muscles. But don't start telling me about why dancers understand muscles and exercise better than athletes, and if you work out like an athlete you are harming your body, so you should be doing Pilates instead! Come on, this is a *circuit training* class, not a Pilates class!
The final thing that bugs me hugely . . . people who spit out their chewing gum into the water fountain! Can we say "ew"?
Okay, I have too much to rant about. Sorry for the book!
The receptionist at the gym that has never worked out for a minute in her entire life.......lol
Two guys at our gym (morning regulars) drink coffee on the treadmills....
People that do all the machines with no or wrong form....
Ladies who spend an hour doing their make up and hair and wear very fashionable gym clothes, then don't raise a sweat during their work out (and also who then sit around the changing rooms for ages complaining they never see any results)
LOL I see THAT at Curves as well. But even worse, Curves gave me a Zig Ziggler motivational CD and I listened to it. Zig Ziggler talks about how Curves is so perfect for women...no muscle men to embarrass them working out, no mirrors to have to look at themselves and get upset if they don't like what they see...no sweat. ????? No sweat???? Then how's it working? Well, according to those that don't sweat, I don't guess it is. I sweat buckets while there. I feel if I'm not sweating, I'm not working out. And while I can talk to someone while on a treadmill (that the speed is automatically set on and I have to keep up), I find that too much talking at Curves will cause me to not work as hard and I notice my heart rate dropping on the next check. So I'll have to cut the chatter and focus on pushing my heart rate up.
As far as wearing nice workout clothes and makeup - I don't see anything wrong with wanting to look good. Actually I love buying workouts outfits that look and fit good. I sweat, but not buckets, the better shape you get in the less you sweat. It doesn't mean that your workout isn't benificial......
But Zig said with Curves you don't sweat...at all. And most of the ladies who go don't. I just can't see how a workout is a workout if you don't work up any sweat at all. I have no problem with how anyone looks. But if they're more concerned with their hair than with working up any sweat, they're throwing their money away.
Gym Pet Peeves!
