Coloradans might lead the nation in gym memberships, but it doesn’t mean we conduct ourselves any better than fitness fans in other states.
It seems every club has its share of equipment hogs who monopolize machines, yappers who won’t turn off their cellphones even when they’re in the sauna and slobs who don’t wipe down the treadmill after sweating all over it.
We asked readers to share the habits of highly annoying gym-goers and were flooded with responses. No wonder so few people are smiling while they work out. They’re secretly fuming at fellow patrons.
Are you among the guilty?
See if you recognize your behavior in any of the categories below.
1. Committing hostile takeovers
Problem: What bugs local gym-goers the most are the squatters who stay on equipment for long periods of time, or won’t get off a machine when they’re resting to allow another person to do a set.
It’s irritating, Larry Cloos writes, when people “retire” the equipment, parking themselves on it for 15 minutes or more as they do consecutive sets, rather than letting another person work in.
This type, says Lewis Gaskell Jr., will respond he is “almost done” if you try to use it. “You eventually leave before he does,” he says.
Equally annoying, says Wally Brauer, is when people aren’t even pedaling the bike; they’re just using it as a place to sit while they talk on the phone.
Solution: Most clubs have rules about how long a person should use a piece of equipment – ask management to post and enforce those regulations.
If you want to do a long cardio workout, move around to other pieces of equipment to get in your time rather than putting all of it in on the treadmill or elliptical trainer.
And if you need to make a call, take it outside or off to an unused corner of the gym.
2. Throwing weight around
Problem: People who pile heavy weights onto bars or machines, use the equipment for a long period of time and don’t re-rack weights.
“I’m one of those crazies that gets up at 3:15 a.m. to work out at 24 Hour Fitness,” writes Barb Walker. “My biggest pet peeve is those muscleheads who load the machines up with 45-200 pounds of weights and then leave them on the machine when they’re done. I do not want to get my weight training in by unloading the machines that they’re too lazy to do themselves.”
Solution: It’s as simple as putting away your weights when you’re finished. Or if you’re doing a long session, let other people work in sets while you’re resting.
(Being aware of the space you’re using is also important. Erik Henriksen is peeved when people use weights right in front of the weight rack, “so that you have wait for them to be done with their reps/sets before you can access the weights.”)
3. Poor hygiene
Problems: People who don’t disinfect equipment after using it. Or do it wrong. Ditto for those who come to the gym when they have colds and other contagious illnesses. And personal hygience counts: people who leave dirty clothes in their lockers and “forget” to use deodorant offend the rest of us.
Solution: When you wipe down a machine, put some muscle into it, says Sue Rodewald. “Being an RN, I am well-versed in infection control. I love the people who squirt about a teaspoon of disinfectant on the paper towel, then “air kiss” the handles on the machine with the mostly dry paper towel, and then walk away feeling they’ve effectively cleaned off that machine.”
Do your fellow gym mates a favor and change workout clothes frequently, rather than leaving them to fester in a locker, writes Maxine Christenson. “In my experience, it is always men who do this. Where I work out, one guy smells so bad that it is impossible to work out next to him. When he’s on the treadmill, everyone vacates the machines around him.”
4. Pumping up the volume
Problem: Loud music, cellphone use and noisy conversations all grate on gym-goers’ nerves.
“My biggest pet peeve is the volume of the music played by the fitness center,” writes Susan Lombard. “Since almost everyone these days has his own iPod, each person has to crank up the volume on his own MP3 player in order to be heard. While the music is energizing for certain group classes, the facility should be able to adjust the volume for each room and as needed.”
Elaine Spencer of Fort Collins concurs. “It’s supposed to be a ‘health’ center, not a place where my hearing is destroyed,” she says.
Solution: Ask the management to turn the music down, or offer zones where the music is off, or on low volume. Dumbbells in Tabor Center plans to ask members for their playlists this spring, and rotate them to vary the music and please clients.
5. Locker room behavior
Problem: People who bring in kids, those who hog the bench and walk around naked.
Victor Cooper would like to ban kids of both sexes over 5 years old. “Once a kid knows the biological difference between a boy and a girl they do not belong in the men’s locker room. Period. You may parade around your home buck naked but not in my gym with your kids. ”
Also irritating are those who monopolize the space, taking up “the whole bench/counter with their 1,001 toiletries,” Mary Kay Woodward says. “While you’re at it folks, pick up your towel and toss it in the bin. It doesn’t escape me that the staff handles those same wet towels with latex gloves.”
Solution: If you’re afraid to let your child use the men’s or womens’s locker room, ask a male or female employee to be an escort.
As for the other locker room missteps, clean up after yourself, share what is often limited space and cover up.
6. Shaking up the sauna and steam room
Problem: People who chatter with their friends or use the space to continue their exercise routine. “Steam rooms and dry saunas are for relaxing, meditating and closing out the hectic day,” Cooper says. “I do not need to hear or see you stretch naked in all different directions like a pretzel, grunting and showing more of you than I care to see. And this goes for exercising as well. In my gym there is a room just for that.”
In addition, he says, “I don’t need to hear you and your buddy going on and on about Lord knows what. Keep the talking down to a simple ‘Hi, how are you?’ I don’t care how the Broncos did last night.”
Solution: Shhhhhh.
7. Lane violators
Problem: Swimmers who are inconsiderate about lane usage earn the ire of people like Cathy Mitchell. People who join your lane without asking or cross your lane in front of you are maddening, she writes. “Swimmers doing the overhand stroke can see two things: the bottom of the pool on the out breath, and a quick glance to the side on the in breath,” she writes. “We count on the lane being clear.”
Solution: Until the day comes when people can reserve lanes at pools, be considerate and share the space.
8. Sweating it
Problem: While some people think of fitness clubs as the ultimate place to show how hard they can work out, others find it offensive.
David Jensen says he and his workout buddies give code names to some of the more annoying patrons at their gym. “Our favorite is ‘The Sweat Flinger,’ a woman who uses the cardio equipment, whips her head back and forth as she works out, drenching two to three people on either side with her sweat. It is absolutely disgusting and when people find out who she is, they avoid those two to three machines on either side of her.”
Solution: If you perspire heavily, use a towel.
9. It’s impolite to stare
Problem: Health clubs might still be a place to make friends or jump-start a relationship, but not everyone is flattered when you ogle them.
Shawna Whitacre wants to “remind all the 20- or 30-something men at the Bally’s in Aurora to stop staring at the ladies. We are not there for your entertainment. We couldn’t care less about you so keep your eyes on something else.”
Solution: If you must stare, do it from the back row of a class or group of machines so you’re more discreet.
And patrons who don’t want to be looked at can work out in the privacy of home.
10. Crashing a class
Problem: People who crowd out others in a fitness class.
“Space invaders begin attending group exercise classes for the first time every January,” says Melinda Hall. “They come in late, stand right on top of the next person (who joined class on time and selected a spot with sufficient space to move in) and then end up traveling across the floor – to invade everyone’s personal space. I can’t wait until their New Year’s resolutions wear off in March and they quit coming to class.”
Solution: Arrive on time, pick your place carefully and be conscious of the other class members.
So there you have 10 things sure to irritate other gym goers. Of course, if you’ve read this far, you probably aren’t the problem.
The solution might be to post this article on your gym’s bulletin board.
Contact Suzanne S. Brown at sbrown@denverpost.com or at 303-954-1697.
