I recently wrote a post about how you might be wasting your time and effort at the gym by making common mistakes. Today I’d like to touch on how you are wasting my time at the gym; probably not the actual you, since we likely don’t belong to the same gym, but the universal you, because I am certain that you are probably doing some of these things in your gym and pissing off nice people like me who are forced to put up with your poor gym etiquette.
- Sitting on machines or benches- If you are sitting down doing nothing then move. No seriously. Get up. Unless there are several benches or machines just like the one you are sitting on, then you shouldn’t be sitting on it; especially during peak hours when the gym in full. If you are resting between sets then look outside yourself (novel concept I know) to see if anyone is patiently waiting for you to finish. If so, let them “work in” by politely asking them if they’d like to work in between your sets. This isn’t an old school video game arcade, you cannot hog your spot with a quarter on the screen. Get in, do your business, and get out. Move on.
- Leaving weights on Barbells and other equipment- I know, you work really hard and you are just hoping some hot chick will see your great efforts, be smart enough to do math in her head so she is rightfully impressed with the number of 45lb plates you have stacked, and you’ll finally get rewarded for all you do. But it isn’t going to happen. Its time you give up the dream and re-rack your weights when you are done lifting. Here is why… there are three kinds of girls using weights in the weight room:
One, the smart girl who likes to lift and isn’t there to meet anyone, who is just annoyed at you being rude and won’t speak to you anyway because she is tired of re-racking your weights.
Two, the stupid girl who likes to lift light weight and doesn’t know how to do math in her head so you will never impress her by leaving your weights on the bar. You’re better off asking if she needs a spotter for that 5 lb dumbbell she is curling if you really want to hit that.
And, three, the girl you brought with you who is standing around looking awkward and doesn’t know why she is there and not getting her nails done and you will have to re-rack your weight because she can’t lift as heavy as you.
If his one sounds directed at men, I apologize, but I have never actually seen a woman NOT re-rack her weights, ever.
- Blocking traffic while you look for a “close place to park”- Do I even need to address this one? Seriously, unless you are actually handicapped or have multiple kids (because believe me I know how annoying it is to drag two children and two bags through a parking lot as they both beg to be held or both try to run from you in opposite directions), then you should pick the furthest spot from the door and get your warm up in walking from your car to the door. Seriously, you are about to go inside and get sweating moving your body, but somehow it still matters that you park closely? Just stop it.
So the next time you go to the gym, or anywhere for that matter, try to remember that you are not the only person in the world, that other people have needs just as valid, and sometimes more valid than your own, and that there are rules in place for a reason, and that most of the time the reason is so people will be obliged to be nice to one another since we can’t seem to be bothered otherwise. And you might, just might, finally earn the respect of that hot chick who will then be obliged to come over and thank you for re-racking your weights. It happens.