1.05.2005:
The Rules Of The Gym
7:30 PMA note from THE FUTURE (1.5.2010): I've reposted this today, and was struck by the tone I used to take in my writing. When I originally wrote this five years ago today, I was a little more... How do you say it... Excitable. I tended to rant more than discuss, and have since learned that I can be equally no-nonsense without the abbrasion. And then, I went to my gym for the first time this year last night, and boom - any sense that I'd want to rewrite this list to be more direct and conversational went out the window, because OH MY GOD YOU NEW YEARS RESOLUTION PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO BE IN A GYM. So, I'm leaving this exactly as-is, and you can just deal with it. And for those of you who want honest, direct advice about getting into and sticking with a gym program, read this and let me know what you think.
Ok, maybe I'm not the guy to do it... I dunno. But lately, it has become more and more apparent that if I don't, no one else is going to. So, I have decided to share with you:
Joe The Peacock's Official Rules Of The Gym.
I have come up with some fairly simple and OH SO necessary guidelines for those of you who have decided to pay your membership dues and head to the mecca for pretention, the local gym. These rules are NOT hard to follow, and I think that anyone and everyone who's ever stepped inside a gym, even to deliver a newspaper, would agree with me on all of them.
First, For The Guys:
1. Stop oogling the girls. It is human nature to look at beautiful things, and the more beautiful they are, the more you want to look. But come on - show some respect. Get a look, go back to whatever it is you were doing.
2. Stop oogling the girls. Yes, it's THAT bad a problem that I have to say it again. Seriously. Stop. I know you're a beast and have only six braincells, every one of them tasked with thinking about boobie. But for chrissake, have some decency, you jarhead. You're making them uncomfortable.
3. You're not in the UFC. I know you love buying Tapout and Affliction shirts at Target, but just because you can afford them doesn't mean you're now rollin' with their crew or whatever. There's no need to stare anyone down or act like a badass. You're not. And we're not in competition. You can nod and smile, it's okay - no one will think any less of you, I promise.
4. Flex in the mirror at home. Sure, you need the mirror to watch your performance as you lift. And yeah, it's really cool to see yourself as you are all pumped and stuff... but must you do a full pose-down in the presence of everyone there?
5. If you sweat a lot, carry a towel. Wipe down the equipment you use. It's just respectful. No one wants to lay in your salty perspiration - if we did, we'd just walk up to you, turn around, and rub our backs on you like a bear would a tree.
6. Wash your clothes once in a while. Please.
7. If you cannot bench 315 lbs, don't get your buddy to sit there and "spot" you while the ladies pass by just so you can rattle the plates. Really, this one isn't too huge a deal - you want to damage yourself, fine by me - you're an idiot and deserve the pain. It's just frustrating to sit there and watch you trying to showboat for a crowd what doesn't give a rat's posterior.
8. If you don't know how to use a machine or do a certain exercise - ask a staff member or someone doing the exercise to teach you a bit about the equipment and routine.
9. However, don't go asking in the middle of a set. It's called "lane courtesy" and it's a term borrowed from bowling. While someone is concentrating on working out, don't go bugging them.
10. Unless your name is Lee Haney, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Joe Weider, don't give unsolicited lifting advice - Unless you see someone who's risking SERIOUSLY hurting themselves. And even then, be polite about it.
11. Just because she's female does NOT mean she needs or wants you to spot her. Leave her alone and go back to your machine, Randy Pan.
12. The treadmill is NOT the place for a race. Eyes down or straight forward - let other people have what little privacy is afforded them by line-of-sight displays.
13. A Hypothetical situation: let's say there's 5 exercise machines in a group. For the purposes of this discussion, assume the leftmost is #1 and the rightmost is #5, with #2, #3 and #4 falling where you'd logically assume they would. If I am on machine #1 and there is NO ONE ELSE ON ANY OTHER MACHINE, do NOT get on machine #2. Especially if you haven't been following rule #6.
14. Wear a shirt, you puffed-up prima donna.
15. To clarify: Shirts consist of a torso and sleeves. If you've cut off half the torso to show your abs, you've failed at rule 14. Same if you've cut off the sleeves. And sure, sleeveless shirts are okay, but if you've EVER spent money on a spaghetti-thin single strip of cloth that goes over each shoulder and meets a 2" wide peice of fabric around your waist, you're a disgrace to humanity and should IMMEDIATELY proceed to the vascectomy clinic to save the human race from your spawn.
16. SHUT THE FUCK UP. No one cares what you bench, used to bench, will be benching, etc. and so forth. Write it in a journal at the gym, and if you really need to talk about it, read it aloud to yourself when you get home.
17. Grunting is understandable and ok - yelling is not. Quit trying to draw attention to your Herculaean efforts by screaming like a banshee.
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Now, because I am not one, I don't really know much about the rules for women as they apply to other women. But I do have a few guidelines for you gals.
So, For the Girls:
1. QUIT ENCOURAGING THE GUYS. Christ... this is the GYM. It's not a single's bar, quit treating it like one. I'm ESPECIALLY talking to those of you who laugh and flirt and flip your hair all over the place and blatantly poke your ass out when there's a guy present, and then get all pissy and angry when his eyes become glued to it. Wonder why the guys break rules # 1 and 2 in their list, making you feel so gosh darned uncomfortable? It's in part because you broke this rule. And while I'm at it,
2. NO MAKEUP. Now, I understand going to the gym after work or hanging with friends, and you have makeup on from that activity. That makes sense. I'm referring more to those who get all dolled up just to come to the gym - you come here specifically to get sweaty, and the last I checked, Mabellyene has not a single product geared toward gym use.
3. Closed-toed shoes only, please. I know you're a girl, and as such, you're not supposed to stink, but your toes sweat just like mine do. Plus, just seeing your open toes in a gym makes me want to drop a weight on them.
4. Wear appropriately fitting workout clothing. Before you leave the house / locker room, look in the mirror again. and again. Ask your friends. Ask them again. It's one thing to wear close-fitting workout-specific clothing and spandex. Its another thing entirely to wear those clothes one size too small because you think they tighten your flab and make you look like J-Lo from the back. THey don't - if your ass and legs looks like a chewed wad of bubblegum out of spandex, they look that way IN spandex.
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And then, there are a few things that really apply to everyone in general.
For everyone:
1. Stop comparing yourself to everyone in the building. You are there for YOU. Who cares if you lift more or less than anyone else, if you run slower or faster, if you can swim farther and faster, etc? If you're an athlete, relish in your own performance and quit grandstanding for those smaller / weaker / less fit than you. If you're a beginner or are just starting out, quit giving a shit about what other people may or may not be thinking about you right now - get in there and work your hardest.
2. Don't laugh at the fat guy / girl. They're there just like you are, they're working just as hard as you are. In almost every way possible, they're 10x the athlete you are - not only did they show up to the gym to get better, they did it amidst snickering and comments from assholes like you - and that takes more guts than you'll EVER have.
3. Don't spit in the water fountain - spit in the sink in the locker room or in the trashcan.
4. Passing wind is a natural occurance, especially if you are exerting yourself. If someone lets one or 2 fly, or burps a little while running, just grow up and let it slide. That said,
5. Don't go farting all over the place. If you ate something last night that didn't agree with you and your intestines are blowing like the foghorn of an icecutter, STAY HOME AND RUN AROUND THE BLOCK. If one's coming up and you can at all help it, sneak off to the corner or in the locker room and do it there.
6. Wipe down the equipment when you're done with it. And YES, you need to wipe off the bridge of the bike / crosstraining machine, you need to wipe off the display of the treadmill, you need to wipe off the handlegrips, and you need to wipe off the bench / seat of whatever you were sitting on. All of these things are entailed in WIPING DOWN THE DAMN EQUIPMENT.
7. Be curteous with "working in". There are quite a few unspoken rules of the gym, and this used to be one of them until now. It goes like this:
8. When you need to wait on equpiment - do so at a close enough distance to indicate you're waiting on that machine but a far enough distance that you are not crowding whoever's currently on it. And don't stare at the person on it currently - it's uncomfortable enough knowing you're holding someone up, so don't make them feel like more of a jerk by making them think you mind.
9. When someone else is waiting on your machine - cut down on the lollygagging. If you're with a buddy, don't clown around between sets and make the person / people wait on your goofy ass. It's just rude.
10. Eat somewhere else. Don't eat your energy bar / granola nut cluster / peanut-butter-coated-pinecone-rolled-in-birdseed when you're on the equipment. Not only is it unsanitary for you to eat around other peoples' excretions, but whether you realize it or not, you're leaving crumbs and sticky crap everywhere. Stop.
11. Don't sing along with your walkman. If you're singing along with whatever shitty music they're piping over the speakers in the club, that's kinda annoying. But there's NOTHING more annoying than some dipshit trying to be the next Ashlee Simpson while listening to the song over their headphones. It's not karaoke, and you're liable to get a 5lb plate hurled at you.
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I think everyone will agree that these rules are not out of line. In fact, I think everyone would agree that they are really very simple and direct. AND NECESSARY. Please share them with anyone you know that attends a gym or otherwise works out.
Thank you.
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64 Comments:
Fantastic list. I think I'll print copies and leave them laying conspicuously around my gym!
A suggested addendum to Section 3, Paragraph 11 -- Don't sing along to your walkman and don't laugh loudly at the TV show or make comments back to the TV newscaster. I don't know if I just recently started noticing this or what, but it seems to be getting worse at my gym.
You know that game you play with toddlers by covering their head with a blanket and saying "Where's Jimmy?" then popping the blanket off and saying "There he is!" Somehow people in my gym are getting to be the same way with their headphones.
Just because you can't hear me because you're wearing ear buds, that doesn't mean I can't hear you laughing and talking about what a liar you think Obama is. Keep it down already!
re-rack your damn weights
if you got it, flaunt it.
Ladies DO NOT put perfume on before you go to the gym. When I work out I want to breath the air not your $5 kmart special.
dude, you forgot about naked man! every gym has at least one but probably more like a dozen!
#18. Do not dry yourself, naked, in front of the mirror.
#19. Do not use the blow dryer, naked.
#20. Following up on #19, do not use the blow dryer, naked, to dry your genitals.
#21. Put your UNDERWEAR ON FIRST. I've seen guys with an undershirt, a dress shirt, a tie, socks, and fucking shoes on before they put on their tightie whities. Get over yourself.
#22. If your locker room has furniture, don't sit on it naked.
#23. You do NOT weigh any more with underwear on than you do naked. Put your damn underwear on already.
#24. When it's busy (morning, lunch, after work), and you're done showing get out of the shower ASAP. Do not stand in the shower drying yourself off for 5 minutes. Towel off quickly, wrap the towel around your junk, and move out of the way so others can get to work, back to work, or home.
#25. Do not hold a conversation with me until your balls are properly covered. I'm not gay, and I don't care if you are, but it's natural for anyone's eyes to wander. Let's not put each other in that position.
#26. Have I bitched enough about naked man? fuck I hate naked man!!
Great list. I am confident the vast majority of your readers are familiar with naked guy, tuff-enough grunting guy, giggle girl, and guy that leaves his towel on the incline bench while he works on the flat bench, but the gym itself has to take some responsibility, fix machines, keep some windex or something around to wipe down machines, enforce existing rules and drop the 80's tunes. I will now leave my 80 lb dumbells in the middle of the yoga room
On behalf of myself and the other female gym-goers, I'd like to wrap #11 on the guys' list in arrows and neon lights. Just because I'm a chick doesn't mean I need help. I find the constant little "tips" incredibly condescending, especially since I appear to know what I'm doing more than half of the guys around me.
But on the same token, guys, restack your damn weights. I'm not as strong as you. So while I can heft your 45lb weights off a machine and back to its place, it's difficult and time-consuming. If you're cool with using 45lb weights, it should be a lot easier for you to carry them around.
I find it particularly annoying when guys drop huge weights on the floor or on the pegs on the bench..if you can lift the weight, you shouldn't have to SLAM it down and alert the whole gym to the fact that you can bench 250.
don't talk on your cell phone while on a cardio machine. leave the phone in your car or in the locker.
naked guy usually seems to be old naked guy who figures you have the same junk as him so what the hell right? nothing worse than old naked guy stopping to have a conversation with you while fully naked. you have a friggin towel in your hand, wrap it around your waist for chrissake.
Leave your coat and gym bag in the locker room.
Corollary to not singing along with the Walkman (Psst, Joe, we use iPods now.): Set the volume so you're the only one who can hear it.
Shave at the sink, not in the shower, sauna, or steam room.
There were several items about the treadmill use, and I wholeheartedly agree with them-especially the rule about not working out on top of me when there are other empty machines. My gym has a track also, and it drives me nuts that people will stand and talk on it, cross it without looking while I'm running right at them, or will walk 3 across so no one can get around them. I understand it helps to make the workout social time, but criminy, some people are going to get run over!
Do not wear one of those earpiece cellphones and suddenly start screaming in Arabic every 30-120 seconds when it's your turn in the conversation.
Addition to the Perfume comment. It is winter now and lots of people like using lotion to stay soft. Don't buy lotion that I can smell from across the room. There are odor free varieties for a reason. I'd rather a little BO in the gym than feel like I'm working out in Bath & Body Works.
Likewise, guys, a 2 second spray of axe body spray or whatever you're using now is more than enough. If you smell that bad get back in the shower.
This comes off as amateur bitching.
Anonymous said: "don't talk on your cell phone while on a cardio machine. leave the phone in your car or in the locker."
How about this:
"Don't talk on your cell phone, period. Leave it at home. No exceptions."
Please stick to one machine at a time. If I see you using the ab machine I am going to assume you are done with the bench. Dont come up to me and say you are still using the bench, you left, it's mine now, wait until I am done.
I am sorry I cant follow rule 1 or 2, hot chicks at the gym motivate me. They dont seem to mind too much if you smile :) It's better than listening to the Rocky 4 soundtrack.
Don't forget:
(1) Bicep curls in the squat rack is a big faux pas. Pretty please don't take up the squat rack just to curl the bar.
(2) Be considerate when filling your water bottle. If there is a lower water fountain use that one to fill. And if people are waiting behind you it probably isn't necessary to completely fill up your 32 ounce bottle. It delays and annoys everyone else.
Guys rule: 15. To clarify: Shirts consist of a torso and sleeves.
What in the hell is wrong with tank tops? And why doesn't this rule apply to women? I've seen halter tops that cover less skin than my tank tops (I'm talking standard tank top here).
Girls sweat out as much as guys...
ColoradoJoe- Very funny. The only thing I disagree with is "Hypothetical Situation". Your workout shouldn't be that ridged that you have to use the machines in a precise order. Mix it up a bit. Other than that. I LMAO.
For Guys #18:
If you are working out at one end of the gym and another guy gets on a threadmill next to your girlfriend or wife, don't strut over and make small talk with her just to "mark" your territory.
It just feeds into the stereotype that people who go to gyms are insecure about themselves.
Hypothetical situation shouldn't be an issue. If you're on weight machine #1, that's the only machine over which you have any control. This is in contrast to lines of treadmills or bikes or whatever, which are the same. If you're on #1, and all others are open, it's reasonable to expect some stranger to use anything other and #2.
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other "THAN #2", not "and #2." The former lends itself to something very unpleasant.
The good thing is that my workplace has a fitness center, so a lot of the "no oogling" rules go without saying; no one wants to deal with possible sexual harassment issues.
Extra rule: If you're in the locker room, don't spread all your stuff out next to your locker so that the fellow in the locker next to yours would have to trod through your sweated-up stuff to get to his locker.
I don't see anything wrong with being naked at a gym. I'm a nudist so I guess I don't get it? Naked people of either sex don't offend me. I say, "Quit being so nude-phobic."
I love this post, and it makes me love the fact that I do 90% of my workouts outside these days. ... Only hitting the gym a few times a month ...
Anonymous:
We're not nude-phobic. We just are disgusted by your ugly body hanging out everywhere.
I loathe going to the gym because of the douchebags, but I've been doing so regularly for 30 years. L.A. Fitness is unmanaged by design and the employees tend to be as douchey as the members. 24 Hour Fitness has better employees but the ones by me have old equipment.
I'm amazed at how weak, stupid and inconsiderate people are. Sometimes even especially the pay-it-forward douches who leave 45s on the rack "for the next person". If the weights are too heavy to put back, use lighter weights. If you put 45 lb. plates on the rack peg on top of the 10 lb. weights you might be too stupid to drive a car, and if you leave a pile of weights on the floor wherever you go, you might be a douchebag.
I blame it mostly on bad parenting and popular culture, but going to my gym is like being stuck in aWhite Castle parking lot watching all the colors and flavors of the suburban ghetto dump wrappers and stinky diapers out of their cars.
as long as naked man is in the locker room proper, I don't have a problem with him as long as he's doing what'd you expect in a locker room -- showering, changing, moving between shower and locker, etc...
naked man in the bathroom, is another story
and yes, you're all naked-phobes
Fantastic list. Thanks.
Can we add Don't Slam the Weights?
I can't stand having to dodge a barbell that was wrecklessly dropped because some asshole was done with his set, or getting startled because someone let a plate slam back. Its dangerous and its not good for the equipment.
bench press spotting advice there is pretty stupid. It doesn't matter how MUCH you can bench (let alone 315 lbs). I can max about 160 probably, and spotting is necessary so you don't drop the bar on your larynx like the footballer did. Bad advice - I see your point, but you missed the important one.
SPELL CHECK.
Moran.
I agree with Constant Pull about naked guy. Cover up your junk. I don't care if you are a nudist and spend 23 hours a day frolicking nude while swinging your skivvies over your head. Just don't do it where I have to look at you. Have some courtesy for others. Also, cover up your junk in the sauna as well. I don't want to be subjected to being in an enclosed space with a sweaty naked guy. You have a towel for a reason.
I loved this post SO MUCH! Good job. I will read again and share with others.
Yes, one hundred times yes.
Guys #1 and #2. Please stop staring at my butt while I'm on the elliptical. I wear sweatpants and they're not even tight and they don't even say anything across the ass so please give me a break. There's a window in front of me, I can see your reflection behind me, dumbass.
Girls #1. The gym is not a mating ground. I'm sweaty and gross when I go there, because I'm, you know, working out. That's what happens, it's a gym. Also please don't be all boobing everywhere. I realize you might really like your super low cut sports bra of a top, but it's distracting. And it doesn't help the oogling thing.
Everyone #2. I once saw a couple of guys snickering at a fat chick using the leg press. It was really embarrassing because she knew they were talking about her. How dare they make fun of her for making an effort to be healthier? Some people are just jagoffs.
I actually sent this out to some buddies this morning:
1) If you’re having a mid life crisis, please don’t wear tight under armor and grunt heavily while you’re working out. Remember, I can still see that bald spot in the back of your head…you’re not fooling anyone.
2) Working out does not give you the right to come to the club dressed like a homeless person. Please spend $40 on new shorts and tee shirts.
3) Do Not work out in a team jersey. They don’t so why should you.
4) I know you bike during the summer but you are not biking at the club. Please take off your lance Armstrong jersey.
5) Do Not wear biker shorts ever.
6) Do Not wear the same torn shirt from when you were in high school. Being 30 lbs heavier makes it even worse.
7) Wife beaters are never cool.
8) Do Not wear shirts that show your gussy.
I put together a nice gym in my garage just to avoid the morons who will never abide by these rules. It's not expensive if you don't mind freeweights (don't have to be shiny) instead of machines and exercise bikes instead of treadmills.
I would add something to the "advice" issue. The only useful advice is that which is supposed to help someone stay injury free. Everything else is BS, changes with the times, and is unsupported by peer reviewed research. Ignore all of the advise from Men's Health, etc. Just get off your butt and do something.
Damn, I hate naked guy.
I love the Rocky 4 soundtrack!
Dead-on-balls-accurate list. I really hope this gets around my gym, which is like douchebag central.
Addition: personal space. If you're talking to your buddy between sets, get the fuck away from my bench. Especially if I'd doing flys or something else that I have to lay down for, I don't want you ass anywhere near me.
Addendum to the above: If I'm doing cable crossover, don't fucking sneak under the pulley because you're too lazy to go around.
This is a great list! So many people do not have gym manners. This one lady at the gym I go to sings so loud to her music and she is awful. I think you should add a little something about trainer manners too, sometimes they can be just as rude as the members.
Is it kosher to lipsync? It just helps distract me when I am exercising, but I don't really know if people think I am annoying or weird for doing so.
I agree with everything on the list and everything else that was added, but one of my biggest pet peeves is when someone exercises RIGHT in front of the dumbbell rack, exactly where they grabbed their weights. Nothing upsets me more than some jerk doing butterfly raises directly in front of the rack, blocking me from grabbing any weights within three feet to either side of him. It just seems like obvious, common courtesy. Please, spread the word. AFTER YOU GRAB YOUR DUMBBELLS, BACK AWAY FROM THE RACK BEFORE YOU BEGIN YOUR EXERCISE!!!
Additional Girl Rule:
Don't roll your sweats/shorts down so we can see your thong.
The nude issue isn't about you, it's about the other people and respecting that they aren't as comfortable with other people's nudity as you are, and just because you are both guys, it doesn't mean it doesn't bother them. Be considerate, that's what the whole list is about.
Don't leave your weights on the damn bar.
Don't leave your dumbells on the floor, across the room from the rack.
Don't drop your dumbells on the ground after a set.
Stop pacing in my personal space as I'm curling.
Don't stand behind me and look at yourself lifting in the same mirror as me.
Throw your damn trash away.
Don't leave your used wet towels lying around.
This is not your basement and your mother does not work here.
An adendum to the rule about machine selection...
If you want to use just one of the cables for bicep curls or tricep extensions etc. Try to use one of the machines that is not the dual cable (connected with the pull up bar). Leave that for people who wish to use both at the same time. If ALL the other machines are taken... then it is ok.
I've never been to a gym that wasn't almost exclusively populated by douchebags. I think it's all the testosterone and 'roids. I prefer to stick to running outside and cycling alone.
/this year, I'm doing roller derby: http://www.urinalgum.com/?p=510
Great list! I feel fortunate that most of my fellow gym-goers are pretty considerate.
One addition: No reserving machines. Nothing's worse than spotting the only open treadmill/elliptical only to discover someone's towel/bottle/cr@p on it with the human occupant nowhere to be seen. Put your stuff on the machine when you're ready to use it, not before, unless there are multiple free machines.
@JAB
My gym has one giant shower... Should we all shower in our underwear? Uh-oh I'm getting undressed in front of my locker... Should I wait until the guy 6 lockers down leaves?
If you're uncomfortable seeing a naked guy maybe you shouldn't be in a locker room.
I'm tempted to try to print out your list for my local YMCA to laugh at. For the most part, the people going when I'm there are either older folks or housewives getting out of the house. You have reminded me yet again of how lucky I am to have that place to work out in. Most people don't wear spandex and very few people are jerks about the weights whether free or on the machines.
From the girls side, let's have another for save the stinky perfumes and lotions for after the workout and don't hog the sink when you are putting your make up back on either. Celebrate your successes, but don't discourage anyone. It's a bitchy thing to do.
Really, don't be loud with weights?
Have you ever grinded out a heavy lift? After you complete the rep the last thing you are concerned with is racking politely so the dumbass on the machine isnt offended.What about slamming the weight after a PR on the Snatch? Oh wait that probably isn't allowed at said douche gym.
Do some research and stop being pussies. This applies to females as well.
On the "Naked Guy" subject:
I don't care if people walk from the shower to their locker naked... that's borderline lazy (how hard is it to hold your clothes over your junk?) but whatever.
What gets me is naked guy weighing himself (my gym moved the scales outside the locker room to stop this practice... thank GOD), and naked ball waxer guy.
This is the guy that goes out of his way to share his junk. Standing naked at his locker, he's drying himself. A LOT. Drying, drying, drying. Just a toweling up a storm. 5 or maybe 10 minutes of waxing up that sexy, hairy, 60 year old, flabby ass. Towel between the legs, oh yeah. Hike that stark white leg up there so I can really get that towel in between my cottage cheese butt cheeks. Get those balls nice and shiny. Let's BEND OVER so that observers get the full effect. Slappin balls to and fro, making sure they don't stick. Woah! I think you missed a spot there, buddy! JESUS, please God make him stop. I go home and try not to think about it.
To the guy who just finished with "do some research and stop being pussies" - you are the douchbag that we all hate. Yes, when you hear someone laugh they are laughing at you.
Yes, I have "grinded out a heavy lift", but I have enough respect for my fellow gym-goers to not assume that they care, or want to make my workoug part of thiers.
If you need to create all these rules to feel comfortable at the gym, then maybe YOU shouldn't go to the gym.
Loosen up Mary.
If you are in a gym class and not the instructor. shut the hell up. i dont do jazzercize of any of that crap, you dont hear anyone else yelling stuff out. we are lifting weights. i dont need you counting, the instructor is doing that just fine. i dont need you grunting some random encouragement it is freaking distracting.
more gym class stuff... if youve joined a class that means you plan on working out WITH people. so try to stick to the fricking beat and go along with the class. there is reason we do stuff at lots of different speeds. just doing everything fast throws off everyone else, and it isnt like it gets you a better work out
Naked guy is a definite add! I can't stand it when I am getting ready and the guy at the locker next to me is standing there naked for 20 minutes while I get dressed. At least put on some damn underwear or keep your towel on. And for god's sake don't dry your damn balls with the blow dryer!
Also, what's with the ridiculously short shorts guys? This is not a 70's basketball court, and besides that where the hell do you even find mens cotton cheerleading shorts? Seriously, put on some damn normal shorts my boxers are longer than those things.
Anonymous Pristine Angie said...
The reason I go say "hi" to my wife when another guy sets up beside her is entirely for her benefit.
It's a comfort issue. If I can make her more comfortable, I will. Seeing as how I've had to basically shove guys off her in the past (guys who are apparently blind and cannot see rings), it has just become part of what I do. Nothing to do with insecurity.
I think it might have something to do with your location guys.. I live and go to the gym in Maine, and we don't have these problems.. Maybe its because I go in the mid day rather than the evening.. but there is the occasional 'hey, I think you look good' kind of nods and smiles, but nothing creepy. Move to a more rural setting if you dont like people.
Some anonymous poster wrote:
"SPELL CHECK.
Moran."
Uh, I think he meant "moron."
*rolls eyes*
Oh, the irony!
However, I think Mr. Anonymous Ironic might have been referring to advice points #1 and #2 for men. It's ogle, not oogle.
@ Constant Pull:
Rule #27:
STOP LOOKING AT NAKED MEN IN THE LOCKER ROOM. They have porn on the internet for that kind of thing!
I can sum this article up in 2 words....COMMON COURTESY.
The poster spelled it "moran" on purpose - yes, it's ironic, but not in the way you're thinking... It's an ode to a protester who wrote that on a sign (just do a Google image search for 'moran').
I have one don't sit on the machine and talk on your phone. Someone else might want to use it
for sure leave your cell in your car or just for god sake do not talk on it while working out. so annoying. who the hell wants to talk to a panting person while getting their cardio on?
also ya tanning and the gym sometimes go hand in hand, but PLEASE PLEASE do not come the gym reeking of bronzer. it makes people sick to run next to you while you stink like burnt flesh/bronzer.
agreed, naked man in the locker room, put your undies on. gross old man wrinkly balls are not admired.
also affliciton douche. you're gay.
same with Ed Hardy douche.
I love the gym and its part of my daily routine. I practice these rules of common sense frequently and am so glad that someone else has the same perspective as I.
Thanks this post what not only entertaining, but well informed the the gym user(s).
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