Pet Peeves at the Gym

[ZiaHunter]

Been working out for nearly 40 years now and lately this has become one of my pet peeves. Work out with primarily free weights mostly using dumbbells. Super set with various weights and generally only rest 30 to 45 seconds between sets and always re-rack between sets. The problem arises when some millennial with his iPhone and earplugs gathers a set of 4 or 5 dumbbells around his bench then spends the next 15 minutes texting and not working out. I go to the rack for the next set and low and behold it is damn near empty which screws up my work out. Based on the physique of these little snowflakes, they should leave the iPhone in the locker and spend the time actually working out rather than friending on Facebook. At times when my frustration reaches a certain level, I ask them are they here to work out or play on there phone, If the latter please re-rack the weights so someone can put them to good use. I usually get this indignant look that I am invading their precious space but they usually wind up re-racking. Due my job responsibilities I need to be available at any time but there is one place I never take my cell phone with me and that is in the weight room and wish they would do the same.

 

[redleg1013]

I hear ya, I've even gone so far as to use the "obscure" equipment in order to get through a workout rather hassle free. What drives me nuts are these pinheads that congregate in front of the mirror to take selfies instead of using it to watch or work on their form thereby denying access for anyone else. OR the "bro" that has no idea but plenty of swagger and grunts and screams without even getting the bar off of the pegs.

 

[witchazel]

Wiping everything down.

 

[canezach]

If there's one thing I have it's pet peeves!

1. If you're going to sit on a machine, especially a popular one, use the fucking machine!! Two women sit on machines next to each other and proceed to bullshit for 20 minutes. Irritated me asks if they're going to gossip or work out. Indignant looks followed by actual movement of weights ensues.

2. Don't tie up the most popular piece of equipment in the gym to do some obscure fucking exercise. Don't curl in the squat rack. Don't use the only cable stack in the gym for some ridiculous isolating exercise that targets the God damned flexor in your pinky!!

3. If you're actually going to work out, learn how to do the exercise properly!! There was a lady at my old gym whose range of motion during any given exercise was between 1.5" and 2.25". Same for the guys loading up 315 and "squatting". By squatting, I naturally mean moving approximately an inch before re-racking the weight and high-fiving all the bros. Or lat pulldowns with the most weight the machine will allow, but needing to do some herky jerky motion just to get it to move instead of using good form.

4. Stop treating the gym like a social event. I'm there to work out, not converse for an hour. If I'm walking on the treadmill, I'm more tolerant of holding a conversation, but not when I'm in the middle of my third bench set.

5. Seeing a large person hire a personal trainer, then seeing said trainer pay more attention to their phone than their client. I would actually say that even if it wasn't a large person, but I saw that happen and it got on my damn nerves. That person is actually trying to get better. How about you do your fucking job and help them!!

 

[TheGerman]

Step 1: make sure to work out behind where the hot chicks in yoga pants are currently on the treadmill

 

[FatBoy]

These are all typical bullshit moves. I work out pretty hard and I work out on my lunch hour, but I find time to re-rack all my fucking weight AND wipe down whatever I put my sweaty ass on. I can't fucking stand the guy who feels huge for rowing out 3-4 plates on the seated row and then leaves it for the 110# woman who's next to rack all his shit so she can do 25# plates or the guy who actually does squat 405 and leaves it for the next guy to rack. You're strong enough to lift it, you're strong enough to put the shit up. Nobody wants to rack 400# of plates before they start to work up a set.

something else that drives me crazy are the nasty fuckers who piss/shit and then roll out without washing up or at least hitting a hand sanitizer. Or the assholes who use the sauna, then plant their huge sweaty asses on the bench, then get up and go back in leaving 1 quart of ass sweat on one of only two benches.

I fucking hate people.

 

[kRcu]

I hate when people give me workout advice. Because if You have the lower body and you have no upper body, you got a problem building...wait a minute. You have the upper body, and you have no legs, you got a problem building your legs. You have the upper...you have the lower body and you don't have the upper body, the upper body, it is easier to build. So if you have the lower body and you don't have the upper body, it is easier to build the upper body. You have the upper body and you don't have the legs, you got a problem building the lower body... No, you don't understand. You have the upper body, but you don't have the lower body, you got a problem building downstairs. You got the up- legs on the bottom, it is easier to build on the top, so you don't have much as a problem. Yeah.

 

[Iamero]

Just getting back into working out again and about 9 weeks deep now. A couple pet peeves I have noticed again since being back in the gym:

1) People who use 5 machines in their circuit at a time and then look at me funny when I get on their machine they are 6 sets from being back at.

2) People who pay a personal trainer and then give like 20% effort and make petty complaints about every workout and how hard it is...why are you wasting your time and money?

3) Meatheads who are so into it that they actually grunt while their partner is working out. This is real. There is a guy grunts and looks like he is getting a stiffy watching his partner do a leg press.

4) There's a girl who works out in the tightest spandex shorts I have ever seen and likes to comment to her friend how when she works out in the free weight section the guys there check her out excessively. Well no shit Sherlock.

5) Dudes who don't know what deodorant is. I'm not asking for cologne, you just don't need to smell like a pig when I have to workout next to you.

 

[Darkside-Six]

That is my biggest pet peeve. The guys that spend an hour on the rack and only do 3 sets because they need to take a 15 minute break between sets to update their Facebook status or text their "bros".

Other include not taking care of your shit when your done. Wiping down the bench, racking the weights or whatever it may be.

The Ambercrombie & Finch crowd that needs to constantly lift their shirts up to see if their abs have "arrived".

Guys who constantly flex on between every set.

I don't much mind the little hotties strutting their ass around in their spandex though. I'll look at that shit all day long and I ain't shy about it either. They fucking know what they're doing.


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[Iamero]

Haha nobody said the shorts are what bothered me, it's them having to bring attention to the fact people are looking that's a bit annoying.

 

[Iamero]

The grunter struck again tonight. And this time had to flex in front of the mirror between every set too.

 

[stwcattle]

the grunter struck again tonight. And this time had to flex in front of the mirror between every set too.

lmao

 

[mojavejim]

Same here, the f'n phones.

 

[roggom]

Dude who spreads all of his shit on the changing bench like he owns the place.

 

[tnichols]

Sounds like working out at a gym is like shooting at a public range.

 

[MarinePMI]

Buy a power rack, and install it in the garage (I have a Rogue R-3; great rack). Problem solved. Best $1600 I've ever spent (with B&R bar and weights).

As stated previously, working out is not a social affair, so I enjoy the peace and quiet. Recouping the travel time to go to the gym is also an added plus.

When I did use a public gym, my pet peeve was folks not re-racking their shit, leaving it on the barbells, or leaving dumb bells lying around on the floor. As the guy who was there at 4:45am every morning, it pissed me off having to spend 10 mins re-racking all the lazy fuck's weights from the evening before. Another peeve was when I purchased some fractional/micro plates, and left them for a couple other guys to use (gym was at work), only to find them the next morning, used as fucking shims for the captain's chair.

Final pet peeve; a mirror in front of the squat rack. Way too distracting when trying to keep form and focus on breaking parallel (yeah, I know, turn around and squat). I just hated the distraction. Well, that and the shitty power rack that wasn't bolted to the floor.

 

[uawman]

Guys with earbuds counting reps out loud.
clanging dumbbells together while doing presses.
intentionally dropping dumbbells or barbells.
if you can’t put it back then don’t pick it up!

 

[MarinePMI]

.
intentionally dropping dumbbells or barbells.

Yes on the dumb bells! As to the bar bells, some exercises you're suppose to let them go (heavy rows come to mind), hence why there is supposed to be a lifting platform (which many globo gyms don't have).

 

[Cowcatcher]

This is great info! I will use all the above mentioned pet peeves for my newest excuses for not working out!

 

[nickh46]

Made this out of a blank Dinosaur Comics template a decade ago... still hits true...

 

[sandwarrior]

What I do with weights anymore, I do at home with dumbells. HOWEVER....I swim as it's "no-impact" vs. "lo-impact". My pet peeve is that same as most yours.

1. Don't do GROSS shit in the pool. I don't want to swim through your lugie so don't hack it out in the pool
2. Standing there chit-chatting when I need a lane
3. Floaty people on the floaty side of the pool. We have lap lanes for lap swimmers. Lap lanes arent your personal space where you can bob around on a noodle.
4. Slow people in the fast lanes when sharing. And, not stopping to let fast people pass if you do swim different speeds.

 

[writtenbytylerkee]

After the third or fourth time that I couldn't swim at the 24 hr fitness pool because floaty time (water aerobics) was happening, I gave up on trying to be a swimmer and returned to the weight room. There, I found that the singular squat rack for the whole gym was really only available from 2:00 AM to 4:30 AM and even then, I'd probably have to watch somebody do curls first. Pet Peeves from GloboGym

1 - people doing anything other than squats in the squat rack
2 - floaters in the pool during a time when I really "needed" to get a swim in
3 - the hex shaped weights at 24 hr fitness that inevitably shot the bar back into my shins during deadlifts

I cancelled my membership and started working out at the office. Around the same time, we got a new site leader who is a Crossfit nut. He happily ponied up the budget for a nicer rack, bars, and bumpers. Life was good. The only pet peeve I had there was my coworkers not racking gear. This is arguably worse than strangers not doing it since these are people I'm supposed to trust to do their jobs. If you can't put your toys back, you're not an adult.

When my wife had our son, I quickly realized that trips to the gym were a luxury we could no longer afford, so I bought a 16 kg Kettlebell and a pullup bar and started doing Atomic Athlete's kettlebell program after the baby had gone to bed and dinner had been served. MASSIVE improvement in my life and level of fitness. I don't see myself ever going back to GloboGyms or the office gym. Now my only pet peeve is that I'm older and my body hurts

https://atomic-athlete.com/online-programs/

 

[MarinePMI]

I can say, installing a power rack, barbells and bumper plates in the home (garage gym), has totally made sticking to a program so much easier. No fuckwits to contend with, no lost time travelling to the gym, and fitting workouts around my life's schedule has made a huge improvement in strength and quality of life. I'll never not have a home gym again...ever.

 

[CoyoteKilo]

Absolute worst are the cringey dudes that flex and take pictures in the mirror. They aren't even embarassed about it either which blows my mind.

 

[sprink21]

1) Not wiping down equipment
2) Not racking weights when done
3) Doing a circuit and using 4+ machines on a 5+ minute rotation and getting pissy when I ask if I jump in on a machine.

 

[TheBigCountry]

Guys wearing NOTHING but those compression leggings/tights or whatever they are. I don’t get where they even came from, but please put something else on top over them...

 

[MarinePMI]

Guys wearing NOTHING but those compression leggings/tights or whatever they are. I don’t get where they even came from, but please put something else on top over them...

"But bro, they make my chicken legs look yuge!" (says the guy who almost always skips "leg day")

 

[Bullfroggy]

I agree with what most have already stated. Most of my gym pet peeves basically fall under the umbrella of a lack of respect and consideration for other people.

 

[TheBigCountry]

"but bro, they make my chicken legs look yuge!" :d (says the guy who almost always skips "leg day")

lmao.

 

[powdahound76]

Every Day is LEG DAY!!

I work out with a friend from work who wants me to keep her accountable. She has made a lot of strength gains and will more that she is really changing her diet. Today, some 50 year old hipster wannabe was sitting on a leg press surfing his phone. I watch the dude for 4 sets on another area and he did nothing. I only rest 2 min between sets and was doing sets of 10.
My friend said she wants to get a shirt that says "Put down the phone and lift!"

And the old guy with saggy nuts who likes to stand naked in the locker room with 1 foot up on the bench. I wish I had better aim at snapping a towel......

 

[ZiaHunter]

"Put down the phone and lift!"

Great idea and think I am going to have one made up. BTW Powdahound76 some of us old guys (62) have been hitting the weights since some of you were in diapers. We were taught good weight room etiquette and to be considerate. Most of the issues I see today are with the younger folks in the gym. Keep your friend motivated.

 

[MarinePMI]

Every Day is LEG DAY!!

Damned straight! And not on a machine either; get under that f'ing bar and squat that weight.

As to time between sets, yeah, that's a personal programming thing, and why I like having a power rack at home. When I lift 90-95 1RM, I take 8 -10 mins between sets. At that heavy of a weight, I have to, if I want to complete all three sets of "fahve" for my heavy day (on an HLM program at the moment). Other days it's about a 6 min break between sets (which IIRC is, on average, about what it takes to replenish about 70% of the ATP in your muscles...good enough for the Light and Medium days, and keeps those workouts quasi-short).

 

[powdahound76]

Oh for sure Zia, I am only 37....... Its not the age of the person, its their mindset that one can get from watching they way they workout, or don't. Cant always get it and usually can. I see some guys on machines doing light weights and doing things pretty different, then get up and walk and have a pronounced limp, either a congenital problem, or a guy who I could tell was just getting back after a hip replacement. I love to give the benefit of the doubt and hope the best for people on their fitness journey.
Are they posing and checking themselves and not lifting, lifting with the crappiest form ever and yanking heavier weights? Ive watched guys doing curls that I thought were gonna blow out their back with they way they were swinging around.

I am young, though raised in a small farm town and was taught to be polite and thoughtful of others.
I keep my eyes open and watch to see if someone is waiting for what we are using and try to work them in or let them know how much we have left.

MarinePMI, I totally agree. We are lifting very differently so I need less time between. Right now this is working for me. I will get to doing higher weight/lower rep sets to build more power, though once I gain another 6 lbs or so I am going to want to keep around that size. Then I will work a little harder to keep the BF around 10%, keep my strength high, and up the endurance level. May drop off more fat as I am training for a 1/2 marathon in May of this year so all the running may burn a little more fat than my usual cardio of 30-50 minutes 2-3 days a week.
I have to keep it so when I lift my T-shirt my GF says I look good..... Could give a damn about what other people think and when she said she likes me in Wranglers and t-shirt and thinks I look good, best thing ever!

I look forward to possibly being able to get a workout setup going in the house someday in the future. Semi recent divorce and not into a new home yet (in a townhouse) puts the damper on that. Plus its fun to push my friend who thinks I am absolutely insane pushing for a hard workout all the time. Of course, she used to do Zoomba before she asked to start working out with me..........

 

[Baron26]

Taking up a bench while on the phone, dropping weights, etc...just overall lack of common sense and manners.

 

[ZiaHunter]

Every Day is LEG DAY!!

Use to do heavy legs workouts twice a week for cycling. My squat (free weight) ORM in my early fifties was 465 which was not bad for a guy that weighed 165. Over the years all the dead lifts, good mornings, power cleans, lunges and squats took a toll on my lower back and now have a degenerative back condition. Ortho doc said no more exercises that compress the spinal column and so limited in what leg exercises I can do and had to be a little more creative. Still cycle on a regular basis and a good way to keep the legs in shape especially by doing intervals and hill climb repeats. Registered again for Iron Horse a 50 mile ride Durango to Silverton with over 6600 ft of elevation gain at altitude. This will be #9 and hope to make and hope to make #10 in 2019 when I am 64.

 

[cheezstake]

1 - I hate during peak hours when the gym is crowded, people will do exercises on equipment meant for other things, example the person using the squat rack to do curls with the Olympic bar.
2- The people who stand directly behind you in the mirror, when there is clearly space to workout without staring at me.
3- The free weight hoarders
4- People who steal your plates when you go to get a drink of water.

 

[MosesTheTank]

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All of the above regarding regarding being disrespectful to others. I will add to this plague of the water buffaloes. I have always thought of the aqua-fit classes as one of the many forms of bullshit exercises primarily for people who want to believe they are working out. There are some exceptions, of course, such as people with arthritis. But I never gave it much thought until the the day a herd of them attempted to push me out of their watering hole.

While rehabing ACL surgery in the pool, a herd of water buffalo removed the lane dividers in preparation for the dance of the lipids. Knowing that they occupied only 1/3 of the pool at the shallow end I moved to the other side. The intensity of their gaze upon me became more severe as they positioned themselves in a semi-circle. One in particular was giving me an overt stink eye. This was the most talkative of the herd and seemed to be the dominant cow.

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I pretended to not notice thinking that this group of, mostly, women was just not used to having a person such as I in the same space. At the moment the instructor approached the class the lead buffalo broke from the safety of herd and closed distance me. Being on the other side of the pool she was not prepared to traverse the deeper water and almost drowned. After a moment of flailing she grabbed the side of pool and shimmied her way over to me to tell say that the pool was reserved for this class ONLY and I should leave immediately. She gave an intense bug-eyed stare over the next moment of silence as I choked down the words that would naturally flow from such an encounter. An idea came to mind and I offered my apologies and exited the pool. She shimmied her way back to the herd.

I went straight to the rack of aqua-fit equipment and grabbed a set of floats, or whatever the fuck they are called, and jumped right in the middle of this bouncing mass of cottage cheese barely held together by thinly over-stretched skin. I never thrashed so hard in the water in my life. I recalled the death struggle I once saw on National Geographic between a giant crocodile and a hippo. I put every effort I had into performing an interpretive dance of such mortal combat between two beasts. My goal was to simultaneously oxygenate the water as much as possible while covering the entire pool deck with as much pool water as possible. When the instructor gave direction I did it with all the conviction and fury I could muster. I grunted an hooyah'ed until I could feel the veins in my head bulge.

No one said a word. At the end I thanked them for having me.

 

[diverdon]

Great story Moses! Does anyone else have stories about how they have become someones pet peeve.

 

[TheBigCountry]

Girls, and guys, who dress up to go to the gym. Literally. They do their hair, makeup, and wear clothes I’d expect to be worn at some hipster function rather then at the gym. Spend more time talking and hanging out then using the damn equipment.

The incredibly hot girl that always manages to get on a machine next to me. Treadmill or stairstepper. I don’t got time for that drama

 

[FatBoy]

Girls, and guys, who dress up to go to the gym. Literally. They do their hair, makeup, and wear clothes I’d expect to be worn at some hipster function rather then at the gym. Spend more time talking and hanging out then using the damn equipment.

The incredibly hot girl that always manages to get on a machine next to me. Treadmill or stairstepper. I don’t got time for that drama

You must go to a wealthy gym. The people who go to mine where shit so tattered at any second a pink part could fall out.

 

[mercracing]

All of these are reasons I go at 4am. Maybe there’s someone else there, maybe not. Usually not close to me.

 

[Geno C.]

All of these are reasons I go at 4am. Maybe there’s someone else there, maybe not. Usually not close to me.

You go at 4am because you work 5-5! Lol

 

[mercracing]

You go at 4am because you work 5-5! Lol

All these hours worked and I still don't make Geno money!

 

[shoobe01]

+1 to everything stated. I circuit train, fast, and hate, hate, hate, hate, hate waiting around for some machine where the person is doing 10 reps->wait 5 minutes while sitting there->10 reps... And no recourse, as the time limit is set up for the cardio machines: 30 minutes! It's totally okay to steal the only pieces of equipment that does something for half an hour. My whole workout without

Also special hate for people who clearly do not know what they are doing. Lots of doughy, big gut guys in those giant arm hole tanktops, getting no less fat. Old people who come to the gym in a button down shirt and jeans.

And doing the exercises 100% wrong. I am almost 100% there now for PT, and am improving due to finally being shown I had bad posture, etc. from an injury and that over a period of decades fucked me up. So why do I have to wait for your fat ass to literally waste everyone's time since you are doing it wrong, and it's just a matter of time until you injure yourself.

 

[TheGerman]

Seeing as how I have a home gym, I guess as long as I'm wearing underwear, everything is GTG.

 

[feelinducky]

Guys that practice body building poses between sets then look around to see who is watching them.

 

[traceyn17]

Guys who can't put down their phones and stop taking too many photos of them flexing in front of the mirror.

 

[TheBigCountry]

The evolution of yoga pants. Seriously downright distracting especially when you wear almost see-through ones and a thong and decide to do squats

I seriously need to build a home gym

Watched a kid the other day using the cable machine, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out if he was practicing his karate/trying to be a Super Sayain or..I don’t really know

 

[ChadL]

My biggest pet peeve is when people don’t rerack their fuckn weights. Irritates me to no end.

 

[wade2big]

Cell phones. Gotta update facebook between sets. Gotta mix my soundtrack between sets. I carry mine if I work out at lunch and sometimes in the evening if I have guys still out working. I can’t miss those calls. If it’s important I understand. If it’s not then leave it alone.