GYM ETIQUETTE
March Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:00:01 +0000, 2009 by THE FIRST LADY OF FITNESS
Filed under Fitness
So you are headed to the gym for the first time or perhaps the 113th time, here are a few gym etiquette tips you should remember to make the experience enjoyable for yourself and those around you from Pittsburgh certified personal trainer and lifestyle coach, Jackie Omotalade, “The First Lady of Fitness, Fashion, and Fun:
1) Respect People’s Zone: Do not over socialize. People come to the gym to workout, not to hear a long drawn out story about why you hate your sister. Respect your workout as well as the workout of others.
2) Share. Don’t horde all the weights or stay on the treadmill for hours when others are wating. When you are finish with a particular weight, put it back where you found it, so that others may use it.
3) Clean up After Yourself: Just walking away from a machine, without wiping it down is just NASTY. Always bring a towel with you and wipe the machines down when you’re finished. Most gyms offer wipes or sprays for this purpose.
4) Leave your cell phone in you locker: Unless it’s an emergency, save your cell phone chatter for after your workouts.
5) Making Crazy Noises: The gym is not your bedroom. You are not having crazy passionate sex, nor are you giving birth to a child. You are working out. So keep the noises, grunts, and howls to a minimum.
6) Cover it up: The locker room is NOT a nudist colony! Respect that! No one wants to see your pubic hair or breasts, or whether you have perfect abs or a gut. Cover up in the locker room.
7) Toting around your gym bag: Do not carry your bag from machine to machine. You know those large hollowed-out rectangles called lockers? That’s where you store your gym bag.
Unload your weight bar: After you finish using a bar, leave it completely empty. Don’t assume that everyone can lift the same amount of weight you can. This rule doesn’t just apply to heavy lifters. Clean up after yourself! Your momma does not work at the gym!
9) Give people space: Have you ever been in the gym lifting free weights and someone comes right next to you and starts lifting inched from you? Not only is it intrusive and annoying, it can be harmful. Out of common decency and for safety, plain and simple, don’t get in the way.
10) Do not fool around. You do not want to get hurt and you do not want those around you to get hurt. Practice common sense.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR THE GYM
Brian on Tue, 31st Mar 2009 5:27 pm
Good list, Jackie O! If I may, here are my additions to your etiquettes:
- An empty bench is not your drink holder, writing desk, coffee table or coat rack.
- Take two steps back from the dumbbell rack so others can get to the dumbbells when they are ready. So annoying to be in a rhythm and have to stop to wait unnecessarily for someone to finish their set.
Jackie on Wed, 8th Apr 2009 9:21 pm
Thanks so much Brian! You additions are very much appreciated!
Jackie Omotalade
James Fell on Fri, 22nd May 2009 2:01 am
Don’t forget to please not smell bad at the gym. Changes your clothes, shower regularly, and use deodorant. We shouldn’t be able to see stink lines coming off you because you smell so bad it could gag a maggot.
Mark Martinez on Sun, 21st Feb 2010 2:38 pm
Yep, this one really gets to me: “Share. Don’t horde all the weights”. Only one thing that’s worse: you finally found a bench for yourself, now you wanna pickup some dumbells and some dude is right there at the rack, almost hugging the rack, trying to kiss the mirror during workout (and you can’t pick the dumbells until he’s done!!!)
Mark Martinez,
Testing out hypergain like the energizer bunny