Gym Etiquette Question | GTAMotorcycle.com

Gym Etiquette Question

sinbin

sinbin

Well-known member
So here is a scenario I come across repeatedly in the gym. (Keep in mind I go in mind my business do my sets and leave in 45 minutes, by the end of which I am generally ready to puke)

You wait for a bench and eventually see one that is vacant. Nothing personal on it (towel phone keys etc). You start to set it up and dude come by a minute later claiming he was using it and "just left to get a drink" - This guy does this all the time - Works on a bench and then leaves for as long as 5 minutes and expects people to leave the bench be.

What would you do if his guy shows up claiming the 30s at the foot of the bench are proof he was using it? I'm not belittling the guys workout, it's just that, I've just finished moving a dumbell 4 times that weight over and need to get through 9 sets in a little over 14 minutes.

Similarly, if this guy makes it a point to ask you to remove all the plates from the incline leg press after you finish? How do you keep from snapping at him? As a side note this gentleman in very "effeminate" (I don;t have a problem with that) and there is lots of sarcasm that drips off every word and some hand flourishing during these exchanges that may tend to put the one at the receiving end on edge.

Help Me please!
 
Kinda obvious, he's into you.
 
sinbin said:
So here is a scenario I come across repeatedly in the gym. (Keep in mind I go in mind my business do my sets and leave in 45 minutes, by the end of which I am generally ready to puke)

You wait for a bench and eventually see one that is vacant. Nothing personal on it (towel phone keys etc). You start to set it up and dude come by a minute later claiming he was using it and "just left to get a drink" - This guy does this all the time - Works on a bench and then leaves for as long as 5 minutes and expects people to leave the bench be.

What would you do if his guy shows up claiming the 30s at the foot of the bench are proof he was using it? I'm not belittling the guys workout, it's just that, I've just finished moving a dumbell 4 times that weight over and need to get through 9 sets in a little over 14 minutes.

Similarly, if this guy makes it a point to ask you to remove all the plates from the incline leg press after you finish? How do you keep from snapping at him? As a side note this gentleman in very "effeminate" (I don;t have a problem with that) and there is lots of sarcasm that drips off every word and some hand flourishing during these exchanges that may tend to put the one at the receiving end on edge.

Help Me please!
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If the gym is that busy, than work into this sets. While he's taking a break you use the bench and vice versa.

As for taking the plates off the incline press, thats just gym etiquette .. if you arent doing that .. someone is posting a similar thread about you somewhere right now.
 
You start to set it up and dude come by a minute later claiming he was using it and "just left to get a drink"
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Too bad, carry a water bottle....

if this guy makes it a point to ask you to remove all the plates from the incline leg press after you finish?
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How you find it is how you leave it or strip it down to no weights. A weaker / older / shorter person might want to use it next, even if there is very little plate weights on it, might not be able to remove them as their strength is inferior or the bar (say on a smith "squat machine" is too high and can't handle the plate to take it off be it a 45 , 35, 25 etc
 
I would ask him nicely if we could share the bench for now, and explain how you didn't realize he was using it since there were no personal belongings around the bench.
If he is really being a d*** about it I would mention it to the staff. I am in the proccess of opening a gym and as the owner of the place I would not want aholes intimidating and bossing around my other members.
 
infernobuster said:
If the gym is that busy, than work into this sets. While he's taking a break you use the bench and vice versa.

As for taking the plates off the incline press, thats just gym etiquette .. if you arent doing that .. someone is posting a similar thread about you somewhere right now.
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Well here's the issue, I don't mind working in with someone, it's just that I take max 1 minute break between sets. So working in is not an option. My question is in regards his expectation that people will leave a bench be when he leaves nothing on it while he takes a break (and is nowhere near it . ie goes to the fountain and has a chat etc.). If he were to leave a towel or something it would be off limits, but really? "I was using it and you should have known? Even though I was nowhere near it for 5 minutes?"

As for the incline, mea culpa, but really, leaving 3 plates on can;t be an issue. or can it? :)
 
sinbin said:
Well here's the issue, I don't mind working in with someone, it's just that I take max 1 minute break between sets. So working in is not an option. My question is in regards his expectation that people will leave a bench be when he leaves nothing on it while he takes a break (and is nowhere near it . ie goes to the fountain and has a chat etc.). If he were to leave a towel or something it would be off limits, but really? "I was using it and you should have known? Even though I was nowhere near it for 5 minutes?"

As for the incline, mea culpa, but really, leaving 3 plates on can;t be an issue. or can it? :)
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If your leaving 3 plates on it, your just as guilty as the other guy. That means i have to come and remove your plates ..

As for the other guy if i were me, and he left nothing behind and went off to chat it up or whatever .. too bad so sad buddy. Im using it now.
Well unless the guy was a huge juice monkey ..
 
but really, leaving 3 plates on can;t be an issue. or can it? :icon_smile:
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A weaker / older / shorter person might want to use it next, even if there is very little plate weights on it, might not be able to remove them as their strength is inferior or the bar (say on a smith "squat machine" is too high and can't handle the plate to take it off be it a 45 , 35, 25 etc
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You don't read do you? :laughing8:Got it?:happy3:
 
infernobuster said:
If your leaving 3 plates on it, your just as guilty as the other guy. That means i have to come and remove your plates ..

As for the other guy if i were me, and he left nothing behind and went off to chat it up or whatever .. too bad so sad buddy. Im using it now.
Well unless the guy was a huge juice monkey ..
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No it's not that he's bigger, he's just very indignant, in your face, wave hands and use loud voice kind of guy. I just picked up the dumbell and towel and walked away. The approach really aggravated me that's all. A few minutes later the same thing happened after, and he flung the other guys towel away and then went found the dumbells someone else had collected while complaining loudly about how he had "just left for a drink". I just don;t want to be a prick telling him to leave something on the bench etc and cause a fracas. The gym guys are useless in these situations. I ran into someone who would not take their towel off the incline while they did other stuff for up to 5 minutes beside it. Again, stacking on and removing plates after each set when I'm working up to a fairly large weight (for me) would have not worked. The other person refused to budge until their sets were all done (took a half hour). Gym staff said, "You should give her props she's hardcore". So I gave up on that one. lol. At least she was obviously using it and plain refused to share. I can deal with that.

And the incline, u guys ar right, I should remove the plates ...

Well Rant over. I will take yoga classes to find inner peace. Thanks all.
 
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If it's a machine, I'll leave the goddamn plates on. Yes, it is true that it's somewhat less considerate, but I figure if you're in a gym you're here to work. Unloading some plates off of a machine won't kill you...and if it could, then you probably shouldn't be in there anyway. It's different for the barbell, though. I'll always strip the bar down because if some newb doesn't do it right it could cause the bar to go flying (I've seen this happen).

As for accidentally unloading a station or a barbell that someone was "using"...it happens a lot. I try and be as diplomatic as I can with this scenario as arguing right vs. wrong will just waste everybody's time. I have the advantage of working out in a gym that doesn't get crowded, though. If this happens often enough for you, and causes you enough grief, I'd seriously suggest that you look for another gym.
 
but I figure if you're in a gym you're here to work. Unloading some plates off of a machine won't kill you...and if it could, then you probably shouldn't be in there anyway.
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You don't read or get it either?

[QUOTE A weaker / older / shorter person might want to use it next, even if there is very little plate weights on it, might not be able to remove them as their strength is inferior or the bar (say on a smith "squat machine" is too high and can't handle the plate to take it off be it a 45 , 35, 25 etc[/QUOTE]

So a person coming back from a injury shouldn't be in the gym. Machines are designed more less for people who are starting out, or coming back and doing rehab in order to gain strength back slowly, avoid injury, and do it properly.
 
In the your scenerio, like Inferno said, to bad so sad.

The bench was empty when I got there, i loaded up the weights, now im using it. baby can cry all day long for all I care, and he can stare all he wants, im on the bench, its mine, im using it, period.

Ive had that happen all the time, i never budge, i dont care how much he yells about it.

I got to the point were i dont even ask if I can work in a set, if its on the auto machines, i jump in and return the weight level to were it was when i started. that simple. I seen fools that think they can monopolize a machine, take 5 minutes betweeen sets during the busy time 6:00-8:00am or 6:00-8:00pm. Sorry guy, you want to use that machine for 30 minutes, you better come and work out at 2:00pm.

As for the plates, i do empty out the bench/sqat manual machines etc.. ive seen girls that were struggling to move some weights off those machines because some fool left 45's stacked 3 deep on each end. it takes a few seconds to do and makes everyones life easier, now, if there is a guy waiting to use it or im waiting to use, i will usually tell the other person to just leave it. But for some people, small things like that can discourage people from going to the gym again and thats not right.
 
S500K said:
You don't read or get it either?

A weaker / older / shorter person might want to use it next, even if there is very little plate weights on it, might not be able to remove them as their strength is inferior or the bar (say on a smith "squat machine" is too high and can't handle the plate to take it off be it a 45 , 35, 25 etc

So a person coming back from a injury shouldn't be in the gym. Machines are designed more less for people who are starting out, or coming back and doing rehab in order to gain strength back slowly, avoid injury, and do it properly.
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If they're injured and there for rehab their trainer can unload the machine for them. Besides, odds are good that they'll be using the smaller, plate loaded machines anyway, where all you have to do is move the pin around. I doubt anyone injured to a significant degree is going to be stupid enough to try and load up a hammer strength machine. If they're debilitated enough to not be able to lift up a 45lb plate, odds are good that they shouldn't be using that piece of equipment anyway.

Most gyms these days have a wide range of plate loaded cable machines. If anything, it's harder to find a gym with a lot of hammer strength machines. So really, if you're that new, or that injured, or that old, there's really no excuse for you to not be on the simpler to use cable machines with the pretty little pictures on it. If you want to venture out and use a barbell or a hammer strength machine, but have no goddamn idea how to use or load it...ask someone.

This isn't rocket science folks.
 
If a bench is empty for 5 minutes it's fair game. I have had people come tell me they were using a bench like 5 or 6 minutes into my particular workout. I usually just tell them "I have 2 sets left"
 
Flashmonkey said:
This isn't rocket science folks.
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You're just being lazy and inconsiderate. It's like driving in the left lane and saying "Well, you're a driver..pass on the right!" There's a guy at my gym who leg presses 900lbs..if he left 900lbs of plates on the machine when he was done, I'd be having words with him. Use your head.
 
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funny part is I think flash could put up 900lbs he's a big boy.

I normally unrack all weight off the leg press except for 2 45lb plates on each side since most people use at least that much. Hell my GF does waaaay more than that.
 
Freestyle72 said:
funny part is I think flash could put up 900lbs he's a big boy.

I normally unrack all weight off the leg press except for 2 45lb plates on each side since most people use at least that much. Hell my GF does waaaay more than that.
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1 or 2 plates on the leg press, I can see that, although a lot of people do less because they're rehabbing injuries or whatever. But really, it sucks for people who actually try to be considerate by removing the plates when they're done..because now they're removing the previous person's plates and then they're own when they're done. I have nothing better to do, really, than clean up someone else's mess. Since we're talking about etiquette here, that's poor etiquette.
 
How you find it, even with a plate or 2 of whatever weight , that's how you leave it for everyone who doesn't want to strip down be it a barbell, hammer strength, smith machine, so you clean up your stuff at least.

Otherwise, strip it down which takes a few extra seconds.

need to get through 9 sets in a little over 14 minutes.
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Just wondering, what exactly are you trying to accomplish? (muscle hypertrophy, strength, power, endurance) - or is it just a time factor?
 
If the bench was unoccupied for more than a few minutes and nothing was marking the bench (even that is a d-bag thing to do), then it's fair game. But even though you'd be in the right, that doesn't change the fact that this guy is unfairly hogging the bench. So unless you're going to call him on it, then it's almost a moot point.

As for plates - I always take my plates off when I'm done, even if there were plates on when I started. Just because other lifters are inconsiderate and/or lazy, that doesn't mean that I have to be. At 5'2" and 120lbs, you better believe that I'm not lifting the same amount of weight as many other lifters. If you're there at the gym to "work", why not take the extra effort and put your **** away?
 
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