Gym folk that irritate me

[Baby K]

There are a couple of people who regularly work out in my gym. I am biting my lips to shreds trying not to pass comment on them – especially when they are hogging the machines and my benches.. Perhaps you've seen a few of these yourself...

The Cardio Queens:
These girls have been coming to my gym for years. They are all fat, some bordering on obese. They go to two or three cardio classes a week from body pump to Taebo. Not one of them has lost a pound. When I see them in the store next door afterwards, they all buy ice cream as a ‘treat’ for working so hard. WHY BOTHER?

Splay and display
Fat chicks who wear itty bitty tops and very low slung leggings so you can see rolls of flabby white flesh gaping over the top of their pants. Please put yourself away – I’m trying to work out not purge.

Gym princess
Oh she’s just so tiny and delicate, daintily sipping out of her weeny little evian bottle. Every piece of clothing is of an expensive brand and pink. Quite often seen wearing a baseball cap. She gently rocks the handles of the elliptical machine a few times with a manicured nail then flirts with the gym instructor for 20 minutes. Then she ever so prettily lifts a couple of 2kg weights, and flirts with the instructor for another 20 minutes. She never breaks a sweat. Her work out takes 2 hours. She manages 3 sets. The gym instructor isn’t even that nice. WHY BOTHER?

Machine hog
It’s good that you are going to the gym. Everyone should be as healthy as they can be. But do you really need to be on the treadmill for 45 minutes when you are only walking at 3mph and even then you are desperately holding onto the handles at the time? Your legs will support your own weight. That’s what they were made for. And no. The step machine is not 100 percent effective if you are using your hands to support yourself either. Either break a sweat or stop hogging the machine.

Stare guy
Everywhere in the gym you go, this man appears on the machine next to you. He makes no attempt to hide the fact that he is staring at your ass in the mirror. He is generally slightly older. He stares and stares and stares and lifts the odd weight which is too heavy for him by swinging it around. He has a slight belly and never does cardio. Go to a bar and perve. WHY BOTHER?

The incredible bulk
This guy is such an ape he can’t put his arms by his side and walks like a monkey. Quite often he is very short. His arms are massive and yet you can’t recognize a single muscle there because there’s no definition. Quite often he is a grunter and drops his weights very loudly on the floor when he has finished.

Sweaty guy
Oh he’s pounding the treadmill. Sweat is flying everywhere. All over the machines, all over the people next to him. Quite often he stinks. More often he doesn’t wipe the machine down afterwards.

The arm guys
These guys just lift hand weights. ‘Form’ is something they have to fill in when they go to the doctors because they’ve injured their shoulders from swinging weights around badly. They have skinny legs. They are not aware that shoulder work outs exists. They can only leg press 40 1bs about once a month – which is about as often as they come anyway.

Socks and sandals
Yes I’ve seen it folks. The guys in the gym wearing socks and sandals instead of proper shoes. Quite often they smell. They have no towels and they don’t drink water.

The flabby instructor
Why are you teaching people how to work out when you obviously don’t do it yourself? You have free access to a gym for chrissakes.

[imperfectly_lou]

LOL u sure we don't go to the same gym?

[daYDreAmErX]

I have to add the one who has a spotter and put double weight he can't lift on benc h press and after that you ask the spotter and he says "that was a good shrug workout".

[Miranda]

Originally Posted by Baby K

The arm guys
These guys just lift hand weights. ‘Form’ is something they have to fill in when they go to the doctors because they’ve injured their shoulders from swinging weights around badly. They have skinny legs. They are not aware that shoulder work outs exists. They can only leg press 40 1bs about once a month – which is about as often as they come anyway.

hmm . . . a distant relative of 'upper body only guy'?
they only ever train arms/shoulders/back/chest and neglect the lower body altogether.
the female version would be the 'ab-ductor queen' (a niece of the 'gym princess'). she spends 20 minutes on the treadmill, then does one set of hip abductions and 2 sets of decline crunches. never, ever, squats, lunges or performs other work.

[emunah]

So it was YOU who were spying on me.....

[Baby K]

or there is the receptionist at the little gym I visit by work that always plays 20 year old soft rock ballads on repeat loop. The same Europe album over and over again 4 times a week for the last three months. And despite it being a small changing room she always hands out locker keys in numerical order so that 10 women are cramped around the same corner trying to get ready.

[KAYTEBUGG00]

wow..that is awesome and hysterical...there are always the old people too who just walk around and talk to people and act like they own the gym too..and try to talk to you in the middle of a set with your earphones blasting...hmmm i cant hear you?>! and those people on the treadmills who run fast but hold onto the handles...what>>?

[ariabel]

I have to add to this thread. We have one that people in our gym have nicknamed the 'Dancing Bear'. This is a woman who is 60-ish. Probably an ex-dancer, but is now overweight (has that large lower body). She wears smurf blue tight sweats, and a half-sweatshirt w/hood. She has this radio on her head that looks like earmuffs, you know the kind..with the antenna sticking out 7 inches from the top of her head? She wraps that all up with a tie-dye bandana.

She does a floor routine between sets. It is a beautifuly choreographed number that she knows very well. She uses the machines to do this pseudo-stretch/ballet thing, very flowy and beautiful.. LOL, NOT! She follows this up with a horrendous/borderline-vulgar stretching routine that involves legs in directions they should never ever be in out in public.

I have to say, this one really makes my cardio sessions fly by.

You probably have to see it to understand, but.. I had to add her to this list.

[Baby K]

Or the martial artists, who just have to incorporate a few moves into their routine to try and prove that they are fighting machines....

[Ruth]

My gym is weird: perfectly normal people of all ages, all dressed modestly and on the whole polite. None of them stink, they all use towels (rule of the gym) and nobody shows off. The men in the free weight section don't laugh at me and will help me, if asked.

[stellar]

This thread is mean and critical. If you look for negatives, you see negatives.

Props to Ruth for being nice.

Originally Posted by Ruth

My gym is weird: perfectly normal people of all ages, all dressed modestly and on the whole polite. None of them stink, they all use towels (rule of the gym) and nobody shows off. The men in the free weight section don't laugh at me and will help me, if asked.

[tahsrm]

why else go to the gym than to stare at girls' asses though? i don't get it.

[daYDreAmErX]

I forgot one thing : the cell person Damn, always talking on the phone...

[Giggy]

I like to hog the machines, sweat like a pig, grunt and use rythmic breathing when lifting. I like to lay on the floor and stretch. Walk around aimlessly between sets and catch my breath. I could hog the treadmill, but I don't cause I'd rather do weights. I can even leave the weights on my bar. If I want to walk around in smuf pants and put my ponytail on top of my head (wouldn't, but could) than I can.....

I love working out at home Now if only I could get my hands on a Smith Machine....

[VanillaBean_21]

Originally Posted by Ruth

My gym is weird: perfectly normal people of all ages, all dressed modestly and on the whole polite. None of them stink, they all use towels (rule of the gym) and nobody shows off. The men in the free weight section don't laugh at me and will help me, if asked.

Pretty much that is how my gym is. Everyone is there to better themselves and well.. be positive. I can't look down on anymore who is making an effort to better themself, even if they make a fool out of themselves in doing so.

[sixzebra]

i have to join the weird gym gang. pretty much everyone just does their own thing, are polite and take their time in the gym seriously. BUT, the people the first poster mentions, I think they all go to the Big Chain gym down the street. I've seen them all in there, except the stinky one. When i visit that gym, i just have to laugh because in between all the serious workouts going on are the losers that lift too heavy, show off when a girl walks by, etc etc.

[KickBoxQueen]

Originally Posted by stellar

This thread is mean and critical. If you look for negatives, you see negatives.

Props to Ruth for being nice.

I kind of have to agree with that.... not to mention many of the people on this forum USED to BE those individuals, before they were educated about bodybuilding. Many of the women on this forum are reformed Cardio Queens (minus the obese/ice cream part)... and the descriptions of "The Arm Guy" and the "Incredible Bulk" fit some men who maybe just need to learn a few things about bodybuilding. That doesn't mean it's okay to walk around judging people. And I used to be one of those "Chubby Instructors" until I found bodybuilding, so I took offense to Baby K's chubby instructor description. Not to mention the description of the "Splay and display," is just flat out mean. At least they are in the gym trying to do something good for themselves.

While it may be amusing to poke fun at others, I hope no one who fits any of Baby K's "funny" description comes to the forums for help on changing their lifestyle and sees this thread. I would have been quite discouraged if I had seen that when I first came here looking for help. How can someone be motivated to change when they are already getting knocked down before they even start?

[terracotta]

I agree with KBQ. Why feel the need to be so judgemental of these people? They've taken the first step and actually went to the gym, and you feel the need to mock them here?? Good way to tell newbies they are unwelcome

[twinnett]

I have to confess to chuckling a little at the girls that put on full makeup and curl their hair to go walk on the treadmill, but I remember when I first started and had NO clue what I was doing. The weight room intimidated me and I went and walked a mile, did a few crunches and was done. Thank goodness I found this site and I can only hope that other cardio queens and "arm guys" find it too!

[Baby K]

I can't believe anyone was so sensitive as to seriously take offence to this. If you did, I can only apologise. Perhaps I posted it in the wrong section.


I'd also advise you not to read the gym ettiquette sections written by most of the prolific and regular authors of this site - who also have a similar sense of humour it seems (after all who would be more likely to read up on gym ettiquette more - an experienced gym goer or a newbie?). This was written after reading articles along those lines in that section - which I can only presume you have not read nor complained about.

I'd just like to maker a point though - it's strange that I have read some of the most sexist offensive and appaulling stuff I have ever seen on a public domain on some sections of this site. For example I once read a thread written on these forums by some men who claimed that 'if a girl goes to a club with her girlfriends she deserves to get gropped and sexually assaulted' and not one person said a word. Say the word 'chubby ' and there is a mild uproar.

[Athena]

I cannot understand why many people have suddenly gotten touchy about this post. I've read the same and worse in this forum and yet somehow Baby K caught the brunt of people's bad days.

All I can think is that lots of people get overly sensitive at times -- I don't think you were making fun of the newbies at all, Baby K. These are all adults that you're talking about, who can ask and learn but choose not to. Newbies (in my definition) are people who come here to ask for help.

And if some of the newbies are described in your post then they should be able to laugh at themselves and say, "Holy cow! That was me before I started getting smart about it!"

My two cents...and I support you, Baby K. I thought this was hysterical.

[daYDreAmErX]

/me waves Baby K

Come on, laugh

[sixzebra]

oh i laughed, cause i could picture each person babyk described. oh man, i just hope i wasn't a loser like that when is started, but i'm sure i was.

[buttandlegs]

Thanks for the funny post!

[Giggy]

I remember when I first started at the gym about 15 yrs. ago I'd wear one of those totally 80's outfits with the paint splatters on it, skin tight too. My hair looked great (ratted and 7 inches high). Didn't want to sweat cause it might mess up my makeup. Spent more time in the ladies room getting ready after my workout than the actual workout (if that's what ya wanna call it). I thought part of the workout was sitting in the steam room

I know I didn't have proper form. Gosh, I'm sure I looked soooooo stupid. I wouldn't want to go to the gym now, just because I know I'd be making funny noises when I'm trying to lift heavy weight.

There's pros and cons to everything. I did get a good laugh at your post, because it's true. Some things were funny and kinda sad. (I hate the creep that follows one around and stares at her butt, ewe.)

[KateTheGreat]

He he! I was laughing so hard at work when I read this. I actually thought about it at the gym today. I usually go in the morning and everyone there mostly is there before work and they do the workout and get out. Today I went at night, and I was secretly laughing when I saw that people you guys have been describing there. Thanks for the funny post!

[imperfectly_lou]

Great post Baby K... there have been lots of similar posts in the past and none have received similar backlash...

[GrayedRainbow]

Some was funny, some was mean... depends on the audience. I am one of the "fat chicks," and every time I go to the gym I try to convcince myself that either A- no one is looking at me anyway, or B- if they do look, they won't judge me harshly because at least I am trying.

I had a jolt when I read the paragraph that could describe me...I certainly hope we don't use the same gym!!!

[Uncategorizable]

I found myself nodding so many times when I read this, especially since I went to the gym tonight. So, I want to add to the list:

1. Women who do 100 repetitions in under 2 minutes: today as I was concentrating on my biceps and triceps, a woman was doing similar exercises. However, she was going 100 miles per hour, one repetition after another, effortlessly, with very light weights. I did 12 repetitions while she probably did 30 in the same amount of time.

2. Women who are afraid of weights period: "I might get too big!," "Five pounds is as far as I'm going to go," "I don't want to gain muscle, I just want to lost fat." Blah-blah.

3. The "I must give you instructions" guy. I think it's more of an attempt to flirt and such, but still, I hate, hate, hate when guys critique my form (especially with heavier weights), when their own technique is full of errors! I know that I have a long way to go, but sh*t, hop off! My "stare guy" decided to start doing this not too long ago. I avoid him like the plague. In relation to this:

4. The "I know you can do five more reps" guy. Mind you, I tend to do the "12-10-8-6" set routine with various weights. I'm doing it at the heaviest weight I can tolerate so f**k off!

5. The guy who always asks "why do you always look upset when you work out": What, am I at a comedy club or something that I'm suppose to be smiling and laughing? No, I'm working out. Unlike the 2-lb dumbbell divas over there, I'm lifting, pushing, and pulling double digits. Such concentration does not allow me to have an Orbit smile on my face.

6. The "prolonged rest between sets" + "machine hog" guys. There have been instances where I waited and waited for a guy to get off a machine so that I could use it, especially on the Lat machine. So, the guy gets off the machine, takes his things, moves far away from it, goes to the bathroom, etc. And what do I do, I get on the machine of course. So, I'm doing my thing on the machine, and the guy that was the machine before me comes back and says "Excuse me, I was using the machine, I'm not done yet, I was just taking a rest." Yes, you WERE using the machine. But, when you get off the machine, you're off the machine. What's wrong with staying at the machine when you're taking a rest between sets?! This happens all the time. And what's up with these long rests? Are five minutes between sets really necessary?!!!


Thanks again for the list. It's a good source to rant. Although I know that I still have a long way to go, and I might look foolish at times, I'm learning nonetheless.

[Baby K]

Thanks guys :-) Only trying to spread a bit of sunshine.

The 'must give you advice' guy hit a note. I love advice but when it's from a guy who only drops his butt an inch and a half when he squats I'm not having it.

And i am a total frowner. When I concentrate it looks like someone just slapped my mum. I catch sight of myself in the mirror and give myself nightmares.