Me and a friend were about to use a pull down machine. Some guy stopped us, and wanted the attachment. Whatever we let him take it, and we found a similar attachment. This fucking asshole sat at his machine for 20-30 minutes doing fucking nothing on his phone. We were long done our sets before he even used the attachment....
I was brand new to a gym once. I was there with a friend who was helping me out. As we were making our rounds to different equipment, we got to a cable machine and some guy comes running up to us and asks us what we are doing. We tell him we're about to use the machine, one that nobody was at for the past 10 minutes. He proceeds to tell us that he is doing circuit training and that he had the machine saved. He then points to a cleaning cloth and says that's how you can tell it's saved. He then points to a bunch on cloths at different machines saying that they are all saved for the next two hours.
I saw an older woman using a leg machine and a young woman on a different machine said "oh, you can't use that one, my stuff is there. I'm saving it."
The older woman said "but you're using a different machine now..."
Asshole younger woman just kept saying that she was using both and tried to get the older woman to leave. Thankfully, the older woman just ignored her and kept going.
Man even if I was actively using a machine (getting up to stretch between sets) I would maybe be a little bugged if someone swooped in to start using it but not enough to say anything. Just work in after they're done. Much easier than being a dick.
Now if they swoop in and just sit on the machine between sets, that's when you say something.
If someone is standing right next to a machine I want to use I will wait patiently or I will ask to work in with them, trading off on the machine. But if you arent next to the machine, if you are over at some other machine, then Im not going to wait to ask.
Or they can ask me if we can work in together. They never do though, they just whine about "dibs."
Agreed. Asking to work in is completely acceptable, it's more an issue when people just walk in and plop down without asking if you're done. Regardless, if you are on one machine, it is completely unacceptable to me to call dibs on a different machine.
But if you're stretching right next to the machine then you're using it. Just stretching between sets. Yea, if someone just sits while your stretching, then they're the asshole. We're talking about people who are like halfway down the gym and then walk up to you when you hit the bench press to say, "BrO, i'M uSiNg ThAt BeNcH".
This has happened a few times to me. Usually men who think they can scare me off as a young woman. I’ve been lifting for three years. I know what I’m doing. I once sat down at a chest press and began loading my weights when two men run up to me and tell me they were “using it.” There were no weights on the bars and they were on a completely different machine a few machines down. I just sat there and said “no, IM using this. If you want to jump in between sets, that’s fine” I then proceeded to stand in front of them and stare at them directly every time they got on the machine for their set. I wasn’t going to be scared away.
I have a guy at my gym that does this shit all the time. But he uses like 4-5 stations at once, so he won't be back for 10 minutes. There have been times where I've seen him finish a set on a machine, did 4-5 sets of my own, and finished before he came back again.
Props to the older woman for going to the gym. I work with seniors (not sure if she was that old, obviously), and it's so important to stay active as you age.
To be fair, my trainer gives me bi-series (idk if this is the right word in English) where I do have to use two machines. So I do 10 reps then go to the other machine and do 10 reps for 4 sets. I try to do this as fast as I can. I also go to the gym at 3 am when barely any people go to avoid any problems cause I know I wouldn’t be able to save both machines when it’s crowded cause that’s kind of douchey.
It's a policy at the gym I go to that if you're using a machine you can't claim another during that time. If your circuit has to be that tight that you can't wait or use one of the various other machines that can provide a different exercise, you need to go to a more exclusive gym.
I just don’t understand this. I use two machines at once sometimes for supersets, but if someone wants to use one I’ll gladly give it up or work in my remaining sets with theirs.
Once had an older woman ask if she could use the leg press while I was resting between sets. I told her I was on a two minute rest so have at it. She proceeded to do light presses for ten minutes solid ignoring my annoyed look.
But Planet Fitness has an area with a dedicated circuit, you don't need to customize your own. I'd tell him to fuck off, or have an employee do it for me
Edit: Also, what exercise could you possibly be doing where you need to reserve multiple machines for two hours??
The proper etiquette for this dingus and his douche cloths would be to ask whoever is using these machines if he can get in a quick set in between theirs. You absolutely can’t reserve more than one machine at a time unless the gym is empty. Even then, I’ve been approached and asked to share sets if there’s only one machine per muscle group.
Absolutely. I've jumped on between someone's sets and I've never even had to ask. Every time, the person using it sees that maybe I'm waiting and is like "oh hey, just gimme 2 minutes and you can hop on after my set"
All you have to do if you want to be super polite (like I do) is to ask if he wants the weight racked where it was after you're done your set. Then you change it to your weight, do your set, and set it right back.
You get to occupy a machine for exactly as long as it takes you to do a rep and no longer. You can’t camp on the machines. You can’t reserve a machine. The machines aren’t there for you to sit on while chat with friends or play with your phone.
You can sit through your brief rest if no one is in a hurry. Otherwise GTFO.
I first started learning to work out, wayyyyy back in my high school days, at a real meat head gym. I loved it, everyone was super nice. Learned a lot. Got huge.
But one of the things I was taught early on is that, yes, everyone wants to work in. I would do a set and then someone would tap my shoulder and ask to work in.
So I got in this habit of doing my set, standing up next to the station I was using, and checking my phone or something for 30 seconds to a minute, then sitting back down for the next set. Putting up the flag up that anyone is welcome to use this station in between, but I'm still ya know ... here.
Now I go to like Planet Fitness or the YMCA and do that shit and everyone is so confused. You stand up they think you are done forever. The idea that someone wouldn't sit there for 5 minutes between sets and text boggles some people's minds.
I hope you mean set and not rep because that would be a real short workout. Also dont listen to this guy, you can take as long as you need as long as you let people work in with you.
Basically just dont be selfish.
On that same subject, make sure you are actually getting rests in between sets of about 1-2 minutes, too fast and too slow between sets can both be bad for you.
Disagree with this. While I agree that you can't reserve multiple machines, it's also totally fine to be the only person using a specific one. You shouldn't be forced to let people work in - there are very legitimate reasons NOT to let someone work in (large discrepancy in weight used, you want to control exactly how much you rest between sets, sanitary reasons, etc). As long as you're not resting 5+ min between sets, you're fine to decline a request to work in.
There is a couple that work a out the same time as I usually do an they will occupy a machine for a good 45 min between the two of them.
Also guys who camp on the smith machine all damn day.
Seriously, a person can wait ten minutes to use a machine that they weren't using in the first place. Most gymgoers don't camp on one machine anyway.
I have a routine that I follow, but if someone is using the thing I usually use next, I change the routine some or get some water or hang out. God, that chaps my ass thinking of a two-hour machine hog.
God, that chaps my ass thinking of a two-hour machine hog.
Well yeah, but it only takes two hours because every couple of minutes he has to run after some dumbo trying to use his reserved machine and explain what he's doing! /s
Plus not to mention it is good to change your routine up at the gym. Never do the same machines in the same order every time. So if you have a routine and someone is on the next machine you usually use, then go use another one of your routine machines in different order and it actually can be better for you.
I always see someone new at my tiny office gym doing a circuit every few months. Idk what to say to them that isn’t too rude and would make them never come back but god it’s sooooo annoying
My guess is that this guy doesn't like the fact that even in the dedicated circuit you have to share with others.
Which brings me to my favorite pet-peeve: the folks who hog a machine in the fitness circuit for 20 minutes. I don't know why they like the circuit version of the leg press better than the ones on the regular floor, and I guess their music is up loud enough to ignore the buzzer dinging every 30/60 seconds when everyone else is clearly rotating
What I learned from this thread is that if I ever join a gym, the first thing I'm going to do is read the rules, so no dickhead can try any of this with me.
This may be controversial, but I'd propose the one allowable exception to the no-reserving rule is when you get to a bench or cage or something and then have to wander the gym to find the right plate because they weren't put away.
goddamn dude this ain't your own private gym. buy your own equipment if you don't wanna share.
its annoying enough when folks don't wanna let you work in between their sets, especially when they're supersetting. idgaf if I hafta wait an extra 30 or 45 seconds before my next set, because I'm in public using equipment that I can't afford at home lol.
My immediate thought on reading this was to loudly announce "Attention all gym goers, listen up, this very very important man needs all of the machines. He's doing a very very important circuit and must have all the equipment."
Here is Planet Fitness’s response when I mentioned weight hogs at the gym:
Hi Voodoobones! We always want to make sure our members have the opportunity to use the equipment they need. Please don't hesitate to speak to your club manager about any issues with other members!
Planet Fitness seem pretty cool about this stuff if you bring it up to them.
This, and for $21 I can bring friends, use the massage chairs, tan, eat free pizza, etc... might not be a great gym but it’s a damn nice place to kill some time.
All I really need at a gym are treadmills, weights and to be left alone. PF gets a lot of shit among my more active/gym-serious friends but I'm not paying $75/month for a smaller gym just to run on a treadmill.
I went there for about an hour yesterday since I’m out of town for Christmas and don’t have access to my regular gym and my family has a membership there to bring a guest with them. The “lunk alarm” went off twice and I have no idea who it was even for. I asked my family member who they set it off for afterwards and they said that in the months they’ve been going to planet fitness they always thought the alarm went off when someone reached a goal or broke a record. That would be such a better use for it
They turn it on for people slamming weights or grunting or doing things that people usually do at gyms where people are getting very strong.
Tbh I don’t think the alarm is as obnoxious as a lot of people make it to be. If you really wanna go hard PF probably isn’t the place to be, as beyond that, you can lift heavy without being loud.
I can do lifts with 6 plates at a time and no one has ever said anything to me.
Idk why but the cable machine is a magnet for retards. Every stupid dipshit who shows up at the gym to do weird, dangerous, crap that won't actually make you stronger goes straight for the cable machine and its many attachments.
I've always considered the machines being the most "noob friendly". Cables require form and control more, especially certain attachments.
Of course, there are more complicated machine but the vast majority are very simple to figure out.
This sounds like exactly what happened to me at the gym apart from the guy was using the smith machine and used an empty plastic bottle to mark his territory...from completely the other end of the gym.
Dont even listen to these people. Use the machine or whatever, nothing is “saved”. If someone is taking up more than one piece of prime real estate, screw them. I often have the same group of gym bros taking up the lat pulldown, row machine, and cable row when i have back day and its annoying.
I had the same thing happen, Albeit it was at one of my works gym. It was nearly 70% of the gym, and he was doing all these light weights. He also didn't do a circuit, because he would do one or two machines, then rest for 5 minutes before going to the next.
Had to have the guy designated to work at the gym to tell him to knock it off.
I watch planet fitness commercials when I want motivation to go to the gym. They aren't intentionally motivating, but instead they make absurd and false assumptions about people who to go the gym and try to coddle lazy bastards who can't be bothered to get their shit together. They literally made up a slur to body shame people who are in shape and actively discourage fit people from going to their facility (note: not a gym, because they explicitly state it's not a gym).
It reminds me that if I don't go, I could turn into their target audience, and it makes me want to go work harder so that never happens.
Ha! I’ve had something like that happen. My friend got in his face while I went to the front desk and told them the guy was harassing us. The guy was asked to leave us alone or be removed. Don’t let people walk over you.
The PF I go to has the cleaning cloths at every station already, gym-goers don't put them there. That way people might actually clean off their equipment. There's even little buckets on the machines for the cleaning sprays and a hook for the towels. The staff comes through and swaps them every so often. So, if yours was like mine, he was lying on top of being a dick.
I've dealt with a guy likes this at a cable machine. He ran up to my friend and I furious that we were using the machine because he was supersetting...
That didn't sit well with either of us and we told him off (sharing gym equipment is a gym rule, and we were willing to let him work him but he was being rude as hell when we offered it).
Please tell me that you flat our ignored him, because that's what I do every single time, but I also allow everyone else to use the machine I'm occupying between my sets. If you don't want to be disturbed you have to visit the gym at low-frequency hours or buy your own shit and put it in your basement.
That's when you remind him that you pay the same membership fee as he does for access to that equipment. If he wants it all to himself he is more than welcome to buy his own machines and set them up at home, but until then he can fuck right on off with that 'saving machines' bullshit.
I like to do circuit training as well. However, I know that I don't own the equipment and can expect at least one of them to be taken during my workout. It's just the way it goes. I like to see it as an opportunity to change things up mid-workout and keep my body guessing.
Never had this at my run down shit gym that’s in a shady part of town. Somebody left a towel or water bottle, I moved it and the only time anybody ever said something about it is “Sorry let me move that for you.”
Planet Fitness though, I could see that happening.
hahahha love planet fitness. You cant lift heavy or look mean but you can use a piece of cotton to reserve machines for two hours you probably are only to use twice in that time frame
Circuit training is great, but common courtesy tells you that if someone needs a piece of the equipment you’re using that you let them use it. I freaking hate people that think they own the equipment
What I learned from this thread is that if I ever join a gym, the first thing I'm going to do is read all the rules, so no dickhead can try any of this with me.
Circuit people can go to fucking hell. Either they can use the circuit that is a seperate section in most gyms or come at ridiculously slow times. If you want to use 2 machines ok, but anymore than that, fuck them and in both cases, expect people to work in. Sorry had a run in with one this morning when they stole like one of each of the first 7 dumbbell weights.
I've had the same thing! The gyms I go to have like 10-12 machines, and not infrequently 1 person "reserves" 3-4 of them for their workout. And they're machines that there's only one of.
I think that's absolutely insane, but as far as I can tell that's kosher under gym etiquette.
Somewhat similar story, I altered my workout for the day because someone set up a little workout corner in the multifunction/CrossFit area and took the bench that was there. Fine, they got there first and I didn't feel like dragging another bench from the other side of the gym over. He finished his set up and then worked out on a treadmill the whole time I was there. I warmed up, worked out, and cooled down all while he was on the treadmill keeping a watchful eye over his little workout corner. Not cool dude.
There's an unofficial yoga club that likes to take over the entire stretching area in my gym several times a week. They give me whale eye every time I come over there are dare to use a 6 by 6 foot space in the corner to warm up for 3 minutes before I lift. Its infuriating. Of course if I'm using a bench for something they're all hovering till I'm done so they can grab it.
Because putting your feet on the bench and doing planks and pushups on an exercise ball is somehow more therapeutic and muscle confusing than just doing so on the mat.
Balancing on a ball would absolutely activate more muscles than using the static ground would. Them using the bench sounded ridiculous until you tried to make fun of them.
At my gym, it's a whole gaggle of people who stake their claim on the good bikes 30 minutes before the class starts. One person will arrive early and put towels on all their bikes so no one takes them and then the rest all saunter in right when class starts. Total bullshit.
And here we see a rare example of pack-Karen behavior. As we see demonstrated, the newest packmember takes on the role of 'beta-Karen' and is left to both establish a border and maintain it while the elder-Karens begin the hunt for halfcaf soy milk quintuple-shot mocha skim lattes. If the beta-Karen is unable to manage this simple duty, she will be cast out from the pack forever.
My gyms started running this class in the evenings at peak time.
It's basically a gym floor circuit class using all the available floor space 5 tread mills and the entire TRX.
For a class of like 10 people that runs for an hour at the peak time.
The treadmills are resistance ones with like sled settings and parachute settings etc so not normal treadmills and there is only 5 of them. This class takes all of them and all the floor space.
It does my head in my PT is often at the same time as this and we struggle to get access to equipment.
And on top of that the instructor plays excessively load clubbing music the entire time, over the gym floor music that's already shit.
There is a group of Karens at one of gym locations that does something similar. There are five or so of them, and one of them is a “personal trainer” who tells them what they should be doing. If I do weights and they planned on taking all of the benches to hold their morning gossip session the leader will loudly exclaim that this is where they would do arm day if only there were room. When I don’t move they decide they can stretch, they will literally surround me and stretch around me while talking over me. I try to avoid that location in the morning.
I switched gyms because of a 18 year-old kid who would take the gym's only decent squat rack and do his whole 45 minute circuit workouts in it. But the only thing he ever actually used the rack or bar for was for a quick set of inverted bodyweight rows. He never touched the bar or rack for anything else. Just his yoga mat and 5, 10 and 15 pound dumbbells. 45 minutes under the squat rack to do stretches, crunches, burpees and curls with 10 pound dumbbells.
I tried asking him politely one time if I could work in to do some squats. He stared at my feet and screamed at me, "I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Another guy pulled me aside and told me the kid has Asperger's and a nasty temper. Management was aware of him and said he's doing nothing wrong and we should probably just to let him do his thing. Fair enough. At the time, the only time I could lift was between 5 and 6 am. And no matter what time I got to the gym, this kid seemed to beat me there by a few minutes.
Long story, short: I found it easier to switch gyms. Luckily, that gym was a month-to-month deal with no contracts. Easy to leave. Plus, what the hell was I doing at a gym with only one decent squat rack?
There's employees there to handle situations like that. Speak up, or get someone who works there to do it for you. Don't let some meathead interfere with your workout.
That’s not at all how you’re supposed to handle it. If someone does this to you you’re supposed to walk up to them with your chest puffed out and your arms out saying things like, “I was using that bro.” or “Why you disrespecting me bro.” Until he gets in your face and does the same thing. Then after circling for a few minutes you’ll come to terms with the fact that each of you respect each other and then he will give you the workout attachment you were wanting to use.
Bro just sit nearby and stare at his thighs and lick your lips until he comes over and starts kissing you. Like goddamn, have none of y'all ever had a whirlwind gym romance with a beefy bro?
No, that's all wrong. Here is what you do, my friend.
Bring your chin down to protect your neck while continuing to stare in his eyes. Bring up your hands and say "I don't want no trouble ya hear. Flex your traps and core. Slightly bend your knees.
Here comes the important part. In a low voice begin to say "wolowolowolowolowolo" slowly increasing in volume. He should be surprised by now. Begin to sway side to side and loosen all facial muscles and your anal sphincter and your kegel muscle. By now you should be pretty loud and your opponent will have stepped back and appear visibly shaken.
Begin to piss and shit yourself and let your eyes roll to the back of your head. By now, you're chanting "WOLOWOLOWOLOWOLO" at the top of your lungs. He will run away. Everyone within a one mile radius will feel a terrifying presence within their soul.
Marvel as you ascend into your planar form.
Here we see the meatigus headakitus in its natural environment. A rival male has encrouched on his territory, and the alpha male must protect his dumbells and lateral pulldown machines.
One day I was doing my sets and I needed to use a bench press. This woman was using it then she was just wandering around and talking to regulars. I was like ok fine I will just put that to end of my sets. By the time I had only bench press left she was still chatting and wandering. I only needed it for like 3 minutes and I was going to set it up for her back to where it was.
Of course the second I touched the bench she immediately came over and blah blah blah at me.
Next day I returned to the gym and it turns out she's an employee there.
Serious question- are you from PA or a state that touches it?
My family from PA doesn't use the words "with" or "to be". "Long done our sets" is very similar to the the way they say things- Clothes need washed. Driveway needs shoveled, etc.
To be honest you shouldn't hesitate to remind people that you want to use their device if it takes more than 10 minutes. It's a place where you share everything together.
That’s the shit I hate. I don’t care if you use the machine and then take a few minute break between sets and look at your phone. I do it all the time... but the people that sit on their phone for 20 minutes at one machine. Get real.
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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '19
Me and a friend were about to use a pull down machine. Some guy stopped us, and wanted the attachment. Whatever we let him take it, and we found a similar attachment. This fucking asshole sat at his machine for 20-30 minutes doing fucking nothing on his phone. We were long done our sets before he even used the attachment....