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[Fitness Lists] Gym Etiquette — 14 BIG Reasons Why You Might Be A Gym Idiot In 2015

Posted by on Jan 5, 2015 in Fitness Lists, Muscle It UP | 29 comments

8. You don’t unrack your weights.

While they might appreciate the opportunity to burn a few extra calories, it’s not anyone else’s responsibility to unrack YOUR weights. You put them on — take them off when you’re done. That also means to re-rack your dumbbells.

There’s always a chance that someone might not be able to lift a 45-pound plate, and there’s absolutely NOTHING more depressing than walking up to a leg press with 10 plates stacked on either side. FML.

 

9. You take up the ENTIRE ab area.

The ab area is seemingly always too small and overly crowded. Don’t make it even worse by leaving your water bottle, towel, backpack, weights, etc. in open space.

Break off an area to crunch it out comfortably, but at the same time, don’t feel like you’re entitled to do somersaults, judo flip kicks, or floor exercises at peak hours. Other people want six-pack abs, too.

 

10. You shrug, curl, or do anything else on top of the dumbbell rack.

Step away from the rack. I repeat, take the dumbbells you need and move AWAY from the dumbbell rack.

When you insist on pumping out a few sets right in front of the rack you’re blocking everyone else from using any of the dumbbells in the surrounding radius. There’s nothing worse, especially if you’re trying to quickly bang out a few quick super sets or drop sets.

Again, if the gym’s totally empty, go to town; if it’s packed, move back a few feet. It’s simple.

 

11. You don’t wear deodorant.

I don’t like BO. The cute girl in the booty shorts doesn’t like BO. The ripped guy with the 6-pack doesn’t like BO. Fuzzy little dwarf bunnies don’t like BO.

Take preventative measures. BO will follow you around the gym like a noxious cloud.

 

12. You workout in “inappropriate” clothing.

Go to the gym as if you’re strapping up for battle.

Sandals, jeans, cargo shorts, polo shirts, sunglasses, suit jackets, scuba gear, etc. have no place on the gym floor — it looks ridiculous, stupid, and everyone in the gym knows it. Moreover, you’re dramatically reducing range of motion, which kills performance.

Guys, keep your shirts on. Also, yoga pants and compression gear is NOT forgiving. Know your body and make sure Lululemon “works.” Just sayin’.

 

13. You check out your “abs” constantly.

  1. There’s a 98% chance you don’t have any abs to look at; ergo, no one wants to see your flabby belly.
  2. Your abs don’t look any different than they did 5 minutes ago.
  3. You look like a conceited idiot — check yourself out in the locker room, take a selfie in the car, or flex in the shower…anywhere private.

 

14. You don’t wipe down.

Wipe down equipment after you’re done with it, especially if you’re sweating like a Vietnamese rainstorm.

I’m all for sweating your ass off, but keep it to yourself — it’s absolutely disgusting, smelly, and sticky. Plus, slippery benches reduce stability.

Bryan DiSanto

Bryan DiSanto

Owner & Editor-in-Chief at Lean It UP
Bryan DiSanto is the Owner & Editor-in-Chief of Lean It UP, a Chef from Le Cordon Bleu – Paris, NYU graduate, ex-fat kid, and all-around fitness junkie.

He also contributes to Men's Health Magazine.

When he’s not working on his (or somebody else’s) abs, whipping up Eggocados, or running a Tough Mudder, he’s probably off yelling at a Carolina Panthers game somewhere.
Bryan DiSanto

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  • Random

    I truly dislike people who spend a ridiculous amount of time primping and preening in front of the mirror and then pick up 10lb weights as if they are actually doing something and make sure that there is no sweat after their “workout” amateur hour indeed (see rule #4).

  • Me

    Dude, get a life.
    I can understand all the “don’t use more than one machine at a time” and “clean your machine up after you’re done” and all. But let people look at themselves if they want. Let people fill their water bottle. I doubt that anyone will die, while waiting an extra minute.
    Live and let live, please.
     
    Rules like these make me hate going to the gym. Can’t you just go abdominatrix yourself somewhere in quiet and leave the rest of us alone?

    • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan @ Lean It UP

      I live part of my life in the gym — these things bother me (and mostly everyone else). I’m not saying that all 14 are universally unacceptable, I’m just not a fan.
       
      If that’s the case, you’re better off staying home!

  • foolish mortal

    I hate people that spend so much time worrying about what everyone is else doing at the gym. Seriously throw these rules out the window and let people do what they want. Why do you care what other people do?

    • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan @ Lean It UP

      By virtue of rule # 3, I couldn’t care less about what anyone else is doing. The only time I care is when other people’s obliviousness and/or lack of awareness slows down my workout. 

    • Mike

      Why do I care?  Because I don’t want to delay my leg workout just because some mindless idiot has to finish doing his 18th set of curls in the squat rack.  I would also vastly prefer not to waste time looking for certain weights just because people don’t know how to put them back in the right place.  Not even one minute.  I value my time and if you hate me for that, fine.  
       
      Sure, people should be able to do what they want, but at some point it becomes a matter of disrespect towards other gym-goers and also the staff members.  Take a little more time out of your day to put your weights away, and maybe that 90-lb girl that works at the gym won’t have to injure herself trying to put dumbbells twice her size back in the right place.    

      • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan @ Lean It UP

        Amen.

  • whiney

    Hey Bryan maybe you should start working out at home or start going to the gym at 3am. When I workout I am so focused on what I am doing that I dont even notice other people. If someone is in my way I just work around them. Maybe we should add rule 15. Dont join a public gym if you are gonna whine about the public working out there.

    • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan @ Lean It UP

       @whiney 15’s not a bad addition.

  • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan @ Lean It UP

    Heyo

  • Johnny #5

    I’m surprised no one has responded to this yet.
    I somewhat disagree with #5, and entirely with #8
    #5 - When DL’ing, you are supposed to touch the ground with your weights. Some advice for deadlifting is to not just focus on weight lifted, but speed+form. Watch a pro lifter DL low to moderate weight. They don’t do it slowly. The only times you ever see them go slow is when they are DLing absurd amounts of weight. Putting the wieghts down fast means they will probably make some noise touching the ground. I do agree that they should not be ‘slammed’ down, though. We all can detect when it’s way louder than it should be.
    #8 If I take the weights somewhere else, then that’s a lot of time wasted that people won’t be able to use them between my sets. If I go somewhere else, I’ll just take up space there. The dumbbell rack is always long for a reason - so other people can use other dumbbells. I shouldn’t have to walk 15 ft away with 200+ lbs of dumbbells to do 5 shrugs then come back, drop the weights off, go somewhere else for 30 seconds, then come back again, pick up the weights, walk away again, etc, for 3 or more sets. All the traffic to and from would just take up more space for a longer amount of time. Some gyms don’t even have the space for everyone who wants to use dumbbells to go off onto their own piece of land.
    Everything else is golden though. These rules should be blown up and pasted all along the hallways, locker rooms, and walls of every gym.

    • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan DiSanto

      Hey Johnny — this is about 2 years old, so I’m always up to revisit what I ranted about in the past.

      For #5 — I’m talking about a legitimate, overblown SLAM. There’s always a time and a place to drop weights — especially for heavy deadlifts like you mentioned — but there’s also a limit. I’ve seen people put force behind the drop, basically as if it’s on purpose, which just gets absurd.

      I think you meant #9 (lifting in front of the rack) — UGH, I HATE when people do this, especially on shorter racks. But to be fair, my issue isn’t with people that do this with 100+ LB dumbbells (that’s pretty rare and frankly, very acceptable IMO). It’s the people that do endless sets with 20/30/40/50 lbs — usually curls — that I can’t handle. More traffic goes through lighter weights than anything else, and often, 4-6 sets can be blocked off at a time.

      That gets particularly annoying if you’re rattling off super sets/drop sets and don’t want to horde weights.

      Love you input!

      ^BD

      • GymRant

        I just want to say that taking one to two steps back from the rack isn’t too much to ask regardless how much weight is being lifted. Also, another thing I could add is that when taking said steps back from the rack, someone comes and stands in between you and the rack for extended periods of time (either lifting or wavering between which weights to use, the 20 or 22.5 lbs… hmmm)… not only blocking the rack, but now the view of the mirror you weren’t coincidentally looking into while lifting. Am I crazy for thinking that’s rude? Why can’t these be a part of the contract people sign when they join a gym?!

        • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan DiSanto

          Completely agree. The mirror’s really helpful for getting form down — it’s SO irritating when people block the view.

    • AJP

      Rack your weights, no one cares about your superset…… the gym isn’t just for you.

  • johnny #51

    i love this post. everyone should be forced to read this before allowed to sign gym agreements

    • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan DiSanto

      Hahaha, it needs to be baked into gym contracts.

  • AJP

    the arm curl in the squat rack makes me mental, and usually it’s some guy doing a 30 rep superset. I wish I had a real gym near me, because health clubs are full of pansies.

  • Dave Keirstead

    15. You decide a bench is your own personal water bottle/equipment table.

  • Patrick

    I take issue with #4. If you see a newbie who is clearly going to hurt him/herself with too much weight, awful form, or both, you have a duty to step in if you know what you’re doing. I most commonly see this scenario with people new to squatting using WAY too much weight on the squat rack - often without a spotter.

    • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan DiSanto

      I think there’s a line. If there’s a blatant risk of injury or someone’s failing mid-lift, I completely agree. Agreed on squats; bench press is also really common.

  • http://www.ingfit.com/ Lee Sandwith

    Nice post, made me chuckle :)

    • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan DiSanto

      Hehe that was definitely at least half of my objective, glad you enjoyed it! Some of these are so ridiculous when you actually think about them.

  • Yogo

    Don’t check your abs!!! The idiot at my gym who checks her abs after every single set!! And yes all you can is the flabby belly, piss off!! hahaha good read :)

    • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan DiSanto

      Hahaha thanks Yogo. I just don’t get it…you wouldn’t do that anywhere else in public.

  • Gr8jimmy

    Well don’t forget about those guys, whom do pushups and after every 15seconds they touch their chest and feel more wide and also check by curving fingers on pumped pecs…. I visited gym today and saw 11guys doing it, and gym was crowded by 28

    • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan DiSanto

      People are hilarious.

  • Michelle Smith

    I know this is an old article but you missed one of the worst offenders, imho. The cologne/perfume wearer who apparently bathed in the stuff just before coming in to the gym. I wouldn’t want to smell that much cologne/perfume under ideal circumstances but in a gym where I’m breathing heavy? No way! If I can smell you before I’m close enough to touch you, it’s too much!

    • https://www.leanit-up.com/ Bryan DiSanto

      Omg, AXE overload especially is brutal. I feel like my nose is going to explode. Totally agree and hate this one.

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