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Gym Courtesy

Common courtesy needs to be worked out too.

By Thavien YliasterPublished about a year ago 8 min read
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Gym Courtesy
Photo by Charles Gaudreault on Unsplash

When I go to the gym, I enjoy letting off a bit of steam. Whether it's getting a few miles in on the treadmill, getting in a great set of pullups and chin-ups, doing a core circuit, or pumping some iron by bench pressing and doing some weighted squats. The gym is like a second home for me.

I remember one of the first things that I did when I moved to my new living place was that I got to know the names of the gym staff that worked there. For me, it was like having some social credit, plus I'm a people person. Besides, most of the gym staff, just like other people that work in the service industry, normally deal with ungrateful customers. You could literally make the difference in them having a good day or a bad day, even if they already dealt with a few nasty attitudes.

By engin akyurt on Unsplash

Now, when I go to the gym, I might be blowing off some steam from work, my family, or even my friends (yes, I KNOW that we get to choose our friends and not our family, but after a certain point some friends become family). While other people have imaginary arguments and throw disses at the shampoo bottles in their showers, I- Well, hold up a second. I still do that too, but not as much. Regardless, even when I go to the gym to blow off some steam, trying to get in some healthy exercise, at times I'll still have a few people get on my nerves.

I don't know about you, but I have a few pet peeves when it comes to common courtesy at the gym.

  1. Water Fountains
By Hamid Siddiqi on Unsplash

A lot of the times when I go to the gym I might bring a sports drink like a Gatorade with me or something generic that's similar. However, even if I do bring a bottle with my, I still like to drink from the water fountain.

The part that annoys me is when people will walk up to the fountain next to me, and proceed to place their water bottle in the bottle filling station. Now, there's nothing wrong with them wanting to get a drink of water. If somebody were to drink water next to me, I'm all for it. WHAT I despise is the lack of understanding what happens at the water fountain.

At most of the drinking water fountains that have a bottle filling station, the water pressure will decrease if more than one fountain is active at the same time. This means that it's not just going to take a longer amount of time to fill up a water bottle, but somebody who was drinking at the fountain might not be able to drink anymore due to the water pressure dropping to a such a low degree. This is visible in the stream flow of the bottle filling station too. When you let your hand go from the button on the water fountain, the stream for the bottle filling station gets more pressure and fills the bottle much quicker.

"Ummm, but Thavien, you just said that you don't mind people needing a drink."

I don't mind people needing a drink. I mind when people ruin another person's drink because they're impatient. I can finish a 10k run, bust out 50 chin-ups in a circuit of squats and sit-ups, and still patiently wait for somebody to take a drink, let alone fill up their water bottle. If you put your water bottle in the filling station while somebody's taking a drink from the fountain, STOP. Depending on the flow rate of the fountain, you might've just ruined a parched person's drink. Nobody owns the gym, so learn to be patient, and you'll get your turn faster than you expect.

What I've personally done to remedy this situation is that I use the fountain that's in front of the bottle filling station. Yes, 9 times out of 10, it's going to be the shorter fountain. Still, if somebody's going to try to fill up their water bottle at the filling station, they have to get around my head while I'm drinking, which will show to them that they're being extra rude.

Trust me, looking at them in the eyes while hitting the water fountain's button while they watch the pressure change in the stream pouring into their bottle won't get their attention. Even if you're giving them a death stare. Due to the rise of ear buds and blogging about the gym on TikTok has given a rise to more people trying to be social media influencers as well as extremely ego-centric. So, if you try to move their water bottle to finish your drink, you're more than likely going to experience being blasted on somebody's social media to a robotic voice with some overly used pop music.

You can feel free to call me a P.O.S. for wanting to quench my thirst at the water fountain. Still doesn't remove the stain of rudeness when somebody drains the water pressure and refuses to not ackowledge that they just potentially ruined another person's drink.

2. Earbuds and Weights

By Caley Vanular on Unsplash
By Brett Jordan on Unsplash

One of the first rules that anybody in a gym is told about is

"Do not let the weights slam."

Why is this rule that's spoken in the beginning of most peoples' gym journeys, now all of a sudden going unspoken? I'd have to say it's because people aren't speaking to each other, let alone listening. The popularity of ear buds allows people to enjoy their favorite pump up jams and get in the zone while trying to look good for the up and coming swimsuit season.

Now, here's where I derail on a side tangent. Ready folks? Hold on tight.

By Josh Nezon on Unsplash

Another reason for earbuds popularity isn't just their comfortability, but also the privacy. In order for somebody to get your attention long enough to take out your earbud would normally scare most people off about having an awkward encounter, let alone being labeled as creepy.

"But Thavien, how can somebody trying to talk to somebody else at the gym be labeled as creepy?"

Allow me to explain. Tons of people at the gym like to workout, but it's also where they meet new people too. Some people like to try to find a new date while at they're at the gym. Sure, it doesn't always workout (hehe, pun not intended, but I'll take it), but as the phrase goes "You miss 100% of the shots you never take."

It's especially a big deal I've noticed cause there are women that when they go to the gym the only thing they want to do there is workout, and not get hit on, let alone be pestered by some guy potentially harassing them. I get it, cause some people can't take 'no' for an answer (they also won't take any other answer besides a spelled out capital 'N' - 'O,' and they'll try to change the circumstances to get their way before even accepting a 'no,' but that's a different story for a different day). I've seen videos of people being harassed before and it makes me cringe so hard that I could swear I was beginning to sh*t my own spine out of my *ss. I can't tell you how many times I've talked to my phone screen, "Dude, move on. Come on now. Just, just, there's better prospects elsewhere."

By CATHY PHAM on Unsplash

Now, back to the regularly scheduled program.

A lot of people at the weight machines aren't watching the weights, plus they're just slamming the weights. Personally, I don't wear earbuds at the gym.

"Ha! That's becuase you're broke Thavien! Knew you couldn't afford those airpod pros!"

If it helps you to sleep at night, sure thing. I don't wear earbuds at the gym cause I find them to be uncomfortable and that they tend to bounce out of my ears especially when I'm running and doing a lot of vigorous exercises. There's a whole lot of vertical motion that goes into muscle-ups, people. Plus, I like to be aware of my surroundings. Also, there's going to be more friendly people at the gym than one gives credit for (yes, mean ones too, but still). Being that I'm a people person, if somebody wants to ask me if they can work in while I'm doing a set of reps on a machine, borrow a weight from a rack I'm at, or just shoot the breeze, not wearing earbuds makes it so much easier to communicate.

Slamming weights isn't just annoying. It's disrespectful to the the gym owners and the gym goers as well. If it's not your own personal machine, pay attention to the weights. If you're slamming the weights, you may need to go down in weight, as your exercises should be a controlled motion and not a rapid contract and release. By allowing the weights to slam you're potentially also damaging your own body. Respect the gym and what they do to maintain the equipment, and everybody else who enjoys using that equipment as much as, if not even more than you do. Besides, there are several gyms that have alarms that sound off when somebody slams or drops weights. Planet Fitness calls theirs "lunk alerts."

By aiden patrissi on Unsplash

Several times while at the gym I've notified people about weight slamming, and they expressed their concern as if they did not notice. Most of them were surprised. When you put your earbuds in, yes, enjoy your tunes but be connected to your environment (and your workout) even more so.

3. Weight restacking

By Michael DeMoya on Unsplash

Whether it's the bench press, leg press, or even the stretching area's vertical dumbbell rack, weights need to be placed properly back where they belong.

There's been a countless amount of times when I get to a leg press machine that's over flowing with 5 and 10lb weights, and one bench press only has one 45lb weight for each side meanwhile another has seven in total. It's less infuriating and more so just annoying. It's like,

"Great! Now I gotta be extra careful so that no weights fall off the rack while I'm doing my reps."

asdf If you pull a weight from one rack for your workout, please put it back. That way, all the racks will have their proper amount of weights, and if somebody needs to borrow a weight from a different rack, be open to communication with them. Everybody's body has different needs for their workout.

In Conclusion

Whether you're a nooby or a veteran in your fitness journey, please be courteous enough for the gym, its employees, and your fellow gym goers.

Now if you excuse me, I think I hear a chin-up bar calling my name.

By Edgar Chaparro on Unsplash

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About the Creator

Thavien Yliaster

Thank You for stopping by. Please, make yourself comfortable. I'm a novice poet, fiction writer, and dream journalist.

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  • Heather Hublerabout a year ago

    You bring up some very good points. I haven't been in a gym setting for awhile, but I know my way around. It used to be super annoying to hear someone's headphones blasting next to me when I didn't wear any. Too bad you can't sprint this and hang it around the gym, like above the water fountain :) Great article, thank you for sharing!!

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