Gym 101

I have a very healthy obsession with working-out and because I don't really do much during my free time my schedule pretty much revolves around my working out schedule. Obsessed... maybe but at least I'm burning the calories instead of ingesting them. Since becoming highly active I hate to admit it but I kind of have become one of "those" gym snobs where if you take to long on a machine I get pissy, or people are goofing off and wasting my time because I am waiting for the machine they are sensually using. My biggest pet peeve is when I am bike riding on the trails and people decide to take up the whole width of the path then you have to scream (okay maybe not scream but I scream) that you're passing on the left. Of course they are giving you the evil eye because they had to move over. I take this boot camp class on Monday's & Friday's at my gym I attend and the class starts at 9:15 however if you're not there by 8:30 or 8:40 you mind as well do another work-out because you're not getting into this class. I compare getting ready for this class as if you're trying to time a fabulous Black Friday deal but instead it's to get a coveted spot in the class with the weights you need. We have now formed alliances with other members so if they get their first they set you up and vice versa. It's all fair in love & war. The kicker is when you set-up your station and you go get a pre-work out in on the treadmill or whatever and some new person thinks that just spots are set-up for them so as you come into the class you see someone is hovering over your spot- wrong that is my spot. 

  Anyways, I came across this article about the 11 Common Faux Pas Gym Mistakes and I thought maybe if enough people knew the proper etiquette we could all enjoy our work outs. 

1. Leaving Sweat on Equipment 

     Gross! By now every gym has enough access to towels, wipes, and cleaners to wipe down the equipment- just take an extra minute and clean off your nasty sweat stains. 

2. Resting too Long

    I'm not a body builder so I don't really exhaust this one to much but I could see where this could get frustrating. 

3. Using your Phone

   I would like to start out by saying we've all done it once or twice and secondly I kinda have to take my hat off to someone who is not only skilled enough to keep up a pace on the treadmill and still have enough breath to carry on a full blown conversation but also that you're also able to multi-task in that way. 

4. Eating or Drinking on the Gym Floor

   I have never seen someone eating on the gym floor however what cracks me up is the people mainly women who carry their Starbucks drinks onto the equipment. I love my Starbucks but please how is that helping you??

5. Hogging a Machine

  There is always that person who has camped out on a machine for hours on end and you can tell because they now have a lake around them with all the sweat they've produced while hogging that machine. I think that's their method of keeping people away because who would want a machine that is now drenched in sweat? Not me.

6. Leaves Weights Out

  I do lift weights and it is annoying when it becomes a scavenger hunt to find the mate of the 25 lb weight. 

7. Hovering

  I hate when people stalk you for your machine. 

8. Interrupting a Class

   You have to love the person that comes in late and then is trying to squeeze through to set-up when in reality there is no room and then is shuffling around trying to find equipment. Ever hear the saying, "Early bird catches the worm?" You missed it try again! 

9. Misusing the Locker Room

  I try and avoid the locker room as much as I can. My gym has a nice locker room but everything about it creeps me out- reminds me of my Freshman days in my college dorm room and we had community style bathrooms. Nothing friendly about it. But what I don't understand is how people can have full blown conversations with someone either naked or merely a barely there towel on. 

10. Leaving your Bag Out

  Never have done this- my gym bag is designer (I know roll your eyes) so my bag would be the first to get swiped and I'm not taking those chances.

11. Not Reporting Issues

  I've never had to do this- shocking 

Hopefully we can all share these useful tips and make the gym experience more user friendly. If you want to read more on these 11 tips click here