Gym Etiquette
March 27th 2007 13:56
Learn more about etiquette at the Emily Post Institute.
Today some comments on the subject of etiquette in the gym. If the masses are not less civil and as surly as they were is the rough and tumble eras of the past,I miss my guess. One of the myriad of failings of public education in the United States is the inculcation of any real sense of civility etc. I hope this is not the case in other parts of the world. The fact is that knowing how to act in all kinds of environments is a mark of a quality person. I want my readers to fall into that category,when they enter the gym. So, here are a few comments on proper behavior.
You probably do not own the gym in which you work out. You probably work out in a public gym where the members have equal rights to the facility. This is worth remembering. When you act like you are the owner, you are out of line. Whenever you are in doubt remember this mantra:" I know how to share."
Since you don't own the gym, you do not own equipment. That simply means that you are paying to use it and so is everyone else. Use it and move away from it. Don't sit there and wait until you have recovered and then do another set. It is at this point that you need to repeat your mantra. I can slip into a machine and be gone well within your rest time.
I take a small towel with me to the weight floor. This is because I religiously wipe off whatever my sweaty body touches before I move on to something else. That is part of sharing.That includes bars, handles, dumbbells and whatever I can muck up. If you do not wipe off your equipment, consider yourself a kindergarten reject.
Talk it up all you want, but consider that the person you are chatting with may be trying to maintain a pace and your bothering him/her is not going to help. If you agree to chat with someone, do it out of the way- not even in the main thoroughfare.
When you are done with a weight, repeat your mantra. Leaving weights on bars is asking someone else to be your maid. Leaving dumbbells wherever you decided to put them down shows that you are really to lazy to be lifting weights. Plate loaded machines are best left without plates. Let's say that a 100 lb. woman wants to do leg presses and finds the leg press loaded with 6 or 7 plates on each side. Do you think she wants to unload a workout load of weights before she can even start? Remember your mantra.
Here is what I do not think you owe anyone: to unload or return equipment that they have used and left . I leave the gym like I found it. If I loaded it, I unload it. If I found it loaded, I leave it the way I found it. If I found it loaded and added to it, I remove what I added and leave the rest.
Finally, try actually following the instructions on the signs posted in the gym. Gym owners are not in a position to harp at you like they were your mother. You will get irritated and go elsewhere. They try to hint at their behavior preferences by putting up signs- an unobtrusive way of attempting to get you to act reasonably.
Just remember your mantra. Your servant, as always.
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