do I need to improve my gym etiquette? LOL
Had (at first) what seemed to be a normal evening at the gym last night. Legs and back, nothing fancy. A guy approached me to ask if I was done with a machine. After some chit-chat, he said that he was surprised I was so friendly. Huh?? He said that he noticed that I always come in and don’t say anything to anyone, that I’m in my own world, and that I come across as anti-social. Keep in mind that I’m not that way. I don’t wear Ipod headphones or run on the treadmill reading a magazine which are things that people do to block people out. But I was thinking to myself–"Well, umm, it is a gym where people come to work out. It’s not a bar or a club." But here’s the good part. I overheard this same person tell some of his friends/workout partners that there was a guy in our gym whom he felt was gay. They asked why he felt that way, and his answer was along the lines, "He’s always trying to talk to me and always ask if I compete." I guess it did not occur to this guy that he may have been approached because he’s been in a few local shows and that there might be some people in our gym who want tips and advice on shows because they too want to compete one day.
This opens the debate about proper gym etiquette. How social should you be in the gym? Are gyms now places where you’re supposed to say hello to everyone and their mama and high-five everyone? If you don’t, then you’re cold? But if you are amicable and friendly, that means you’re trying to get in dudes’ pants? Since I go in, do my thing, and don’t like to be disturbed or stay for 3 hours talking about football or trying to get a whole bunch of phone numbers, then I guess I come down on the anti-social gym member. LOL
Maybe it’s a Southern thing? I’m from New York originally now and live in Virginia. Strangers that you don’t know from Adam in the grocery store, mall, EVERYWHERE will speak to you and frown upon you if don’t return the "hospitality." LOL
December 13, 2007 at 7:17 am
Lol the best way is to be ignorant in the gym your going in there to go to war it is not a social club, how can you reach your potential with people moaning about the weekend or there other half, but thats just me, when im out the gym ill talk to anybody
December 13, 2007 at 7:18 am
I think the most frequent words I utter in the gym are, "Can I bother you for a spot?" or "How many more sets do you have left?".. Aside from that, I am pretty quiet. I do enjoy the cardio bunny scenery frequently though.
December 13, 2007 at 7:19 am
I go to the gym and get the job done. I can’t stand seeing people, talking for 5-10 minutes between sets. Plus the fact that they need to yell it across the gym. Drives me up the wall. When my friends used to go with me back in the day, they said they liked the fact that I was no chit-chat kind of worker. Now I have the ipod, and my visor jammed down over my eyes. I don’t get bothered and I don’t bother anybody else. Oh and it is a southern thing. I’m from Upstate NY and the south, even mid-west is way too friendly.