I don't commit any of those atrocities, and those that do bother me to no end. If you aren't going to learn proper etiquette, don't go. The one that bothers me most is the Starbucks guy, I hate it when people clog up the gym, just hanging out and talking, while i'm in there trying to get my workout done as quickly as possible to not only get the best workout, but also to get on with my day.
A few others:
Slamming the weights around: It's one thing to legitimately drop a dumbbell because that last rep just wasn't going to happen, or to make a bit of noise re racking the barbell after your last set of squats because your legs are exhausted and you just can't set it down quietly. It's another thing entirely to slam the plate on or to let the bar drop onto the rack just because you feel like a big tough guy, lifting all that weight. So to the guy who's dropping the bar, I probably squat more than you and I have the decency to keep the noise down so I don't disturb the other guys, get your act together or get out.
Water fountains: You're thirsty, I'm thirsty, we're all thirsty. Stop sucking down that water like you've spent the last 5 days in the desert, it'll only piss us off, even more so when you end up puking it all over the place halfway through your next set.
Weights pointing out: This one's not a big deal for me, I don't care if others do it or not but my rowing coach hated seeing plates facing out (meaning you can see the number on the plate) so mine are always facing in. It's done out of respect for others and to avoid show boating. Nobody cares how much you can lift, and no matter how much you lift, there's someone out there who can lift more, so there's no point in showing them.
Bad erg technique: This one bugs me because I actually use the ergs (rowing machines) properly, I actually get a workout on them, but 90% (that's a very conservative estimate) of the people i see on them are doing it all wrong. I've gotten on the machine in the cardio room for an hour and had 4 different people use the one beside me with terrible technique, and they don't pull at all. Most of the people I see are pulling less than a quarter of the power I am, and I'm going for a lot longer than they are. Now I understand that not everyone can pull the same amount, but i've seen 8th grade girls that weigh less than 100lbs pull harder during a light workout than some of these people. You're not going to get a workout by simply sliding back and forth, letting your arms hang loose so you only actually pull the handle a foot or two. If after 15 or 20mins you aren't sweating, chances are you're doing something wrong, learn how to use the machine and put some friggin' muscle into it. It's no wonder you're not losing weight, I see so many people working at an intensity that only burns about 200Cal/hr, in a 10-15min workout that doesn't work out to a whole lot.
The thing that bugs me is that these people clog up the machines and aren't even getting anything from the "workout" they're doing. I'm just glad that we've moved all of the rowing club and university team's ergs to one place in athletics so we've got around 20 of them available. This year I have yet to wait for an erg.
09 Mar 2009, 6:42 pm
