Annoying Gym Behaviour - Mk2(?)

Yeah I getcha

I wouldn’t begrudge anyone a quick little check of themselves, as you say, most of us are here to look better

But this was pure vanity, up there in front of the mirrors for a few minutes like…is this meant be for our benefit or what? There was nothing incredibly impressive on display in any case. Why not just do it when they’re at home?

Just seemed pretty crass, I was embarrassed for them tbh

I've never seen anyone with a towel in mine, and I'm the only one who seems to wipe down things with blue roll.

Different gyms have different rules. Insisting on a towel is more typical of a health club, hotel type gym. Due the clientele.

In a more higher performance, weightlifting gym gym is less likely to be a concern, so less likely to be enforced.
Wouldn't bother me personally. Different strokes.

Yeah the towel things seems like a remnant of the luxury fitness era of Ireland from the 90s, where most people only encountered gyms through hotels and spas that wanted to posh everything up. Plus most of these places were already providing towels for the swimming pools they had anyway.

Honestly for resistance training, you shouldn't really be sweating so profusely that you'd need a towel. Particularly in this climate.

Are any a particular chain or health club type? It’s common in the poshed up types places. But it’d be surprised if it made any actual difference.

If some body has sweated all over a bike seat, obviously they should wipe it down. Just to clean up.
But a rule about towels on the seat back, is mostly about optics. There little point giving a seat a quick wipe to then grab the same weights, plates, handles as everyone. The change room/bathroom door, handrails and a dozen things you grab everyday are likely much dirtier.

Fancies himself it seems.Give him a little towel whip as you're passing (accidently ,of course).That would turn him the right way up pretty fast.

I sweat before I even lift a weight even in the depths of winter (my gym has no heating). If I didn’t bring a towel, I’d be leaving a saturated bench every time.

Doesn’t bother me if people do/don’t use a towel. I prefer a bench not to be covered in someone else’s sweat before I use it, if it is it’s just a quick wipe.

A few weeks ago I'm go to my gym looking to start with bench press. There is only one and someone is on it, not unusual, so I go an do start some on some other machine work until it's free. I'm halfway through my sets on the first machine I'm using and the person on the bench press finishes and another guy immediately gets on it. Fine I think, another 5-10 minutes and I will get on it after them.

An hour.

They were on it a full hour.

But not an hour straight, oh no. They did a set on the machine and then took a break. Nearly 5 minute long break. Note, this person was not in anyway a power-lifting and was not benching heavy (the weight wasn't heavy and they weren't struggling to finish their sets of ~8 reps or more). They then went back and did an other set. Then, during that break they took this ball-on-a-string-on-a-headband thing, put it on their head and started doing boxing jabbing and head movement drills with it (not very competently either, mind). After nearly 5 minutes, they went back and did another set on the bench press, then during their next break they wandered off to the other side of the gym and used one of the cable machines for a while. They continued like this for an hour - a set on the bench press followed by either using band or equipment from their bag, or going to a machine, or even just sitting in the corner on their phone. Note, they left their equipment and towel on the bench press the whole time and there is only one bench press in the gym (there are some free benches and two squat racks, so they can be set up for bench press, and I ended up doing that, but it's way more tedious).

Someone must have complained, because there are now signs on every wall telling people to only use a machine for 20 minutes.

He was there last week and did something similar but on the free benches - I was just finishing a set of incline bench press and he got the (only pair of) 22.5kgs dumbbells before I could get them for my next set. He then put them at the back end of the bench from where he was working on and then continued doing other work with other equipment, taking 3-4 minute long breaks, for over 15 minutes, before he actually came back and used them (I ended taking them while he had wandered off and doing my full set and putting them back before he noticed they were even gone).

The headband thing was one of these: https://www.decathlon.ie/p/333587-143117-boxing-reflex-ball-kit-with-2-balls.html. I'm sure it's probably good for competent boxers working drills, but, eh, lets just say he seemed very new to it.

I kept thinking "surely he will be finished now" every time he came back to finish to a set and so kept holding back from saying something.

Tiny moan for me (hotel gym)

People who bring their gear bag into the gym rather than using a locker. I can only assume they had a bad experience before with the lockers perhaps but they’d often stuff their bag between a machine etc.

Maybe a complaint for the sake of it but it just annoys me why they can’t do the normal thing of using the locker rooms.

Others (often of a certain minority) doing phone calls inside the gym floor shouting and roaring on it.

Regarding him: 🙄

Regarding you: 🙄

I mean, you should have opened your mouth and persuaded him to share the bench, and he was a dick doing circuits in the gym commandeering various bits of equipment. So both of you were at fault, to some degree.

I don't see the big deal.

A woman was walking on the treadmill, and talking on the phone while doing so.

So what?

I see the problem if she's doing the same using a bench or another piece of equipment as she'd generally need to stop what she's doing to use the phone, adding delays to anyone who may be waiting to use the equipment. But I don't see the harm if she's using it while getting her walk done.

For some people, walking and talking isnt the uncomfortable or awkward experience you think it is. Quite the opposite. I would say you're in the minority there.

Well, It’s unusual, certainly in the gym I’m a member of..basically the gym policy forbids it as I’ve explained signs everywhere….” No phone use, music only “ It’s a culture thing. Either everyone is in 100%…

As stated to us… requirements… Wiping down / sanitising equipment post use…Not making/taking calls…Using sweat towels… cleaning up if you spill something..

I took out my phone yesterday, once to change Spotify playlist, otherwise never interacted with it at all. Do what I’m asked to do, nobody on a nearby piece of equipment wants to hear me waffling on it above the din of the music and machines… it’s not so difficult…. 🤷‍♂️ dunno how you can go to the gym for an hour and be of the needy assed mind.. “ bu bu but well if someone rings, I have to / want to answer “ The caller will still be alive when you finish , to talk to you most likely… 🤦🏻‍♂️

If somebody leaves a sweaty puddle behind them they should, of course, wipe the bench down. But most people are not dripping in sweat when strength training, compared to say cardio.

Thinking that any surface that somebody touches in a gym is instantly toxic is a bit germophobic imo. If you think people are that dirty, best not to integrate all your touch points too much.

Pretty much the only exercise/equipment I'll wait for is the big barbells: bench, squat, deadlift. And only if I'm following specific programming. A standalone workout. I'll get DBs, or a machines etc.

I don't know if it's that people think there is something magical about what they're waiting to use, or that they genuinely don't realise they could train the same basic movement/muscles with a free piece of equipment.

It's almost certainly a case of not knowing how else to train the same movement/muscles.