Ten Gym Annoyances

After writing my last post about building muscle I got to thinking about my own daily experiences at the gym. The more I thought about it, the more I realized there are quite a few imbeciles working out at the gym.

For any of you who go to the gym with any regularity, you know the types of people I'm talking about. I know this must be hard for you believe since I'm not much of a ranter, but it was actually not very difficult for me to come up with a list of the top ten annoying occurences that go on in gyms everywhere! So, without further adu, I present Arun's "Top Ten Gym Annoyances."

10. Unsolicited Advice - It really drives me nuts when people who think they're fitness experts go around critiqueing your exercise without you even asking. It's one thing if they work at the gym, if you ask for advice, or if you're doing something completely wrong, but when Joe Bob tells me I should totally change up my routine, I'm not too pleased, though I don't let on:

Joe Bob: "Dude you really squat down that low!"
Me: "Oh Ok"
Me Thinking: "Oh great, I've got to listen Joe Bob tell me how to work out for five minutes"
Joe Bob: "Yea Man you'll hurt yourself. And keep your legs closer together"
Me: "Thanks Man"
Me Thinking: "Not only am I not changing anything, but now I'm running behind in my workout"

9. "I don't feel the need to where deoderant-Man." Yes, this is the guy who thinks he smells like roses all day long and doesn't need to deoderize. From a distance, he seems ok, perhaps even pleasant. But, if you happen to enter the "Zone of Death" you're in for a suprise. The worst part is that the smell lingers! If you want to use a machine that "Joe Pits" was using, you've got to leave at least a five minute buffer for the rancid smell to dilute into the air.

Sometimes, Joe Pits will sneak up on you while you're doing a set and work on the bench next you. This is extremely hazardous as you're already breathing hard since you're in the middle of a set and as you take a deep breath to power through the last bit...you realize you've been ambushed by the Zone of Death courtesy of Joe Pits! Set Over.

8. The Premium Locker Room. Interestingly, many gyms have a regular locker, and for those willing to shell out the extra cash, a "premium" locker room. So what's the difference? Well, everything's the same except for one thing. The premium locker room has this little area when you go in, with couches and a TV.

Honestly, who goes to the gym to chill on a couch in the locker room and watch TV?!? The crazy part is, people actually pay for this "upgraded" locker room! At my gym, you actually can't even get in this locker room with a special code!

7. Noise Makers. You all know who I'm talking about. These are the guys who feel the need to let the entire gym know that they are busting there ass and putting up superhuman amounts of weight.

I mean, some grunting is ok, even necessary sometimes, but common! These guys yell out a set, then walk around like they're the Worlds Strongest Man.

6. Form Doesn't Count. I'd say 50-60 percent of people at the gym use poor form. It's usually mostly guys who are trying to put up insane amounts of weight they have no business touching. If you look at the people doing the most weight at the gym, frequently you'll notice they don't look the strongest. That's because they're practically throwing their back swinging the bar up to do bicep curls!

I knew a guy in college like this. He had the gall to come up to me once in the gym and said, "This can't hold me down man!" I'm thinking, " well maybe if you squated down more than two inches you'd realize you're doing doing too much weight when your knees buckle!

5. Cell Phone Users and Book Readers. Seriously, how good of a workout can you be getting if you're on the phone or reading a book during you're exercise. If you can concentrate on a book or have an extended conversation during your exercise, you're not only not working hard enough, but you're wasting your time.

4. Not reracking the weights. I consider myself moderately strong, but when Mike Muscles decideds to leave the 500 lbs of weights he's loaded on the bar, he's not doing me any favors. By the time I remove all the extra weight, I'm already tired! To top it off, I don't want to screw over the person after me, so I am not only cleaning up his mess, but my own as well.

3. Proper fitting clothes. Have you ever noticed that the two groups of people who most often wear poor fitting clothes are the slightly overweight/out of shape, and the REALLY overweight?

The Chubbies somehow seem to think that wearing a shirt three sizes too big will cover up the fact that they are obese. WRONG! Not only do you still appear large, but now you have no style. Wearing bedsheets as clothing may cover some rolls, but they make you look even bigger!

Then there's the guys who think they're in really good shape, but are actually a little pudgy. They wear the ultra tight Under Armor in an attempt to show off their muscles when its blatently obvious that they are not exactly male models.

2. The water bottle fill. After a tough set, a nice refreshing drink of water is always nice. Just hope you don't get stuck behind one of those people with a larger water bottle. I have no problem with people filling their bottles at the fountain, but do you honestly have to fill up to the very edge while people are waiting?

If it's more than half full, can't you step aside for me to get a 3-second sip?

1. The Sweaty Mess. There's nothing worse than getting on a machine recently vacated Sonny Sweats. Yes, he's the guy who marks his territory by sweating on every machine he uses and doesn't clean up. As pleasent as he must think his sweat is, I have enough of my own, thank you very much.

And that is the top ten list of the day. Neurotic? Yes. Over the top? Probably. But a good rant every now and then feels great!