Yep, we should be polite and encouraging towards everyone in the gym… but we’re only human and the gym can be a pretty irritating place. So, without attacking anyone, let’s have a light-hearted laugh at the worst offenders. Unless of course you realise that you fall into one of these categories!
1) The Expert
That guy who comes over uninvited, forcing you to remove your headphones, so that he can give you unsolicited advice. My favourite story about an ‘Expert’ was one who told a girl she shouldn’t have such a forward lean in her squat… when she was doing good mornings.
Basically, don’t be that guy.
Unless someone is about to snap their spine deadlifting, you have no idea what variation of an exercise someone is doing, If they are coming back from an injury or if they are doing something specific to their sport.
Come on, do your judging in silence!
2) The Pointlessly Noisy Guy
The guy pressing 10kg weights who has to loudly throw them across the gym for effect, so that everyone turns around to find the source of the noise. Or makes really awkward grunting noises during light cable curls. There’s a huge difference between grunting and shouting because you’re moving some heavy weight and doing it to get the attention of Instagram Glute Activation Girl.
3) Obnoxious Mirror Hoggers
The guys who jump off the smith machine after each set to have a ‘discreet’ photoshoot in front of the mirror. Or, worse, the person who gets in front of you to stand 6mm away from the mirror and watch themselves do slow, posed reps like they’re filming for an add.
4) Instagram Glute Activation Girl
That girl walking backwards on the stairmaster, doing bunny hops on a moving treadmill, putting a resistance band around her knees to do shoulder press. We know the ones.
Come on ladies, those things might make a good video for a fitness model on Instagram, but it’s probably not really how they built their bum. Consider their genetics, surgery, photoshop, and the unsexy things that they’re actually doing to train lower body.
Isolation work is great… but get strong at the basics (squat, deadlift, hip thrust, lunges) before you base your workout around donkey kicks and fire hydrants!
5) The Weights Hogger
It's 5pm. The gym is packed and you've quickly realised you're not going to be able to do any of the exercises you had planned.
This is where the weights hogger thrives.
'Are you done with that mate?'
The weights hogger is doing multiple dropsets with every dumbbell from 2kg-25kg piled up around his bench. Or doing a complex circuit with 8 pieces of equipment at opposite corners of the gym.
If the gym is busy, have some consideration for the other people waiting!
Let me know any that you'd add!