After having working out at public gyms for the past two years now, I’ve been observing on how people do things there. It is amazing to me how rude people can be at the gyms.

Here is a short list that I’ve seen people do that are pretty crazy:

• Equipment Hogging – This is the big one. I’ve seen people take up so much time on a piece of equipment that I needed to use. Maybe a half hour or more. Why do people take so long? Maybe more than one workout on the same equipment, talking on the cell phone so long in between sets, or talking to other people, etc. This is very rude. Some people think the gym is all for themselves.
• People doing workouts in bad form – You see all kinds of people doing workouts in terrible form, but you don’t want to say anything ’cause it might piss them off and he/she might become defensive. Some people do workout in great form and some don’t, but I see too many people workout terribly.
• Doing workouts in front of dumbbell sets – You see this all the time. Guys walk up to the dumbbell set and do workouts with dumbbells in front of the set. When I need to grab dumbbells myself and I see someone working out in front of the dumbbell rack, I’d either say, “excuse me please” or I work my way around them. When you need dumbbells at the gym, grab the weight you need and do your workouts away from it, so other people can get theirs. Again, the gym is not just for you.
• People drinking not so healthy beverages – Coffee, soda, Gatorades, Snapple’s, etc. All that instead of water. You won’t get much success losing weight drinking that garbage. Sorry!
• Socializing – This is a huge problem at all gyms. People go to the gym and talking with other people for more than a half hour or maybe even hours. Hello! You’re wasting your time at the gym chatting with other people. Hey, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy meeting new people at gyms as I do meet new people at gyms once in a while, but when I’m working out, leave me alone. Your muscles are calling for your weights to be worked on, but nothing’s being done if you’re wasting time chatting with other people. Just wait until you get your workouts done, then you can chat with other people at the gym. It’s good to talk with people after your workouts, not before or during. You need your concentration. Sorry.
• Making loud noises with weights or dropping them to the floor – This is very common at gyms. Guys getting weights for barbells or dumbbells, making really loud clanging noises. This I find very annoying. When I grab the weights I need, I handle them very carefully and quietly, so they won’t make noise. The noise distracts other people working out. People dropping weights to the floor by accident happens often too. If the weight is too heavy for ya, get a spotter. Dropping heavy weight can damage the gym floor work, of course, people can’t think about that. Even worse you could get injured. Drop weights on your foot, you’ll be wearing a foot cast for a couple of months. Don’t want that do ya?
• Benchers never using a spotter – You see this all the time. Guys benching without a spotter. Just because you have a lot of experience in bodybuilding and know what you’re doing, still doesn’t mean an accident will happen.
• People staring – When I work out, at the public gyms, I get a lot of stares. Seriously. Not sure if they are admiring my physique or admire how I do things or they’re just jealous eyes, but the staring is kind of bothersome and distracting. I don’t stare at other people working out ’cause I concentrate on my own thing.

I can think of plenty of more, but public gyms can be crazy. People like to use the gym as their own personal playground but not me. I go there to get in shape and to get ripped. That’s all I go there for.

Kev