7 Rules: How Not to Be a Jerk at the Gym

November 16, 2011, By 3 comments

7 Rules: How Not to Be a Jerk at the Gym

I don't normally go to the gym in the morning. I prefer to go at night, when the place is empty and I can be alone with my treadmill, my iPod and the latest episode of Aisha Tyler's podcast "Girl on Guy." But I was putting my son to bed last night and ended up falling asleep with him at nine, finding myself bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at ten after five. Up that early and needing to feel productive, I decided to move up my workout 17 hours or so and hit the gym early. 

I live in one of those suburbs with type-A stay-at-home moms and engineer/financial planner/marketing director/doctor dads. So the gym at the community center is humming at 5:30 in the morning. The parking lot is mostly full, the coffee shop brewing and the treadmills pumping. I wasn't there ten minutes before I was reminded why I don't like going in the morning. I was lying on a mat, stretching my back before my run and turned my head to see a foot three feet in front of my head. A large, sweaty man in his mid-50s was standing over me. He pointed at his ears and mouthed "take them out," referring to my ear buds.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Are you almost done?"

I looked around and there were other mats stacked up against the wall not ten feet away.

"What about one of those?" I asked, pointing to the stack. The man let out a frustrated teenager groan/snuff, rolled his eyes and walked over to the other mats. 

What the hell? What could I have possibly done to make this guy mad? Is he always like this? I forgot about it. A few minutes later, as I was chugging away on a treadmill, another man walked by and stepped on my sweatshirt, which I had laid next to the treadmill while I was running. I saw him step on it, watched as he looked down and kicked it away from his feet. He looked right at me and without so much as an apologetic shrug walked off behind me in the direction of the free weights.

These and a few other observations from this morning's workout got me thinking about what jerks people can be at the gym. It's as if the pursuit of fitness somehow engenders a sense of un-caring; as if the relationship between endorphins and decency is inverse. Working out sucks, I grant you that, but does that give you license to be an ass? So, I've devised a few simple rules that, if followed, I hope will restore a bit of decency in the gym.

NEXT: Don't Ogle

Craig J. Heimbuch is the editor-in-chief of ManoftheHouse.com and a Barefoot Proximity employee.
Page 1 of 3

Comments (3):

Tim L. Good stuff, Craig. A few other rules of gym etiquette I subscribe to: 1) Put your stuff away when you're done. I hate it when I see a machine or barbell with weights loaded on it, but I'm not sure if someone is using it or just got lazy when they were done. 2) Control your sweat. Use a towel. Don't drip all over the place. If you do drip some, clean up after yourself. I sweat a lot at the gym, but never leave a mess for the next person. 3) Don't step between someone doing an exercise and the mirror they're looking into. Half of working out is mental and a lot of people closely watch their form in the mirror. If you step in front of them, you may break their concentration. Sometimes it can't be avoided, but if it can then avoid it. - 12/01/2011
Michael B. Here's a few comments from my fitness center: 1.) what's with the guy who brings a magazine, does 10-easy reps and then sits and reads while never breaking a sweat? 2.) I've been here 10-minutes into my warm-up and this guy has already been to the water fountain 3-times ... get t work already! - 11/30/2011
Michael B. You couldn't have been more right. It's hard for me to understand how you could walk into a lockerroom and with open lockers all around, take one directly next to someone? It's like having a parking lot of empty spaces and yet you choose to park between the only two cars there? You have to laugh and wonder. - 11/22/2011

© 2012 Man of the House, Barefoot Proximity, P&G Productions