The gym is the perfect place to be a gentleman. Whether you’ve been a gym member for years or joining a gym in the U.S. for the first time, manners apply at the gym. With excellent workout etiquette, you’ll keep your stress low, stay out of other people’s way and reach your fitness goals. Today, I will outline the 15 DO’s and DON’Ts at the gym that guarantee your workout peers will hold you in high regard. Here are some suggestions for gym etiquette in the United States. You want to strive to enter the gym, perform your workout and leave. You never want to be THAT guy in the gym, the one that gets an evil eye at every opportunity.
1. Understand the Equipment
If you are new to a gym, you do not know how to use the equipment. Gym managers and owners want safe, happy customers. So go ahead and ask how to use a piece of equipment. Otherwise, you may do bicep curls in the squat rack or deadlifts with no training or injure yourself.
Rerack your weights and return your equipment to its proper home.
2. Return/Rerack Weights
Do not abandon dumbbells and weight plates on the floor. You make extra work for the employees and create potential hazards. Imagine walking between pieces of equipment and tripping over a lose weight plate or barbell. Loose equipment can cause far greater physical damage. Kevin Ogar became paralyzed after he dropped a heavy barbell, which then hit weight plates on the floor behind him and severed his spine as it bounced into his back.
Always work out in a clean space. Do not resent people who refuse to pick up after themselves. View the chance to return weights to their appropriate racks as a reminder that your safety is paramount. Do not assume the staff will put everything away within minutes. They have other duties, including private clients. Appreciate that the next person may not want those 45-pound plates on the bench press bar. Put all the plates and weights away. Every time. An additional benefit of returning your weights is this: Loading and unloading weights is a great part of the exercise routine. In fact, loading and unloading those weights replicates real-world activities like carrying a child or luggage. If you do not unload the weights, you miss an important part of the routine.
Work-out without any weights on the floor around you
3. Don’t Hog Machines or Equipment
If you’ll be longer than two minutes between sets, be a gentleman and let someone else use the equipment. You may also let them “work in.” This means while you rest between your sets, another person uses this equipment. If, for example, you are using the squat rack, when you rest they can perform your set. Sharing is good. But be mindful of tremendous weight differences. Using the squat rack as an example, if someone lifts 450 pounds and you lift 225, you will spend part of their rest set unloading and loading weights. This may lead you to rush through your sets and possibly injure yourself and waste their time as you reload their weights.
Courtesy dictates that you stay close to the equipment between active sets. Don’t be like that guy who puts a single kettle bell on a bench and walks away to use press machine for 3 complete sets. When you move the kettle bell to the floor he then remarks, “I’m using that bench!!” Use one piece of equipment at a time. When you step away, people can legitimately assume you are not using that particular piece of equipment. If you must use more than one, do so during slower hours.
If you’re using cardio equipment, 30 minutes per session at peak times is expected in the U.S. You are welcome to use the equipment for a longer period during off-peak times, of course, this rule only applies if there are no other cardio machines of the same kind available.
3. Don’t Lurk, Stare or Stalk Someone Using the Equipment
Most usual exercise routine with free weights, dumbbells and weight machines includes work-out sets and rest sets. It is sometimes hard to tell if a person is finished or just resting between sets. If you cannot tell the difference, please ask. Do not glare at them or complain to management or hover near them during their routine. They have as much right to the equipment as you do. A gym membership does not guarantee instant equipment availability only equipment access. A gentleman knows how to wait his turn with a smile. If you do not want to work in your sets, you may ask how long before they will finish. Once you have that information, find another piece of equipment to use. Watch the clock. Then make your way back to the first machine after the agreed upon time.
4. Do Not Drop Weights
Lifting heavier weights, especially pulling exercises like deadlifts, creates tremendous stress on the body during the eccentric or downward motion. You feel a tremendous urge to drop the weight. Do not drop the weight! Most gym floors will not bounce. Dropped weights can damage the floor or the weights or you or some combination of all three.
5. Do Not Grunt, Scream or Make Strange Noises
The gym is not a zoo. Work hard but do so in relative silence.
6. Deal with Your Sweat
In the U.S., we have specific – and seemingly contradictory – cleaning rituals. In the gym the rituals go something like this: Barbells, dumbbells, weight plates and kettlebells do not need to be wiped down. If your back or bum touch a bench or if you use a piece of cardio equipment, wipe it down with a towel or, if available, disinfectant.
Carry a towel with you so you can wipe down the equipment when you are finished.
People Etiquette
7. Don’t Talk Loudly or Swear
Some people view the gym as an opportunity to stand around, model and talk. Not you. You are there to work. Headphones with inspiring music may help with some of this chatter. In silence, you focus on the movements of your routine. Working out in silence can also assist you in observing when you move into a range of motion that may cause injury. Many people find swearing offensive. Resist the urge to yell “fuck!” when you cannot lift that 100 pound dumbbell off the floor.
Be aware of your surroundings in the gym.
8. Don’t Ogle at Other sin the Gym
Most women visit gyms to work out. Occasional flirting is cool but ogling is not. You are there to improve and maintain your physical health. A date is a serendipitous accident and let me repeat, a gentleman does not ogle. Ever. Of course, the same is true for men.
9. Don’t Interrupt Classes
Like work, do not arrive late to class. Also do not interrupt a class to retrieve a piece of equipment.
Use your cell phone outside of the gym.
10. Don’t Use Phones
Leave your cell or smart phone in your car or locker. Nobody wants to hear about your grandma’s surgery, your sex life or your business meeting on the phone, especially if you are swearing into the phone while doing pathetic sit-ups.
11. Pick Up After Yourself
Some people act as though their gym fee is money paid for a maid service. Pick up your protein bar wrappers, tape, clothes, hand towels and anything else you brought in with you. The same is true in the locker rooms.
Do not share your body odor with others at the gym.
12. Smell Nice
If you’re prone to body odor, use copious amounts of deodorant before working out. Make sure you wear clean gym clothes every time you work out. Your funky smell is yours. Others will appreciate you if you keep it that way.
13. Don’t Abuse the Water Fountain
In the U.S., you will find water fountains in gyms, not so much in other countries. These are the machines that dispenses water for you. It is not a sink for the remains of your protein drink, your coffee or apple core.
Share your best parts with your significant other.
14. Wear a Towel
In the U.S., most men choose to wear a towel while in the dressing room. Like swearing, nudity is best done quietly. Too much (like the guy who walks around the locker room in a polo shirt, socks and sneakers and nothing else) and you’ll be THAT guy in the locker room. Save your gifts with your intimate partners. And for extra credit, use the hair dryer for your head hair only!
15. Be a Good Gym Steward
Let gym staff know when you find broken equipment or equipment that is about to fail. What other types of behavior annoy you at the gym? Please share them in the comments section.