Ten Things You Should Never Do In The Gym

Ten Things You Should Never Do In The Gym. 1. Did you really just do that? Do not spit into the drinking fountain! For one thing it’s just not sanitary. It can spread sickness, make people stray away from consuming water while they are working out which can lead to becoming dehydrated, and who wants to sit and stare at your big glob of spit while they are taking a drink? Nobody, that’s who. To add to this, if you chew, save it for after the gym. Do not walk around the gym with a water bottle to spit into or even worse don’t spit your chew into the drinking fountain either. The people working out will appreciate it, as will the staff that has to clean up after you. 2. Clean it up! When was the last time your mom worked at your local gym to clean up after you? ….. Never? Well then don’t assume the gym staff, or the other gym members want to assume her roll. If you are strong enough to take the weights off the rack, then you are strong enough to put them back. When you leave weights out or on a machine, people will assume that someone is using the equipment and bypass that part of their workout, in turn messing up their set program and cheating them out of results. Also make sure you put them back in their proper place. Someone expecting to find a 50 pound weight my pick up the 70 pound weights you put in their place without realizing it and end up injuring themselves. Or a gym member goes to put their weights back and you put yours in the wrong place causing them to take the time to put both theirs and yours in the proper spots. You may have also loaded up a squat rack or hammer machine and the next person to use it is a girl half your size. The last thing they want to do is unload all the weights you left on, and that’s if they even can. So be courteous, take the time to clean up after yourself. You will have a much cleaner and less cluttered gym to workout in and the other people using the facility will appreciate it. 3. Are you homeless? If your answer is no, then why is it that you carry ALL of your supplements to the gym with you and everywhere else you go? There is no need to take a 5lb tub of protein and every other supplement you take all to the gym with you, and then spread them out on display at the end of your workout for all to see. They get it, you work out, you take supplements, but taking supplements or spending money on expensive supplements doesn’t raise your gym status. It instead makes you look like a rookie that’s either trying too hard to impress people or someone that just doesn’t have a clue. If you are going to take some pre-workout and post-workout supplements, by all means take them, but put them in small containers and only bring what you need. 4. Is that what it’s used for? Do you brush your hair with a tooth brush? I’m sure with enough time it could do the job, but you would look ridiculous doing it. A squat rack is called a squat rack for a reason, to squat. So why do people do curls in the squat rack? Most every gym you go into has adequate weights for you to do your arm workout, so keep it to the normal designated areas, and leave the squat rack for people wanting to do heavier movements like squats and deadlifts. The people that use the squat rack for it given purpose don’t come over grab a curl bar, and start squatting right in front of the dumbbell rack do they, and if they do, they need to stop too. Keep your workouts where they are supposed to be and everyone in the gym will benefit from it. 5. Everyone’s a trainer! So you’ve been working out for three months? This does not make you an expert or a trainer. So do not pretend to be one. Don’t go around telling people what’s wrong with their workouts, or what they should be doing instead. You could seriously injure someone if they do take your advice, and if they don’t, you just look like an idiot preaching to people about things you don’t know anything about. You will give other trainers a bad name and could hurt the business of some by displaying improper movements to people and in turn causing them to lose faith in the help of others. If training is something you want to do, take the time to learn the proper form and movements. Go to school and get a degree, do a job shadow, and get certified. Even then you are still new to things, so start off slow and work within the boundaries of you experience and branch out from there. 6. Do NOT sweat all over the place and just leave it for the next person to worry about! This is something that is just plain wrong. Who in their right mind would ever want to sit in, or clean up a strangers sweat? I know I don’t. It’s disgusting and something you should never do, yet it happens all the time. If I came over to your house after a run outside, sat down on your couch and got sweat all over it and didn’t clean it up, how would that make you feel? I’m sure you wouldn’t be very happy along with every other sensible person out there. So take the time and clean up after yourself. Others will thank you, and you won’t be viewed as the sweaty jerk that doesn’t clean up after themselves in the gym. 7. Cardio or bull riding? People will tell you all day long how hard and intense their cardio regimen is. The truth is they put the incline up as high as the can get it, and then hold on for dear life as if they about to get bucked off the machine. This is cardio, not bull riding. These people throw their back out of alignment, stress their shoulders and the rest of their body, and really don’t get much of a cardio workout. Set your parameters in the realm of what you are actually capable of doing. You won’t look ridiculous while doing your cardio, and you will actually benefit your body. 8. Don’t be the tough crowd. Everyone is at a different level in the gym. You have beginners all the way to experts in the gym at any given time, but you are all trying to do the same thing- Better yourselves. So many times someone will walk around like a tough guy, and try to get the attention of everyone else. They will stare people down, and make people feel uncomfortable in a place where they belong just as much as anyone else. It’s even worse when this is done as a group. You give serious lifters a bad name and make yourself look like a jerk. You belittle others, take away their confidence, and make a place that should be a sanctuary a very uncomfortable place. Treat everyone with respect; you were once where they were. This will offer a better gym experience for everyone. 9. Leave the phone in the locker room “can you hear me now?” Save the cell-phone conversations and marathon text sessions for outside the gym. Most people see the gym as a chance to tune out from telephones, work, etc. You will take upwards of three times longer on equipment if you’re playing on your phone. This will annoy people, delay them from finishing their workout, and will keep the person using the phone from having a productive workout themselves. If you need your phone for an emergency that’s understandable, but nobody wants to hear about your weekend plans, what you’re having for dinner, or how much you love your significant other while they are doing cardio next to you. To make matters worse some people like to have a photo shoot while they workout. I couldn’t agree more with keeping a photographic record of your progress, but this can be done at home. Be courteous of others in the gym and keep phone usage to a minimum. 10. Let’s do this together. You will see two guys working out together to lift the same weight. This is almost always on the bench, ez bar curl, or squat rack. The lifter will load up the bar as heavy as he can, and when he starts he may get one maybe two reps, but the training partner will help them through another eight or so reps. After the workout if you were to ask the lifter what their max lifts are, they will tell you a number far above what they can actually do. This method does not only hinder your progress, but it just plain makes you look like a rookie in the gym, and nobody is going to take you seriously. Take the time it takes to work yourself up to the weights you want to use. Set goals and in time you will get there. And lastly, some personal advice that just may help you more than you know... If you want to end all chances of getting a chance with a girl in the gym, bother her while she’s working out and you will do just that. The girls at the gym are there for a workout. It’s not a dating service. In most cases they don’t want to be bothered, and don’t appreciate your advances while they are working out. Leave the dating to other social outlet. If you just can’t help yourself, take the time to get to know them slowly. If you show some respect and give it time, something may evolve from it; but if you harass her and don’t give her space and respect to do what she’s there to do, nothing will come of it- don’t be THAT guy.