Fifty Plus (50+) - Gym rudeness?

I walked over to an machine I wanted to use and found a towel on it, but no one around. I looked around didn't see anyone who looked like they were using it. I even asked my husband who was on a machine close to it if someone was using the machine. He said the guy had walked away but didn't know where he went. I removed the towel to another machine nearby and got on the machine. After doing one set on the machine, a guy comes over and said "I only left that machine for a second". I told him I had two more sets to do. He stomped off in a huff. Was I wrong not to give him back the machine? Come to find out he was all the way across the gym in another area using a different machine when I got on this one. I'm guessing he thought he could "save" this machine for when he got done on the other one so he could trade off.

No you were not wrong--he was to try to save it. They do tell us at our gym to let others "work in" between sets, but I never see anyone do it.

I've never seen the practice of "saving" a machine with a towel. In fact, in these parts if someone is going to be spending a fair amount of time on a machine, it's common for another to "work-in" between sets. But that would require a kindergartner's sense of sharing, which this guy does not seem to possess.

[Edit] Rae, I was writing my post at the same time you were. Maybe "working-in" is a regional thing. It's pretty common at our gym.

a guy comes over and said "I only left that machine for a second". I told him I had two more sets to do. He stomped off in a huff. Was I wrong not to give him back the machine? Come to find out he was all the way across the gym in another area using a different machine when I got on this one. I'm guessing he thought he could "save" this machine for when he got done on the other one so he could trade off.
I haven't worked out in a Gym since high school, but I can spot a narcissist when I see one. You did the right thing.

They cant "save" a machine. That is being rude on their part. And they should be ready to let someone else work in, even if they didnt leave the machine.

You were within your rights. Frankly, one of the things I hate about gyms is other people's "cooties." Having to touch their towel is one of those things. What's worse is having to wipe THEIR sweat from the machine because they didn't. Now their cooties are on my towel. Yuck.

I have had that situation many times over the last 30 years of gym training. I always let people work in. After I finish, I replace the set up for the person to his / her configuration. If I see someone standing around that looks like they might want to use the machine, I offer to let them work in even if they do not ask. In your example, I would have offered to allow the person to work in even before he asked.:)

He was wrong.

You were right.

People who try to tie up machines should buy a Bowflex.

You were right to take the machine. Even better in telling the guy you were going to finish your sets. If the guy was taking a breather between sets, he should have been standing next to the machine. If he was near the machine you would have asked if he was done using the machine and he may have even invited you to use the machine between his sets. If you go to the same gym at the same times you get to know who is there and how they use the equipment. Some people are considerate, some are oblivious to what is happening around them and others are just plain rude and selfish.

A couple of weeks ago I was making my speedy (on purpose) work out round and got to the lat pull down machine. There were two young guys shooting the bull and laughing it up a couple of machines over. I set the machine and started to use it and one of the young studs comes walking over and says:

"Hey, I'm using that machine."

My response was: "It doesn't look like you are using it while you stand around chatting with your friend. Make up your mind - chat or workout. Regardless you can have it when I'm finished."

I checked with gym management and they said that he was wrong and I was right.

That made my black eye feel much better! (just joking)

DG is worried about cooties!!!! Me too! I hope they wash their hands after taking care of business!

You were within your rights. Frankly, one of the things I hate about gyms is other people's "cooties." Having to touch their towel is one of those things. What's worse is having to wipe THEIR sweat from the machine because they didn't. Now their cooties are on my towel. Yuck.

Bad news: Cooties are everywhere. And they aren't all this cute:

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z284/JanMM/cooties.jpg

You should have made a rat tail with his towl and snapped him a good one!

I do a Cardio workout at the gym. 10 minutes on 6 machines and a brisk walk between each machine. There are several machines of each type in the gym- but ocasionally- I do find that when I go from say the Bike to the Treadmill- All the treadmills are taken. Normally this would just mean that I go onto the next exercise in the sequence. One evening I was waiting to go on the stepper and the 4 machines seemed to be occupied by people trying for a Marathon. That was the night I discovered the torture machine- The cross trainer. It took a year before I mastered the technique but untill I did- I was getting a good workout.

And if you put a towel on a machine to save it over here- You will have to go and look for the towel. It will not be there if anyone else wants the machine. Pointless argueing the point that you were saving the machine- or you were in the middle of sets. Definitely frowned upon over here and you don't do it twice.

Possession is 9/10ths . . .

This is like people at resorts who leave a towel on a poolside lounge on their way to breakfast, figuring they have reserved it for whenever they decide to hit the pool. It is bogus and should be totally ignored. bk

I don't mind if someone wants to ask if they can work in a set between mine, which actually hasn't happened to often. It does bother me when someone thinks that by putting a towel on a machine, that no one else is allowed to touch it until they decide they will come back to it. I have seen this happen more then once and more then once I have moved a towel to use the machine. I even had one young kid come back over during my second set and point to his bag and towel sitting beside the machine and saying "that's my stuff". I just replied with "Oh" and continued with my sets. To people like this, I will NOT give in. I doubt if anyone would even read "gym etiquette" if it were posted on the walls.

You were within your rights. Frankly, one of the things I hate about gyms is other people's "cooties." Having to touch their towel is one of those things. What's worse is having to wipe THEIR sweat from the machine because they didn't. Now their cooties are on my towel. Yuck.

I use to carry a towel with a small bottle of alcohol , to wipe the handles off of everything I touched. When I got done I would wipe my hands off as well. You're right I quit going to gyms.

This is like people at resorts who leave a towel on a poolside lounge on their way to breakfast, figuring they have reserved it for whenever they decide to hit the pool. It is bogus and should be totally ignored. bk


Just like those who leave lawn chairs on the roadside to save a parking place. :lol:

Experiences such as yours were one of many reasons I canceled my membership a few years ago. In a huge room full of a sea of exercise equipment, it was not uncommon to see the majority of people sitting on machines resting between sets. Politely asking to "work in" would either produce a blank stare or a flat "no". Bottles of disinfectant were conveniently placed within reach. Their focus was clearly toward the acquisition of new members, rather than servicing their existing ones. So much for gym etiquette. Oh well.. Let's ride our bikes...

Just like those who leave lawn chairs on the roadside to save a parking place. :lol:

Heh- that's a South Philly thing- I didn't know that kind of thing was allowed in NE!

Heh- that's a South Philly thing- I didn't know that kind of thing was allowed in NE!

Are you kidding? In Boston, the ubiquitous lawn chair in the road is the new "winter dandelion." :lol:

In MN those ubiquitous lawn chairs would be resting under tires..:lol:

Ignore the guy. He is definitely being rude and inconsiderate. Generally, if I leave an area, momentarily, I don't expect to have the spot when I return. I suggest greeting him with a smile and say, "I'll be done in a second. I didn't know that you were here. You can work in if you like." I find it better to assume it was a momentarily lapse of judgement

I know from my own experience in the gym that sometimes I get so focused on my routine, I don't pay attention to others. I don't mean to.

I feel the same about people taking 3 chairs at the airport or some other nonsense. Life IS better when you play nice. This is part of the wisdom I have learned in my 50 years.

I dislike a gym atmosphere and it's a good thing I do. We considered joining a gym early last year, and instead decided to spend that money on a couple of bikes to tool around the neighborhood on weekends. You know the rest of the story. :)

Are you kidding? In Boston, the ubiquitous lawn chair in the road is the new "winter dandelion." :lol:

Ohhh- Boston! I had visions of rural Vermont- never mind! Boston and Philly are pretty much cut from the same mold :lol:. In Philly, it's not just lawn chairs- traffic cones are particularly valuable for the purpose of claiming a parking space, and they look a lot more official to out-of-towners who might be tempted to move what looks to them like a misplaced lawn chair.



I dislike a gym atmosphere and it's a good thing I do. We considered joining a gym early last year, and instead decided to spend that money on a couple of bikes to tool around the neighborhood on weekends. You know the rest of the story. :)

Yeah- here too, although I also invested in some equipment for a home gym. Every time I visit a hotel gym (even the fancy ones) I'm reassured that I did the right thing. BTW, dirty gym equipment can be a hotbed of MRSA- just sayin'.

I've seen it where someone is using a series of three or four machines as a sort of "circuit" and then gets annoyed if you start using one that they're going to go to next -- as if they have the right to tie up more than one at a time.

Fortunately, the place that I use is the rec center at a local university. In the early AM when I am usually there, there are about zero students so it's pretty empty. And the same all summer at any time of day. :)

Just like those who leave lawn chairs on the roadside to save a parking place. :lol:


In the town where I work those lawn chairs would be at the scrap yard and on their way to be recycled before noon.:D

Heh- you try that it in South Philly and you'll be missing a few appendages:p

Yeah- here too, although I also invested in some equipment for a home gym. Every time I visit a hotel gym (even the fancy ones) I'm reassured that I did the right thing. BTW, dirty gym equipment can be a hotbed of MRSA- just sayin'.

Going off at a right angle now from the original OP so sorry.


MRSA- In the UK you go to Hospital to catch it. So whats the gen on it over there.

I haven't worked out in a Gym since high school, but I can spot a narcissist when I see one. You did the right thing.

I think that guy's underwear was too tight.

Heh- that's a South Philly thing- I didn't know that kind of thing was allowed in NE!

In Chicago in the winter, those lawn chairs get flattened real quick.

I think that guy's underwear was too tight.:lol:

So this character was trying to monopolize two machines at once and he makes the effort to make you feel in the wrong for using one machine at a time? So how does that make sense except for the monumentally self absorbed and self justified?

So this character was trying to monopolize two machines at once and he makes the effort to make you feel in the wrong for using one machine at a time? So how does that make sense except for the monumentally self absorbed and self justified?

Exactly... and they are they same in the gym, on a bike, or in a car!

Using his logic - he could arrive at the gym at opening time with a armful of towels, drape a towel on every machine he plans to use, thus saving himself from being delayed by people he sees as less important.

Your post (the OP) is one of the reasons my wife and I build a home gym with stationary cycle, treadmill and resistance training. It has more than paid for itself and we both tend to workout more often than when we belonged to fitness clubs. AND... we're saving gas; I don't have to drive anywhere to get in my workout.

Many times alternating on the machines works for both people, just alternating sets.

I walked over to an machine I wanted to use and found a towel on it, but no one around. I looked around didn't see anyone who looked like they were using it. I even asked my husband who was on a machine close to it if someone was using the machine. He said the guy had walked away but didn't know where he went. I removed the towel to another machine nearby and got on the machine. After doing one set on the machine, a guy comes over and said "I only left that machine for a second". I told him I had two more sets to do. He stomped off in a huff. Was I wrong not to give him back the machine? Come to find out he was all the way across the gym in another area using a different machine when I got on this one. I'm guessing he thought he could "save" this machine for when he got done on the other one so he could trade off.You GO girl.:cheers: The guy is a jerk, and you gave him the gym justice he deserved.

I lift weights at an army base that lets the base civilian employees use the gym. Almost all military people are polite in the weight room and frequently work in. About half the civilians are not polite. I have about had it with one civilian who left his towel on an arm curl machine for an hour last week while he worked out on 3 other machines at the same time and talked to a friend for half an hour while they leaned on 2 other machines. The gym provides cloths and disinfectant to wipe down the equipment after you use it. The purpose is both good hygiene as well as to protect the equipment from the acids in sweat. This jerk will wipe the equipment before he uses it, but never when he is finished.:notamused:

[B][COLOR="Blue"]MRSA- In the UK you go to Hospital to catch it. So whats the gen on it over there.

Oh you can get it in hospitals here in the States, too. But gyms (especially school gyms, but mostly all of them) are breeding grounds. Putative reasons are dirty equipment (pads and mats are porous, or at least grainy and the little crevices on their surface can trap sweat and pathogens), unhygienic practices (not washing gym clothes, not bathing- yuck, but it happens), and working out with open wounds (unusual for MRSA to take off on intact skin).

My health club is really nice. All the towels you want, disinfecting wipes, upper class clientele (expensive) etc.

I usually only do the cardio machines so there's no "working in". Policy is 30 minutes on a cardio machine during high usage times when people might be waiting (almost never an issue and I usually go over that). Also policy is no reserving machines. Still a towel over a machine usually means somebody just stepped away to fill up their water bottle or something.

One time in spin class, just getting ready to start, literally every bike was in use except for one that had a towel on it. I asked around, no one knew who had put it there. I waited until class started and then I figured it was mine. A couple minutes after class started, some roid guy came in and snatched his towel and gave me a dirty look and said something unintelligible. Then AFTER class he recognized me outside in the central area and growled at me about *MY* rudeness. I realized it was no use trying to reason with him - what a jerk.