The 15 Worst People in the Gym - Ever!

Don't irritate people at your gym.

There are too many people who irritate everybody else at the gym. Are you a new gym user? Don't be one of these guys!

There might just be a thing or two on this list that makes people hate you behind your back, without your knowing about it. 

Read up on the things that irritate everybody to make sure that you don't do any of these them.

Don't be irritating.

Things that irritate everybody else at the gym

1. People who make too much noise

2. People who drop the weights

3. People who leave their weights lying around

4. People who talk too much

5. People who stand in the way

6. People who take up all of the machines at once

7. People who leave sweat and other gross stuff everywhere

8. Screaming in the change rooms

9. People who change the steam room temperature and leave after 5 minutes

10. People who parade their junk in the change rooms

11. People who belittle others

12. People who take too long on machines

13. People who talk to you mid-set

14. People who ask for a spot but can't move the weight

15. Spotters who become drill sergeants

Don't do any of these things.

1. People who make too much noise

Grunting can actually be beneficial to your lift, strength and mental focus. 

Heavy exhalation on the concentric phase of lifts like pulls up, dead lifts and squats will help to tighten your core. This will help with form during these tricky lifts. 

It is one of the recommended ways to overcome light-headedness from squats and deadlifts. It also helps to maximize your bench press ability.

Don't overdo it

But there is a fine line between what is acceptable and what is not. Your grunt should be a genuine by-product of your training and should not be disrupting or distracting to the other people around you.

Don't grunt, scream and perform as way of showing off. That makes you look like a douche and puts you off as the guy who is just there to seek attention.

People can tell the difference between the war cries of someone pushing themselves to the limit and the guy that hopes his screams will make others stop what they're doing and stare. No one cares. We're all here for ourselves. Keep it to yourself.

On shouting: Don't scream to your mate across the room. We are all here to train and we don't want to hear about your fake manliness. 

People are trying to focus on their training and other voices ringing in their ears make them wish certain people weren't there at all. 

Save your Tarzan voice for emergencies only (like a heart attack, choking, someone dying under the bar, or forgetting your post-workout shake at home). 

Be considerate. If you want to say something, get off you're lazy ass and walk across the room.

People don't mind you having conversations with your mates. Just don't make us lose focus, okay?

Silence is wise.

2. People who drop the weights

It's impressive to see a guy who can curl 50's, until he suddenly loses all his 'strength' and drops it onto the floor.

Did you just make me look in your direction mid-rep and lose my focus?

If you can't put it down properly, go lighter and until you have the strength to put the weights back in the same way that you lift them in the beginning of your set.

I've heard a lot a haters judge these guys. I'm one of them. It doesn't make you look strong. It makes you irritating.

Want to be the guy that nobody likes? 'Accidentally' break one of those weights and make the rest of us wait a week or two before the gym replaces it.

Don't fake it, make it.

3. People who leave their weights lying around

I hate running around the gym looking for a weight that you were too lazy to put back, and I'm not the only one. 

You don't know it, but we are watching you; waiting to silently condemn whoever messes with our weights.

Want people to like you? Don't make it harder for them to do what they came to the gym to do: work out.

Be responsible. People notice.

4. People who talk too much

There's nothing wrong with having a chat or two in between sets at the gym. I do it often. The gym is a great place to make good friends with the same interests as you. 

They could motivate you to push harder and get further in your physical endeavors. I've learnt a lot from mates I've met at the gym, and I've made good friends there.

However, there is a big difference between the friendly guy who says hi and strikes up a good chat every now and then and the guy who goes there only to talk. We know the difference.

Don't be the guy that people end up avoiding because they are forced to hear you babble on about something that no one cares about for 15 minutes. Some people like to talk (like me) and others don't.

There are lots of people who avoid any talking at all and only want to lift. Don't irritate people. If you can't tell when you are irritating someone, rather don't try and let people approach you instead. Is no one is approaching you? Then focus and gym harder!

Click here if you need a few more guidelines for socializing at the gym.

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5. People who stand in the way

Don't stand in the way of mirrors, water fountains, weights, machines, racks, hallways, walkways, stairs, and anywhere else people might want to exercise. 

You can take up mirror space if you're using it correctly. If you're not, get out the way. Some people are too nice to tell you to move, but that doesn't mean that you are not in their way. 

Don't sit on machines that you are not using, even if it looks like no one is using it. I've waited a long time for some loser who just sat on a machine and got up without doing anything on it.

Keep moving.

6. People who take up all of the machines at once

If you're using the bench, don't put your phone, towel, water bottle, or anything else on the bench next to you. 

Someone might want to use that bench but can't because they think someone else is using it. It can make people pretty angry when they later discover that it was just you who couldn't put your stuff on the floor like the rest of us. 

Don't take up 3 machines at the same time when there are people waiting to use them. Your work out is not more important than the next guy. If you want to super-set, offer to share the equipment with anybody else who might need it as well.

Think about others.

7. People who leave sweat and other gross stuff everywhere

Sweat is good for you. If you sweat on the equipment, clean it off. It will take you a few seconds and will save you a lot of self-imposed hate. 

If you use tissues, throw them away. Don't expect the cleaning staff to do it because it makes you look bad in front of everybody - not them. 

Also, throw away any other stuff like water bottles, juice boxes, gum papers etc. 

Most people think of this as common sense. If you never thought of it, now you know. Don't spit in the water fountain, ever. Be a man and swallow if you have to.

Keep it clean, bro.

8. Screaming in the change rooms

I personally find these people the most annoying of them all. 

I've just finished an exhausting workout that almost killed me. I finally get to sit for a few moments on a bench in the change rooms, downing my protein shake and silently congratulating myself for an amazing workout. 

This moment of rest is important to me. It is one of my favorite moments. I love feeling like I have just conquered the world after an intense workout. 

But my moments of victory are interrupted up by the ignorant fools screaming at each other - like they can't hear the echo of their own voices. I hate being the one in-between the guy in the shower and the guy by the bathroom mirror's conversation about why they're so cool or whatever. 

Don't talk to anybody when you shower at the gym. In order to be heard above the shower's stream you have to shout and the other is going to need to shout so you can hear them. This irritates everybody!

Talk normal.

9. People who change the steam room temperature and leave after 5 minutes

These people walk into the steam room, change the temperature because it is 'too cold' and leave after 5 minutes before breaking an actual sweat. Your body needs time to respond to the heat of the steam room to get the proper benefits.

Many people use it to sit back and relax. I use it to sweat, raise my core temperature, detox and flush out lactic acid, jump starts my immune when I need it or increase blood circulation. 

If you are curious about the benefits of steam rooms, click here.

Sit in the steam room for at least 5 minutes before deciding that it's too cold. If it is still too cold, ask the people in the steam room (especial the ones that were there before you) if they would mind if you change the temperature.

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10. People who parade their junk in the change rooms 

You aren't shy about being bare and natural in the change rooms. Congratulations! Now put some clothes on. 

Most of us change in there and being naked is inevitable, but get done with it and move on. A cold shower is better at cooling you off from your workout or sauna, but we don't want to see the sights that come with it. 

You might be comfortable in your own skin, but you could be making others uncomfortable without knowing it. Some people consider it rude to have your junk in their faces for longer than what is necessary.

Keep it PG.

11. People who belittle others

Don't mock the new kid at the gym who isn't using the best form. It makes you look bad, not better.

If it bothers you so much, offer some advice; but don't get offended if he wants to learn for himself. So what if the other guy uses low weights and high reps? By the way, high reps are great for muscle growth.

Not everybody in the gym is a bodybuilder and some people want to have less muscle mass for various reasons.

Be careful, it's a small world out there and people talk. I've seen what people say come full circle all too often. I might be a big guy, but when I hear my smaller mates belittle the people who are smaller than them, there's a level of respect that I lose for them.

I have a high regard for the bodybuilding sport and for everybody that tries - whether I think that they are doing it right or not.

If someone is always on their phone or is constantly looking in the mirror more than working out, how is that affecting you? 

It doesn't look like that guy is really focused on lifting I might agree with you - but remember - each to their own.

Be kind.

12. People who take too long on machines

If there are only two benches and the other one is taken, don't take half an hour to do your three sets.

The list of people waiting on (or hating on) you is growing by the minute. It is okay to take your time, and be sure not to sacrifice the quality of your workout, but you need to be reasonable.

Place yourself in the shoes of the other people waiting inline. Mentally come up with a semi-compromise. 

Resting a little less in-between a set is not going to kill you. Who knows... the random muscle confusion might benefit you.

Compromise

13. People who talk to you mid-set

If you need to ask a question or say something, wait until the person is done with their set. 

Do not talk to them in the middle of their squat, curl, dip or lift. Lifting weights comes down to an internal battle between the mind and body. Respect his or her moment of focus. 

Interrupting people while they're busy with their set is just plain nasty. This applies whether the person is a complete stranger or your best friend.

Providing motivation and mental pump-ups during sets are fine, that's not what I am talking about.

I hate the 'how many sets do you have left?' guys when I'm focused on reaching that 8th curl. Could you really not wait a few more seconds?

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14. People who ask for a spot but can't move the weight

These people are the biggest clowns in the gym. 

If you are going to ask someone to spot you, don't load a weight that you can't handle and expect the spotter to do part of the work in moving the weight.

The spotter is there to ensure that you don't injure yourself or that you don't fail and end up under the bar - nothing more.

If the spotter is a good mate of yours, then it might not be seen as annoying; but asking someone you only know in the gym to spot you is the same as asking him for a favor.

Don't make him expend his own energy when he already has a workout to do. He isn't your personal trainer.

Don't annoy people by giving them more physical work that they didn't ask for. I laugh when these people ask 'how much of that did I lift?' afterwards. None dude!

Your spotter is obviously going to be polite and say it was all you - even when it wasn't. 

'Riding' means balancing. If your spotters needs more than a finger to assist you, it's too much. 

The only time he might need to exert a little more energy is if you fail on your last rep and he helps you rack the bar.

Use your own strength.

15. Spotters who become drill sergeants

When people ask me for a spot, I ask how many sets they want to do and if they want me to 'ride with them' (guiding the weights as the lifter moves them, so that they don't lose balance and topple the bar) or just stand by in case they fail and can't rack it. 

While spotting, be prepared to help out if you need to. Don't push the lifter to do more reps then he was planning to do.

Unless they ask for your motivation, they already know what rep range they are going for, and they might not want to train till failure. 

I, for example, train till failure in some programs and avoid failure in others to vary my training.

Forcing the poor guy to do more reps then he intended is not going to win you any brownie points. I avoid asking certain people to spot me now, solely for this reason.

Do you know of any people who need to read this? Share the article and decrease the amount of douches gym-wide. STAY STRONG.

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