If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I was nervous when I joined the local gym last March. I was worried that I wouldn’t use the facilities enough to justify the cost. But I was also worried that I wouldn’t fit in. I visualized a crowd of preening lunkheads boasting about how much they could drink and which chick they scored with the night before.
It turned out my fears were unfounded. I’ve been going to the gym regularly. (Sometimes just once a week, but other times six days. I use it probably 10-15 times a month.) Meanwhile, most of the gym’s clientele is over the age of 50. And those of us who are younger are more interested in our own fitness goals.
There’s one guy who looks like a preening lunkhead, but turns out he’s a nice guy. In fact, Elvis is the glue that holds the weight room together from 9-10:30 most mornings. He’s funny, smart, and dedicated to improving his body. (I’ve written about Elvis at my my personal finance blog.)
None of the regulars are in to showing off. We’re not competing with each other. Some of the guys lift big weights, but they don’t make a big deal about it. Many of us — including Elvis, who is just about the strongest guy there — focus on lighter weights. And, as I say, we all pursue our own goals. We chat and kid each other and give each other advice. It’s a good group.
Interlopers
Today (Friday) I went to the gym to resume my modified lower-body exercise routine. I had my first visit with a physical therapist yesterday afternoon, and she’s asked me to work more on stretching and on strengthening my legs. (More about this on Thursday.) I spent an hour on the aerobics floor, doing my pushups, doing my stretches, and doing the new exercises from the physical therapist.
When I’d finished, I walked down to the weight room.
As I descended the stairs, I was startled to hear loud grunting coming from the weight room. All of us grunt when we push ourselves, but none of the regulars grunt like this. It was a showy “look at me” sort of thing, not a grunt of exertion.
There, at the bottom of the stairs, a big bald-headed guy was doing triceps extensions with a huge weight. Another big bald-headed guy was spotting him. (This, also, is unusual. It’s very rare that any of the regulars does anything that requires spotting. We stay within our limits.) The spotter was encouraging the lifter, “Yeah. That’s right. You can do it. One more.”
All of this seems fairly standard for most gyms, I think, but it’s strange at the gym I go to. But the real problem was this pair was loud. They were shouting. No conversation in the gym was possible. It was bizarre.
When the lifter finished, he shouted, “How much was that?”
“Seventy pounds,” shouted the spotter.
“Only seventy pounds?” shouted the lifter. “You gotta be kidding me. Bring me one hundred.” And so the spotter did. The grunting and shouted encouragement resumed.
I sat down on a bench and prepared to do one of my exercises. Elvis was sitting on the bench next to me. He was staring at the loud lifter and spotter, glaring. He tossed his head at them, his way of telling me he couldn’t believe the pair. I shook my head in agreement.
“That’s more like it,” the lifter said when he’d finished. “That’s the sort of weight I’m used to.” He stood up and preened around the gym. He walked over to Elvis and continued what must have been an earlier conversation.
“If you want any of those multi-vitamins, you know where to find me,” the big bald guy said.
“I don’t want your multi-vitamins,” Elvis said. “I have my own program that I’m happy with.” The big bald guy handed his card to Elvis and then the interlopers left.
The weight room was silent for a few minutes.
Like a family
Finally, Elvis broke the silence. “Can you believe those guys?” he said. Apparently they’d been in the weight room for a while, grunting and shouting and pushing multi-vitamins. Elvis showed me the business card: Mr. Muscle.
“Yeah,” I said. “They don’t really fit in with the culture we have down here, do they?”
“Not at all,” said another guy. We talked about how each of us has our own goals, and none of ever tries to show off to the others. Elvis pointed out that the guys weren’t even fit. They could lift a lot of weight, sure, he said, but they had a lot of body fat. It was as if they were specialized for one particular exercise.
It’s been a while since I thought about my gym’s culture and how much I like it. I’ve just become accustomed to it, I guess. I take it for granted. But today’s episode was a good reminder of why it’s nice to see the same familiar faces every day, and why I don’t mind being surrounded by older people when I’m exercising. They’re not trying to prove anything to anyone other than themselves.
Mac
16 responses so far ↓
1 Metroknow // Jul 29, 2008 at 7:24 am
The “gym culture” is something that has kept me away from gyms, honestly. So glad to hear that it is not always like those lunkheads. I experienced a similar thing at a Jazz club once - generally, a jazz audience is there for the immersive musical experience, and on occasion you get a loudmouth or two who doesn’t get it. They were asked to leave, and the crowd couldn’t be silently happier.
Thanks for helping to dispel the myth…I’m going to have to rethink my gym bias…
2 Rob Fahrni // Jul 29, 2008 at 7:56 am
Well, I don’t normally reply, but… There are actually those of us that lift for more than fitness, and on occasion we’ll make some noise. Now, maybe you workout at a gym that’s not accustomed to that, and I suppose it can be distracting, but what are you going to do? Ask the guy not to come back? Be thankful you’re not in the gym full of barbies prancing around. I’ll take the grunters over the barbies any day.
3 Anne Keckler, Personal Trainer // Jul 29, 2008 at 8:08 am
This post is way more judgmental than what I’m used to reading here.
People have different goals. Not everyone wants really low bodyfat. Some people want to be strong, and are willing to carry more bodyfat rather than sacrifice some strength.
If someone is making more noise than you do, just ignore them. There’s no need to judge them.
4 J.D. // Jul 29, 2008 at 8:19 am
I didn’t mean to come off as objecting to the noise. I meant to come off as objecting to these two completely dominating the weight room with a “show-off” attitude that frustrated *all* of the regulars, not just me.
I didn’t do a good job.
5 Mary // Jul 29, 2008 at 8:45 am
I think you did a fine job of pointing out the behavior that was irritating everyone. It wasn’t the fact that these guys were lifting heavy or making a little noise. I do too sometimes, and I’m certainly not the most powerful lifter in the world.
Also, noting someone’s behavior and its effect is *not* “judgmental.” It’s stating the obvious.
The shouting was interfering with everyone else’s workout. That’s not proper social behavior.
Most people at the gym I use are well behaved. We have the full range, from prancy young ladies and slouching young men whose pants are about to fall off to bodybuilders, thickset guys who bench-press nonstop, loads of middle-aged people, and the occasional senior citizen.
All seem to get along just fine. Nobody bothers anyone else–and no one pays a whole lot of attention to anyone else.
But every now and then, we’ll get some dope who insists *repeatedly* on dropping very heavy dumbbells on the gym floor. Or on emitting ear-splitting groans (again, repeatedly). Or otherwise making a spectacle.
I just focus on what’s playing on my iPod and keep moving.
Mary
6 Red // Jul 29, 2008 at 8:52 am
Well I thought it was amusing. There’s a difference between noise and shouting about how much you’re lifting.
7 Joshua // Jul 29, 2008 at 9:20 am
Actually, it sounds like the guys probably rove from gym to gym putting on that show to show “how strong they are” and push their vitamins; so people will see them and think, oh, if I take those vitamins, I’ll be big and strong like that guy. pfft!
8 DR // Jul 29, 2008 at 11:35 am
Is ‘multi-vitamins’ code for steroids?
I know a few guys in Toronto that have memberships at all the health clubs in order to sell their ‘multi-vitamins’
They head straight for the young guys (16-25) and tell them how ‘jacked’ they are, but if they really wanted to get hyooooooge, that they should try these ‘multi-vitamins’
Regarding the noise, the guys (and it’s always the guys) who make LOTS of noise do it for the attention.
And this is coming from a guy that trains by pushing his car uphill…without screaming like this guy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qqz2svayk4
9 Gooniette // Jul 29, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I also do not think the post came off as judgmental. There is a difference between grunting at a gym and shouting to attract attention to peddle your wares while lifting weights.
I hope the lack of interest in their product will keep them from coming back to your gym.
10 MITBeta @ Don't Feed the Alligators // Jul 29, 2008 at 1:10 pm
“It’s very rare that any of the regulars does anything that requires spotting. We stay within our limits.”
With weight lifting, as with all things, when we stay within our limits, we don’t grow. There’s a difference between a spotter and a cheerleader, too. You need a spotter to support you when you fail — when you’ve stuck your neck out and taken a risk, sink or swim.
Take this from a guy who’s 5′6″, 140 lbs, and hasn’t seen the inside of gym in the better part of 7 years…
I agree with the other 98% of the post, though. I’ve been to a few different gyms, and they’ve all had remarkably different cultures. Some are full of people who show up to do their work and go home. Some are social clubs with some fancy machines. Some are full of showy meatheads.
My first though when the vitamins came up was right up the alley of Joshua’s comment: These guys are “traveling” salesmen who go from gym to gym peddling their “vitamins”.
11 Nicky // Jul 29, 2008 at 2:09 pm
You didn’t do a bad job explaining what you were objecting to - the *excess* noise, the obvious showing off to sell pills - I got it and so did a lot of other commenters. Maybe some people only skimmed the post and so missed the point. (Note that I am not saying they didn’t do a good job of reading the post. Don’t want to be judgemental.)
Brilliant blog, btw JD and Mac. I found you via Get Rich Slowly and have gone through all the archives. I am now incredibly inspired to do more about my own fitness and health. Keep it up!
12 greenman2001 // Jul 29, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Multi-vitamins?
13 Deb // Jul 29, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I enjoyed your post and think you did a good job of explaining that this pair was not part of your every day gym culture.
Thanks for appreciating we older folks who come to the gym to do our own thing and work our own programs.
I’m one of the few females in the weight room most mornings, but the guys have come to appreciate that I work on my program, work hard, cooperate as I can. Occasionally I’d LOVE to have a spotter; wish I had the courage to ask one of you young guys if you’d mind giving a gal a hand…
14 Andrew is getting fit // Jul 30, 2008 at 12:18 am
It sounds like you’ve got a great gym. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having spotters but the obvious preening is very offputting.
15 Derick Valadao // Jul 30, 2008 at 7:55 am
This is a great article. I follow your richslowly blog but had no idea you also did a fitness blog (for the rest of us). I’m subscribing. As a university student, I shuffle from gym to gym (whether it’s the free fitness centre at school or the gyms close to my internship placements) and have struggled to find the right fit (which is a problem when you buy bulk timeslots). Four months at an Extreme Fitness minutes from home became a daily game of gym stereotype bingo. There were even people on the workout floor who were selling supplements. They would pull people off machines and hand out brochures. Needless to say, I’ve never gone there again.
I went from 5″4 and 202 pounds to a (getting leaner) 160 and have made significant strength gains along the way. I’m a geek, relatively intelligent, and rather introverted. The last thing I need is a gym culture that flies in the face of all that. I’ve had decent luck with smaller establishments but still can’t avoid the myriad problems that keep me from enjoying my time there (hence shortening my workouts). Anybody have any advice on how to shop for gyms?
Thanks,
-Derick.
16 dale // Aug 26, 2008 at 8:34 am
Every gym has it’s own culture. In the 20+ years that I’ve been a gym regular I’ve experienced many different types. I call a place with the emphasis on muscle building and moving iron a gym. Places with an emphasis on weight loss, cardio, etc I call a “health club”. I’ve been a member of both types of facilities over the years and yes, the culture can be quite different. The norm for a “gym” my not be acceptable in a “health club”. I’ve been in gyms where guys were deadlifting 600+ pounds and dropping the bars on the pad at the end of the set creating a huge booming sound. In that gym, nobody even bothered to look. Another gym that I worked out in briefly wouldn’t allow me to wear a tank top or a sleeveless t-shirt. Evidently some of the members were intimidated by other members who had more muscular arms…
The one thing I’ve noticed almost universally in the gyms that I’ve trained in, is most of the people there are into what they’re doing and not concerned with what you’re doing. The heavy iron guys don’t care that you’re there to use the treadmill and do a couple of circuits with light weights. Another thing I’ve observed is that most people are more than happy to help out other members. My experience has been people respect other people who are in the gym to train and improve or maintain their fitness. People do not respect those who come to the gym to “preen”, show off their latest gym attire, or to socialize.
Leave a Comment