[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
Oh, asking them to completely give up one of the benches is wrong. Sharing is expected in a crowded gym but who are you to boot someone off a station? Asking to work in is completely reasonable though, if you lift similar weights. [/quote]
Sharing IS expected…and you can bet if it turned out they really were training as one rotating group but using extra stations for no reason, I would ask if I could use one.
I had an incident at one 24 hour fitness (not the one I use now) where these three guys would tie up three different machines in a rotation and get attitudes if anyone tried to work in (mind you, this was in the mornings when people are usually already short on time and just trying to fit a short workout in)…ON THREE DIFFERENT MACHINES. I sat down and flat out told them I am using this one for now.
When I first got into training, I started doing it with my best bud who was 6 yrs ahead of me. We used to swap plates on EVERYTHING. It was excellent Non-exercise activity thermogenesis. I’m talking oscillating between 95 (me) and 235 (him) on the bench… I kinda miss those days.
To clarify, I asked to rotate/work in, and was given some story about how that wouldn’t work with their routine. And to those that think I wasn’t firm enough in my approach, further dialogue would have led to fists, and I like my gym enough not to get thrown out. Given that they seem to know what they’re doing, and that we all seem to have the same training mentality, I expected a different response.
The next time they are scheduled to bench press show up with 5 of your friends about 15-20 minutes before you know they will arrive. Pull the same stunt they did. But be less dickish about it by not coming up with some bullshit about 30 minutes for 2 sets.
meh, I’d just go grab the plates near the bench and load up the leg press with 10 plates aside and do a 3" ROM, and moan and grunt while i’m doing it too. Fight fire with fire lulz
[quote]eightohfive wrote:
IF they are using a weight which you would not be using, i can understand their reasoning. It’s unfortunate that they are unwilling to spare a bench/rack, but i do the same. If I’m on the squat rack, i typically don’t like sharing because changing out plates, and waiting for someone to finish a set is BY FAR the most annoying thing i have come across in the gym. I go to a gym over run by college frat boys, and it is busy all the time, so when i get hold of a station, i try and control it so i can go at my own pace and weight. I understand your frustration, but look at it from their point of view, they want a good workout, can’t fault them for that.
** realize i come off a bit selfish here haha[/quote]
I fully agree with you here. You pay to go to this gym. That bench is yours, till you are done using it. I have many times, either done something else, or waited till that person was done. simple. doing something different won’t kill you and its probably more beneficial to do so. But a gym isn’t a place to share.
[quote]xXxJoKeRxXx wrote:
meh, I’d just go grab the plates near the bench and load up the leg press with 10 plates aside and do a 3" ROM, and moan and grunt while i’m doing it too. Fight fire with fire lulz[/quote]
lol .
the same thing happened to me today but with dumbells. Two guys were exercising together except they had about 5 different pairs of dumbells in front of them that they were using . I told them i was going to use it after waiting for 10 mins to see if theyll finish. One of the guys got kinda mad lol.
Don’t get me wrong… all 3 benches is a bit excessive, i’m just saying, i could understand why they’d do it, but that doesn’t make it right. If they’re all busting their asses, and constantly on the bench, not walking around grab assing, then maybe they really do need 3 benches? (which i highly doubt).
Sounds like a bunch of assholes. The gym is’nt a place to share and be super nice to everyone, but I think they could just let you work in if its going to be 30 some minutes.
I remembered a t-nationer who once said a kid interrupted his DB Presses while he was resting and he just went there and seated in the kid like he wasn’t there with the DB and everything.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
If there are a certain # of a particular piece of equipment in the gym (in this case, 3 which is pretty decent), and they insist on using all of them at once, that’s just a dick move in my book. Hogging ONE piece of equipment is understandable, I’ve done it at times, and sometimes it can’t be helped, but all 3,… other people are paying to use the facility as well, and they’re not special.
S[/quote]
this.
If it happens again OP just talk to the gym staff. Talk to a manager there about it if they aren’t willing to share one of the 3 benches/racks.[/quote]
I would lean this way. but if all 5 guys pay the same monthly fee that you do don’t be surprised when the manager gives you the, “I will see what I can do.” In the end that “team” might pay 5 times more than you to be there.
On the other hand the gym by me lets in high school kids for next to nothing because they have a deal with the near by school. The bright side is they all seem to have good gym etiquette because the manager keeps a close eye on them.
Tell them you’d like to train with them. Hell, if they’re bigger and stronger you could learn alot from them and they’d be good training buddies for you.
Ive seen Westside videos where 6 guys use the same bench. If the best in the world can do it why are these guys so special? Maybe they just want to be noticed.
[quote]its_just_me wrote:
Nope, never had that problem before
…oh crap - it’s me isn’t it?[/quote]
You’re screen name is so fitting.
I’m spoiled as hell, we only have one of a given machine, rack, etc. but I’m usually surprised if I see another person in the gym at all.
5 guys on three benches means one guy is working alone, so I don’t think its too much to work in with him. I also don’t think that it’s too much for a three man rotation either.
If they are all together like you said, and they started a few months ago, they probably are just really oblivious to their surroundings, coupled with that whole ‘buddy’ mentality (being in a bubble with their ‘gang’).
When they see people like you stare and wait, instead of thinking “oh, maybe they’re pissed cause we’re hogging everything”, they just shrug it off as everyone being nosey, or they get needlessly defensive (especially in a group - they feel like King Kong lol).
Also, some people are naturally bad at being thought-full or observant, not that that makes it ok or anything.
I’m just thinking back to the time when my brother and I joined a public gym about 4 years ago (up till that point we’d been training at home). Quite funny now that I think about it - sometimes, you have no natural sense of “gym etiquette”, it’s kind of a learning experience for some.
Like if someone asked to join in, immediately we’d be cautious and generally not want to (something which would be considered rude).
And when it came to things you can do easily at home versus the gym, that was a learning experience too. Take super-sets, I didn’t think it improper to leave a station, and come straight back to it (at first). I remember one older guy (generally, older guys don’t take any crap, and they have nerves of steel regardless of how big the ‘opponent’ is haha), this guy shouted to me “are you done with that?!!” I thought, “what a rude ass-hole!” This guy likewise was probably logging on somewhere saying the same thing about me…
There’s two sides to every story, even for the thoughtless gym rookie
PS - as it turned out, that older guy was pretty friendly with us later on (no longer thought he was an ass-hole lol)
[quote]kaisermetal wrote:
I remembered a t-nationer who once said a kid interrupted his DB Presses while he was resting and he just went there and seated in the kid like he wasn’t there with the DB and everything.
haha[/quote]