Little Ass-Hats at The Gym

Off Topic
1

There used to be a code of conduct in the gym. If this were 1985, even though I was personally too young at the time, it would be common place for a local bodybuilding competitor to be allowed to work out at a gym for free. Hell, just seeing someone at that level training at the gym was likely to bring in even more clientele just from the motivation.

This level of respect is now completely gone and we do not really seem to be better off for it.

I was training chest at a gym that I ONLY go to in order to train chest because it is the only gym I have found in my area at all with the Hammer Strength laying flat press that I like to use. I also usually have no problem either working in with someone or simply asking how many sets someone has left. This usually leads to the person either letting me work in or quickly moving on with their workout especially if they are much weaker and really don’t have many set routine they are working from. The truth is, most will just get up when I ask because rarely anymore do I run into people who are really working hard when I ask in the first place.

However, this time, after finishing 4 sets of a previous exercise, I notice the guy I saw using the machine I came there for when I walked in is still on it
so I wait about 5 min doing calf raises after laying my things near his area (gym-ese for “I need to use this piece of equipment also”).

The guy is still on the machine doing the same “leg raise/flat press” with only one single 25lbs plate on each side, no strain on his face or in his muscles as his legs fly up in the air whenever he pushes the weight up
SLOWLY.

He may have weighed 130lbs at maybe 5’6" if that and was clearly just going through the motions.

I then asked, after waiting past 5min, “How many sets do you have left?”

His response with attitude, “I don’t know. I wasn’t really counting
maybe 15 more minutes”.

I assumed his “15 more minutes” was either not to be taken seriously or he was simply being an asshole who enjoyed making someone much bigger wait on the machine.

10 minutes passed and I was now getting pissed because he had now stripped the weight to only ONE SINGLE 10LBS PLATE ON EACH SIDE, my muscles and joints were cooling down and he had now been on the machine a total of 15 whole minutes past the time I initially needed to use the equipment
which was enough time for me to finish my first exercise, waste time waiting and then finish 3 sets on the incline press.

But I kept waiting
because clearly the argument is that he pays dues as well.

20 full minutes after I had initially asked if I could work in, the guy is still on the machine.

I then say, “DUDE, I need to use the machine and you’ve been on that one for nearly half an hour. Either get the fuck up or I’m going to get management”.

He gets up.

Why the fuck do we have to put up with this shit lately?

If you are in a public gym and you stay on a machine for over 15minutss, you had better either be near pro level in terms of strength and size denoting a true NEED to use it that long, or you need to get the fuck up and let someone who actually plans on seeing results use it.

Why the hell have gyms turned into play time for grown adults so they can try to piss off people actually there to work?

2

I really thought, for a second, this was a thread about people wearing hats that didn’t fit.

3

Yeah I feel you if dude would of been pushing some effort it would of been hell yeah get it dude. I have 2 groups that annoy me. 1 is pussy looking dude who comes in with his gf and 2 is older ladies who think you need to move for them for some damn reason. When I was 18 I used to train at world gym in orlando and was in awe of the big guys and they were my teachers without knowing it and some would give you tips and shit if they saw you trying and progressing. I don’t see that camraderie much anymore. I say bring back the stripes pants.

4

C’mon Prof, you could have handled that better.

“Dude, you clearly need a safety spotter since you are obviously struggling with that light weight”.

Then go and dangle your nutsack an inch above his forehead whilst you spot him. He’ll leave. Quickly.

BBB

5

That guy was an asshole. Then again, he probably took you putting your stuff near him as an act of aggression and wanted to really let you know that he wasn’t going to be bossed around.

I think what’s most sad is that there isn’t any kind of comradery at the gym. Everybody is paranoid and annoyed with each other.

6

[quote]Professor X wrote:

I then asked, after waiting past 5min, “How many sets do you have left?”

His response with attitude, “I don’t know. I wasn’t really counting
maybe 15 more minutes”.[/quote]

For some reason 15 minutes seems to be the industry standard for time wasters.

Maybe it’s an offshoot of Warhol’s idea that “everybody will be famous for 15 minutes”, only here everybody will work out for fifteen minutes and after that they’ll never darken a gym doorway again.

It must be true because all the ‘fifteen-minuters’ I’ve ever encountered are strictly one-offs
have you seen this guy before or since?

7

Just reading that made me break out in an “aggression” sweat.

One of the reasons I set up a nice home gym was to avoid ass-hattery.
Now I only have to deal with the ass-hat in the mirror.

8

[quote]Professor X wrote:
There used to be a code of conduct in the gym. If this were 1985, even though I was personally too young at the time, it would be common place for a local bodybuilding competitor to be allowed to work out at a gym for free. Hell, just seeing someone at that level training at the gym was likely to bring in even more clientele just from the motivation.

This level of respect is now completely gone and we do not really seem to be better off for it.

I was training chest at a gym that I ONLY go to in order to train chest because it is the only gym I have found in my area at all with the Hammer Strength laying flat press that I like to use. I also usually have no problem either working in with someone or simply asking how many sets someone has left. This usually leads to the person either letting me work in or quickly moving on with their workout especially if they are much weaker and really don’t have many set routine they are working from. The truth is, most will just get up when I ask because rarely anymore do I run into people who are really working hard when I ask in the first place.

However, this time, after finishing 4 sets of a previous exercise, I notice the guy I saw using the machine I came there for when I walked in is still on it
so I wait about 5 min doing calf raises after laying my things near his area (gym-ese for “I need to use this piece of equipment also”).

The guy is still on the machine doing the same “leg raise/flat press” with only one single 25lbs plate on each side, no strain on his face or in his muscles as his legs fly up in the air whenever he pushes the weight up
SLOWLY.

He may have weighed 130lbs at maybe 5’6" if that and was clearly just going through the motions.

I then asked, after waiting past 5min, “How many sets do you have left?”

His response with attitude, “I don’t know. I wasn’t really counting
maybe 15 more minutes”.

I assumed his “15 more minutes” was either not to be taken seriously or he was simply being an asshole who enjoyed making someone much bigger wait on the machine.

10 minutes passed and I was now getting pissed because he had now stripped the weight to only ONE SINGLE 10LBS PLATE ON EACH SIDE, my muscles and joints were cooling down and he had now been on the machine a total of 15 whole minutes past the time I initially needed to use the equipment
which was enough time for me to finish my first exercise, waste time waiting and then finish 3 sets on the incline press.

But I kept waiting
because clearly the argument is that he pays dues as well.

20 full minutes after I had initially asked if I could work in, the guy is still on the machine.

I then say, “DUDE, I need to use the machine and you’ve been on that one for nearly half an hour. Either get the fuck up or I’m going to get management”.

He gets up.

Why the fuck do we have to put up with this shit lately?

If you are in a public gym and you stay on a machine for over 15minutss, you had better either be near pro level in terms of strength and size denoting a true NEED to use it that long, or you need to get the fuck up and let someone who actually plans on seeing results use it.

Why the hell have gyms turned into play time for grown adults so they can try to piss off people actually there to work?[/quote]

He was simply giving you a bigger window of time to flirt his pants off

Really missed out on this one man

9

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Just reading that made me break out in an “aggression” sweat.

One of the reasons I set up a nice home gym was to avoid ass-hattery.
Now I only have to deal with the ass-hat in the mirror.[/quote]

Lol
me too.

10

Did he ever leave the equipment to get a drink or anything? I usually take the passive-agressive approach the first time with someone I haven’t encountered before and as soon as they walk away from the equipment I start to use it. When they come back and say they weren’t done I usually give them the “well I thought you were since you’ve been on it for a long ass time and you walked away” and then go back to using it.

11

[quote]waldo21212 wrote:
Did he ever leave the equipment to get a drink or anything? I usually take the passive-agressive approach the first time with someone I haven’t encountered before and as soon as they walk away from the equipment I start to use it. When they come back and say they weren’t done I usually give them the “well I thought you were since you’ve been on it for a long ass time and you walked away” and then go back to using it.[/quote]

This fucker never left. He would do a set and then sit there staring at everyone else
then when you ask if he is done, he would do another set.

I have actually never had someone do this before. I have encountered assholes in the gym like that guy I wrote about who tried to walk into me as if he was daring me to move out of his way first
but never had I met someone who was literally just fucking around on the machine who just refused to get up as if he was trying to teach me a lesson.

It’s the same attitude as those guys who jump in front of you and stand two inches away from the mirror. Gym etiquette is fucking lost lately and no one else is to blame for that but all of these jackasses who only go to the gym so they can say they did it.

12

you should try what Capt. Kirk used to do. Go to 0:30.

13

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]waldo21212 wrote:
Did he ever leave the equipment to get a drink or anything? I usually take the passive-agressive approach the first time with someone I haven’t encountered before and as soon as they walk away from the equipment I start to use it. When they come back and say they weren’t done I usually give them the “well I thought you were since you’ve been on it for a long ass time and you walked away” and then go back to using it.[/quote]

This fucker never left. He would do a set and then sit there staring at everyone else
then when you ask if he is done, he would do another set.

I have actually never had someone do this before. I have encountered assholes in the gym like that guy I wrote about who tried to walk into me as if he was daring me to move out of his way first
but never had I met someone who was literally just fucking around on the machine who just refused to get up as if he was trying to teach me a lesson.

It’s the same attitude as those guys who jump in front of you and stand two inches away from the mirror. Gym etiquette is fucking lost lately and no one else is to blame for that but all of these jackasses who only go to the gym so they can say they did it.[/quote]

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I once encountered a guy who managed to hog a rack for over 15 minutes without actually being there:

I noticed him going up to the rack, which was no biggy because I wasn’t ready to use it for another 20 minutes or so. So, fast forward to when I was ready to use it and the guy was nowhere to be seen. I thought: “cool, he’s done. Good timing there”
 The rack was partly obscured by a wall, so it was only when I got near it that I saw the guy’s towel draped over the bar, but with no sign of him.

It dawned on me that there’d been very little activity in that area for well over ten minutes, so I started wondering where he’d got to. A quick glance out of the window solved that little mystery: he was outside, engaged in conversation with some chick in a car.

I soon as he saw me, he shot back in and resumed his workout as if nothing had ever happened. No apology, not even eye contact.

I was too stunned at what I’d just seen to say anything, even though I was fuming that somebody could be that inconsiderate


14

[quote]CappedAndPlanIt wrote:

I think what’s most sad is that there isn’t any kind of comradery at the gym. Everybody is paranoid and annoyed with each other.[/quote]

I don’t know, there are two or three guys I see on the regular, and we have become pretty friendly in the process. We are all making progress though.

There are a handful of douches giving me dirty looks every time I see them. 2 fat fucks and a skinny twink to be precise.

What really sucks is when you click the add friend button on someone, and they DON’T click it back! Now that hurts my feelings :wink:

15

[quote]roybot wrote:
For some reason 15 minutes seems to be the industry standard for time wasters.
[/quote]

You know when I thought about that, thats pretty true. I mean 15 minutes is a long ass time to be doing one thing in a gym doing a relatively normal routine. If you rest 1 minute in between sets, and do sets that last say 30 seconds. You could do 10 sets of that in 15 minutes. Seeing as like 95% of gym goers still do some form of 3x12 they have 0 excuse to take 15 minutes. The only lift I ever spend more than 15 minutes on is probably deadlift, and thats just because set up and clean up take so much time. I would gladly excuse someone inhabiting the squat rack if they were doing a legit lift. As for dwelling on a Hammer Strength machine, after 15 minutes Id probably walk up and
PUNT!

16

You should have just told him that you were going to work in with him.

Then proceed to load up the machine with real weight & when you get done with your set, walk away to get a drink of water while he unloads the weight so he can play fitness. Then when he’s done (and you’re rested) tell him to help you load the weight back on for your next set.

That should be the last time you see him.

1 Like
17

[quote]Htowner wrote:

[quote]roybot wrote:
For some reason 15 minutes seems to be the industry standard for time wasters.
[/quote]

You know when I thought about that, thats pretty true. I mean 15 minutes is a long ass time to be doing one thing in a gym doing a relatively normal routine. If you rest 1 minute in between sets, and do sets that last say 30 seconds. You could do 10 sets of that in 15 minutes. Seeing as like 95% of gym goers still do some form of 3x12 they have 0 excuse to take 15 minutes. The only lift I ever spend more than 15 minutes on is probably deadlift, and thats just because set up and clean up take so much time. I would gladly excuse someone inhabiting the squat rack if they were doing a legit lift. As for dwelling on a Hammer Strength machine, after 15 minutes Id probably walk up and
PUNT![/quote]

I never go out of my way to watch the fifteen-minuteers, but from what I’ve seen it’s the norm for at least ten minutes of that golden quarter-of-an-hour to be rest. Rest from what? Talk about following the path of least resistance: the rest becomes the workout. How they can leave feeling like they’ve accomplished anything is beyond me.

You do see the odd anomaly, though: a couple of years ago I was waiting for a kid to get done with the only pull up station in my gym - he wisely invested his allotted 15 minutes in 20 (not a typo) sets of assisted pull ups (bear in mind that he couldn’t do a single unassisted rep).

I didn’t ask him when he’d be done: I wanted to see if he’d hit triple figures. Still, at least he got the workout part right (a little too right). Shame about the intensity.

18

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Just reading that made me break out in an “aggression” sweat.

One of the reasons I set up a nice home gym was to avoid ass-hattery.
Now I only have to deal with the ass-hat in the mirror.[/quote]

This is the exact reason I don’t have mirrors in my set-up.

19

[quote]countingbeans wrote:

[quote]CappedAndPlanIt wrote:

I think what’s most sad is that there isn’t any kind of comradery at the gym. Everybody is paranoid and annoyed with each other.[/quote]

I don’t know, there are two or three guys I see on the regular, and we have become pretty friendly in the process. We are all making progress though.

There are a handful of douches giving me dirty looks every time I see them. 2 fat fucks and a skinny twink to be precise.
[/quote]

I agree Beans
I’m friends with the regular guys who go in there and lift. And it’s good too when we’re all making progress or I need a spotter who won’t try and lift all the weight himself or I need someone to check my form.

As for the douches, I tend to take their equipment when they take too long and if they try to argue, I stare at them and growl or growl and play deaf. It works 60% of the time, all the time.

20

that sucks. Should have went to management sooner. total disrespect for gym etiquette there.