We asked this question on Twitter and got so many great responses that I thought it’d be worth posting here too.
If you’ve been going to the gym regularly surely you’ve got some stories. Amuse us with your funny memories. Drop them below!
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In my 20s, I was using one of the gym’s old-school sit-up benches, something like that one above except your body was several feet in the air. Had a 45-pound plate across my chest because, hey, who doesn’t like jacked hip flexors, right?
Anyway, the foot thing just came off, flipping me onto my head. My feet flew up and the foot thing flew 20 feet across the gym, smashing into a wall. Current me would’ve stood up and laughed. Twenty-something me kicked the machine several times and went through George Carlin’s Incomplete List of Impolite Words (look it up), drawing more attention.
Although I punished the machine for its mistake, it turned out that I didn’t set the pin properly on the foot thing.
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Oh ouch!!
Good thing it happened in your 20s. Recovering from that at our ages would be a lot different and probably require a chiropractor.
I vaguely remember setting up to do a squat, getting under the bar, and getting instantaneously jerked from one extreme side to the next because apparently I added another plate to only one side but forgot to do it to the other… and didn’t add any clamps.
So obviously the heavier side pulled me down, the plates fell off, then the lighter side now was heavier, so the same thing happened on that side too, and I think at least there were some safety bars in place, but I can’t remember what happened after that… aside from seeing Coach B shaking his head right behind me.
Luckily that happened in high school, so my poor spine recovered pretty quickly but my ego did not.
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These are great. (Chris got an actual laugh out of me.)
I know I must have humiliated myself in the gym when I was younger, because I’m incredibly awkward, but nothing comes to mind. I’ve been spit off the treadmill a couple of times, leaving me to bang bang bang into the wall behind it until I could get myself untangled and up, but happily those events occurred at home.
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I was once squatting in shorts that were not as stretchable as I thought, and they ripped wide open in the ass in the bottom position. Not a little, but completely down the rear seem. Of course, the gym was quite crowded that day, so everyone got to find out my taste in underwear.
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Oh nooooooo!!! HAHAHA that’s terrible, but my goodness, you’re not alone. It happens to people all the freaking time! Treadmills are a-holes.
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OH MY GOODNESS. So what did you do?! Was the workout over at that point?
Passed out on a max effort deadlift and people thought I died.
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No kidding?! Glad you recovered! Did you ever attempt that weight again?
I did. I shaved 20 pounds off for an estimated 1 rep max, plugged it in to a template to generate lifts for another 6 week training block and pulled it the next time around.
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Oh that’s amazing! Nice job!
Thanks!
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There’s one horse stall mat that has a huge lip on it and I catch my feet on it every time I go to the gym. I try to play it off by sticking my arms out to balance and letting out an “AH!”. I’ve never full tripped on it but I can only imagine that’s coming
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Fun topic
I was deadlifting and one of the straps on my camisole came loose mid set. I wasn’t going to stop the set so I basically had a full on top malfunction but luckily only 1 other person saw because there was no mirror.
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That made me LOL just now! Maybe sometime you could kick it angrily. Surely others have had the same problem with it.
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Oh my!! But actually you played it so cool by finishing your set. Now THAT is some serious focus.
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I mean… it’s a uni gym. Not like anyone there hasn’t seen a topless chick.
Also, there’s a strict “no filming” policy so I knew I was safe
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Regardless, you’re a very brave girl. Share some of that with me. 
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I got back into swimming for cardio (I was heavily involved in my young years) at my new gym that has a pool a few months ago. My technique and breathing were so off from many years not swimming that I was wrecked after my first session. That’s despite decent cardio for jogging a few miles with no problem.
In a haze, walking with my head down, I accidentally entered the locker room closest to where my towel was hung. Yes, you guessed it: the female locker room! I walked in, looked to my right , saw the back of a nude women, panicked, whispered under my breath, “holy shit!,” and scrammed the hell out of there!
Luckily it was around 5:45 AM and gym attendance was low. I was so embarrassed and paranoid that I went to the front-desk person, explained what happened, and profusely apologized for the incident in case someone saw some guy go in there.
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