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Original poster

To be annoyed by new people in the gym

200 replies

NotHereToMakeFriends · 02/01/2020 11:43

So I'm an avid gym-goer (been going to the same gym for 4 years) and always encouraging people to join. However there is a usual spike in January (always to be expected) but these new people can cause annoyance and outrage to use regulars as they don't know the gym etiquette, hog the machines without even using them (just standing their and talking) or talk on phones ridiculously loud. Now I know that most people will drop out after a few weeks and I try to move my workout around the rush but AIBU for thinking that new people should try to respect the regulars routine as they will be there long after they stop going?

OP posts:
Original poster
NotHereToMakeFriends · 03/01/2020 08:59

@Nicknacky I wish my gym did that. At the beginning of Jan they drop the prices to be the lowest in town and then the ones who join continually pay the low price whereas the regs pay more which isn't fair in general. I didn't join in January as I felt like I would fail so joined middle of the year.

Everyone is welcome to join the gym and I will help them if they are struggling and have made friends this way. I'm not defending some of the regulars but because I go early in the morning most people are there to do what they need to do and get out in time for work. It's the weekends that are the worst and it's more noticeable. Where you'll see Johnny Six-Pack grunting, taking selfies in the mirror and generally hogging the weights. Lifting weights is almost impossible at the weekeneds and January doesn't make it any easier or less stressful.

OP posts:
mithrandis · 03/01/2020 09:29

Nobody is against genuine gym newcomers for goodness' sake! In fact, I'd argue that many posters upthread are doing a massive disservice to them by lumping those wanting to workout for the first time with those who are there primarily to take selfies for the purpose of sharing on social media.

Bluntness100 · 03/01/2020 09:36

Not really sure how new people would know who the regulars are.do you wear a badge? Or how going on two tread mills when twenty odd empty is hogging them, seems the issue there is they were near you.

It's a public gym, not your ownprivate one,you cant make up your own etiquette rules, and then decide people need to comply. And I say that as a regular gym goer.

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ClarencesMum · 03/01/2020 09:39

I just think people should be banned from taking photos in the gym. You can workout without documenting it!

MissEliza · 03/01/2020 15:50

My gym bans photos. I thought that was pretty standard these days

SilverySurfer · 03/01/2020 16:51

Were you never a new gym-goer?

Of course the OP wasn't, she morphed into a superior know-it-all the moment she stepped in the gym Hmm

Iamthewombat · 03/01/2020 17:46

I’ll sum up this thread for you, OP. Your crime is going to the gym regularly, thus making other posters feel bad about themselves, for which you must be ruthlessly punished. The other details are...mere details.

You have, however, also provided a silver lining. Check out the number of posts saying, “horrible people like you are why I could NEVER join a gym.”. Instant excuse!

YeOldeTrout · 03/01/2020 18:01

I understand that OP is annoyed by newbies...
taking selfies
shouting
using their phone
using treadmills near OP
"hogging" the machines without actually using them
throwing their towel over OP's arm

tbh, I wouldn't start a thread about all that, at least not when you know it's very temporary. Plus as someone else pointed out, it's these won't-stick-it payers who subsidise the fees for the true regulars. I vote OP is being precious.

Pedallleur · 03/01/2020 18:03

In the gyms eyes you are all paying customers. Doesn't matter if you've been there 4 yrs or 4 mins

heath48 · 03/01/2020 18:21

Been a gym member 12years,I only use the swimming pools nowadays,I swim in the evening after 8,usually it is quiet.Every January you get new people who mess about in the pool,block the lanes,don’t do any swimming,then announce how tired they are and sit in the jacuzzi !!.

There are no lifeguards on duty at that time,as no children allowed in.I
go in the outside pool now,by February it is back to normal.

It also annoys me when they do these special offers,£14 for a fortnight.Another influx of nuisances,who have zero intention of joining properly.This is at David Lloyd.

Jumblebee · 03/01/2020 18:56

This is the type of attitude that prevented me from joining the gym this time last January. The snobby regular gym go-ers who think they are better than people trying to improve themselves.

Yes YABU, you don't own the gym and you don't know what it took for those people to join the gym. Maybe try smiling at people you haven't seen before and making it a more welcominy environment for others. Everyone was new at some point.

Iamthewombat · 03/01/2020 20:36

There you go, OP!

jewel1968 · 03/01/2020 21:23

I am surprised there are no lifeguards after 8 even with kids not allowed in. I thought there was a health and safety law. Clearly not

VivaLeBeaver · 03/01/2020 22:05

I’m at David Lloyd and the £14 for a fortnight offer thing annoys the shit out of me. I pay a fortune for my membership and for that yes I do expect it to be a nice club. Don’t care if that sounds snobby. I don’t mind new members.

I do mind an influx of people who are never going to sign up as permanent members who seem to have no idea how to behave. And I’m not talking about a bit of equipment hogging. Kids running round screaming and bouncing in the sofas, people leaving a mess in the changing rooms, someone had a shit in the showers and left it last summer. I complained to the duty manager once during an offer period and he said there was little he could do and that sadly they were currently overrun with people who weren’t the usual calibre of member.

Dolorabelle · 03/01/2020 22:16

The snobby regular gym go-ers who think they are better than people trying to improve themselves

Most people at the gym are there to improve themselves. How do you know the regulars are snobbish? I suspect you’re projecting your insecurities onto them.

Most people just want to get on with their work out - they’re not that interested in other people

Parker231 · 03/01/2020 22:23

What is “the usual calibre of member”

jewel1968 · 03/01/2020 22:41

I can understand why people just take up running. Gyms are sounding like inhospitable places. Gosh we all just want to get fit and keep active. I do understand the frustration in gyms and pools but I do think staff have a role in explaining etiquette particularly when safety is relevant.

VivaLeBeaver · 03/01/2020 22:44

What is “the usual calibre of member

I didn’t ask him to expand but that was the specific term he used. I suspect he may have meant people who don’t take a shit in the shower.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 03/01/2020 22:58

I'm a regular at the gym OP and can manage to navigate around 'newbies' just fine. If you can't manage that maybe you should re-think your routine a bit. The gym is for any member and you sound very, very entitled but without basis. Patronising too.

A bit like, "Behold newbie, I am a regular, get out of my WAY". No. That's not how it works and if you tried throwing your weight around in my gym without real cause, I'd be sticking up the for the newbie and asking the staff to have a word - with you.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe · 03/01/2020 23:12

Actually OP, that was harsh, sorry. The thread isn't on one page and I managed to miss your updates.

I'm not in a chain-gym and perhaps that's the difference? We don't have kids allowed in the pool except at certain times and not in the gym ever.

There are sometimes members (spa members for the day perhaps?) who come to try out the machines and it's obvious that they're there for the day only but they're not generally a nuisance - in my gym at least.

I would HATE people taking photos with me in them and would complain. I don't experience that.

Jumblebee · 03/01/2020 23:50

Except Iamthewombat I did join the gym, it just took me a few months to build up the confidence to. And I've been going regularly ever since.

BoneyBackJefferson · 04/01/2020 19:04

Iamthewombat

But its people like you that sneer and belittle those people that are using it to justify your own insecurities.

Iamthewombat · 04/01/2020 21:20

Iamthewombat

But its people like you that sneer and belittle those people that are using it to justify your own insecurities.

Show me one piece of evidence on this thread proving that I have ‘sneered [at] and belittled those people that are using it’ (is ‘it’ the gym?) or people who are new to gyms. Go on.

I have no insecurities about gyms, or anything else actually. But thanks for asking.

See, OP? Irrational tide of bile by people who won’t read posts.

chocolatesaltyballs22 · 05/01/2020 12:24

I’m at David Lloyd and the £14 for a fortnight offer thing annoys the shit out of me. I pay a fortune for my membership and for that yes I do expect it to be a nice club. Don’t care if that sounds snobby. I don’t mind new members.

Me too and I totally agree with this. I wish they'd stop doing it as I doubt it attracts new members, just people who don't know how to behave.

RedskyAtnight · 05/01/2020 12:54

I haven't noticed any sneering and belittling on this thread ... I think a lot of posters saw "new people in gym" and made up the posts themselves.

I went to the gym yesterday. There were some people who looked new but who were getting on with whatever they were doing. They were no bother at all.

My DS spent about 10 minutes putting away all the equipment that had been left out so he could get on with what he wanted to do. More than the odd piece of equipment left out is something that only happens in January. The gym rules clearly state "please put equipment away after use". Even without this being stated in the rules, I would suggest that putting things away when you've used them and not leaving them strewn about, is common sense. Apologies if anyone thinks that it is belittling to new people that they are unable to follow simple rules/think about other users.