Annoying people in exercise classes

[Surewhynot]

I did Pilates this morning and the teacher is fab. I love her classes. But there was a new person in the class today and ALL she did was question the teacher.

‘I’ve been doing Pilates 30 years and we were never taught this way.’

‘Are you sure? I was always taught to have my arms this way.’

‘How long have you been teaching? My previous teacher said it should be done like this.’

AAARGH! SHUTUP SHUTUP SHUTUP!

Then we got to the stretches and she was literally moaning as though she was having an orgasm. It was really odd and rude.

And don’t get me started on the men who breathe competitively in Pilates.

Argh there is a woman in my prenatal Pilates class who is barely out of her first trimester but carries on like she is 40 weeks plus.

So much moaning and groaning and sticking her bump out and rubbing her back.

Oh no! I was on the cusp of conquering my fear of joining a gym and going to some in person classes, as my Pilates instructor has stopped her online classes boooooo .

On other threads, everyone says, "oh, don't worry, no one's looking at you, it'll be fine" . Yet, here you're all saying everyone will be looking at me and thinking I'm annoying for standing in the wrong place, farting, breathing loudly and being generally shite at the moves. Not sure I can cope with that . Also - I won't be able to swear profusely when I can't do something, which I've totally got into the habit of doing on zoom. Think I may have to take a rain check and stick with Adrienne for a bit longer. She doesn't mind if I fart.

@legoriakelne

I was in a yoga class a couple of years ago when someone just started doing her own set of moves and not following the teacher, I mean completely different.

Why does this matter to you?

Because it's distracting as fuck.

(I presume you're the sort to do this, since you're so defensive!)

Interestingly, my Pilates teacher insists all mewcomers do her 6-week beginners course, no matter how long they've been doing Pilates for. Her reasoning is that there are different ways of teaching it, and she needs her pupils to understand her terminology.
That might sort out the annoying person in your class, OP.

I'm usually a front row person 😬

Today, I did a new fusion class, no regulars as its the first class. I'd clearly taken the spot someone had decided was theirs. She loudly huffed whenever my foot was right next to her face. I think she thought she'd intimidate me into moving.

@MayContainNits

I've just joined a Body Pump class; of 20 in the class, 4 are men. Two of them just get on with it, one grunts loudly all the time, and the other stands at the front and uses massive handweights when the (female) instructor tells us to use the bar, uses rubber bands when no one is using rubber bands, deliberately lifts on the 'off' beat, ignores her instructions and then starts packing up when she begins the cooldown. He also does press-ups - with claps - on his step while everyone else is setting up at the start.

Well done, Steve. Have a biscuit. (and I say that as someone who nearly always stands in the same place in the cardio class.)

Oh my god there’s a man in a class I go to who does unnecessary push ups when everyone else is just setting up too!!

He’s so damn irritating

@legoriakelne

I was in a yoga class a couple of years ago when someone just started doing her own set of moves and not following the teacher, I mean completely different.

Why does this matter to you?

If someone did that in a class I was in I’d find it really distracting, and rude towards the instructor who has a planned class.

If someone wants to do their own yoga work out just do it at home, why come to a class then ignore the class

@legoriakelne

I was in a yoga class a couple of years ago when someone just started doing her own set of moves and not following the teacher, I mean completely different.

Why does this matter to you?

It's incredibly distracting. Also, why bother coming to a class just to completely ignore the instructions?

I think there are people who only come to a class to try and show how much better they are than the instructor. Like they're in a competition or something, or just have to demonstrate how much more they know.

I used to experience this when I joined a class, the person who comes in 3 minutes after the class began clearly usually stands in the spot I have taken and expects to still have it despite being late. So she will dance nearer and nearer and nearer and I am supposed to edge edge away, only I don't shift an inch so she bumps into me and I still stand my ground. If you are late, I think you should take the space you can find not the one that suits you best but already contains someone. So there.

@Tiramiwho

Oh God - the Saturday morning Aerobics Clique at my own gym 🙄 All middle aged women ( like me ) at the front, been going donkey's years, know all the routines and don't they like to show it! Wo' betide if you ever use a space that has been 'reserved' since God was a lad.

I gelled more with the younger women ( teens and twenties ) at the back with me ( women in their 40's/50's can be very competitive with each other )

I actually stopped going because of the bloody awful Dubstep the Instructer insisted on playing ( know your audience please! 😶 )

Oh and the twenty minute delayed start, as they would witter among themselves about their week/Kiddies/boyfriends/latest festival/Strictly/tonight's Takeaway plans...

This. I used to go to Zumba, but the 'regulars' saved spaces for each other at the front, and then moaned when the rest of us couldn't see the instructor so went the wrong way. Drove me crazy.

Oh god so it happens in exercise classes too? Is nowhere safe?

I dread my First Aid renewal, there's ALWAYS at least one who knows first aid better than the instructor and interrupts throughout to give corrections and anecdotes and ask 'but what if' questions. Gives me the rage

I've not been to all than many classes and was going to say thankfully I havent noticed any really annoying people like that....then wondered if I was the annoying person!!
It wasnt me farting, doing a handstand or any sort of yoga poses though because I'm really awful at the those.

@MayContainNits

I've just joined a Body Pump class; of 20 in the class, 4 are men. Two of them just get on with it, one grunts loudly all the time, and the other stands at the front and uses massive handweights when the (female) instructor tells us to use the bar, uses rubber bands when no one is using rubber bands, deliberately lifts on the 'off' beat, ignores her instructions and then starts packing up when she begins the cooldown. He also does press-ups - with claps - on his step while everyone else is setting up at the start.

Well done, Steve. Have a biscuit. (and I say that as someone who nearly always stands in the same place in the cardio class.)

The main reason I don't do gyms is because of men and creepy instructors I can't bear the grunting when I just want to walk in peace on the treadmill

I used to be in a gym where this woman would turn up ten minutes into the class and position herself in an awkward space, forcing others to move. She would then do completely different exercises to everyone else. It was weird.
Years later she turned up as a bike ability instructor at our school. One day I was standing in the office talking to the school receptionist when she barged in between us and loudly demanded ‘ I NEED LATERAL FLOW TESTS’. I think she has issues. Poor kids getting instructed by her.

Oh dear god, I have literally just joined a gym to do Bodypump classes... I was looking forward to my first class but now I am worried that I'll stand in someone else's special space or upset everybody by being a bit shit.

We had a man called Tracy at our yoga class. Wore cycling shorts and a little crop top. Talked all the way through, when he wasn’t talking he was grunting when he wasn’t grunting he was breathing. 🙄
Mind you he did ask if me and my daughter were sisters.

There is always one in every single class.

@ICouldHaveCheckedFirst

Interestingly, my Pilates teacher insists all mewcomers do her 6-week beginners course, no matter how long they've been doing Pilates for. Her reasoning is that there are different ways of teaching it, and she needs her pupils to understand her terminology. That might sort out the annoying person in your class, OP.

No. That's just a money making scheme. It's not difficult to follow the instructor without criticising, whether you're a newbie or not. There's a lady at my Pilates class who always looks at me like I've just dropped out of someone's arse! I always say hello to her (as we all do with eachother) as it's her problem not mine. She has one of those faces that's easy to read.

@Harlequin1088 😆. You're right- we have one! 🤣

@Foxyloxy1plus1

Any recommendations for free yoga and Pilates online. I used to pay monthly for exercise classes and enjoyed them, but I need to save the money now.

I like Down Dog for yoga. The free version is great.

I went to a exercise class once and stood at the front (cos what’s the point of standing at the back when you can’t see the instructor?) and a regular told me that you usually have to go to a few classes before you can stand at the front, I ignored her and then half way through she told me “oh you’re actually ok, you can stay at the front”. Fuck off do you think you’re the class police?

There's a random hippy (male) in my yoga class who wears such loose, barely there clothing you can see /everything/.

It makes me sound like a prude, but I don't want to be flashed by either his nipples or his junk

Man in orange shorts (and no underpants) in my yoga class. I was behind him in one class, and downward dog was almost pornographic. I had to move. He hasn't been back since lockdown has ended thankfully.

People who do excessively loud ujjayi breathing.

People who make a humming noise on the out breath.

(I'm very easily annoyed after a year of doing yoga alone in my bedroom).

@Funnylittlefloozie

Oh dear god, I have literally just joined a gym to do Bodypump classes... I was looking forward to my first class but now I am worried that I'll stand in someone else's special space or upset everybody by being a bit shit.

Bodypump is a brilliant class - when I started, the people next to me were happy to show me how to set everything up, but once you get going, you barely notice anything apart from your own workout.

I only notice Steve because he's grunting away at the front, starring in his own imaginary Eric Pridz video. But I think that's the point.

This is making me laugh. I dont do a lot of classes but I run and found all sorts of people used to annoy me in races including (but not limited to)
Heavy/gasping breathing
Stamping type footsteps
People with change or keys jingling in their pockets
Farting
Loud music or apps that tell you loudly how far/fast you're going
Stinky kit that hasnt been washed.
Mankinis