New Year Gym Goers upsetting the equilibrium

[NewYearStillFat]

I'm a regular gym goer - usually putting the kids in clubs and using the gym is an opportunity to relax at the weekend. Everyone gets some exercise and I can workout, have a decent shower and maybe grab a coffee.

But it was utter chaos today, it was a nightmare getting on any equipment - people hogging several sets of dumbbells whilst on cable machines, maybe doing supersets or whatever but looked like they were just reserving them.

Changing rooms so busy - people occupying space they weren't in - so on changing benches but also at dressing table etc rather than move their stuff so someone else could use. I was waiting for the straighteners as a woman was literally half chatting on the phone and half straightening her hair - in the end I had to ask if she was still using them as it wasn't clear and then realised there were two other people eying them up after me.

Chaos! What's usually my place to relax was so stressful.

Good to vent, everyone starts somewhere but it would be better if they could also be considerate to other users.

It’s always the same at this time of year unfortunately. Gyms take on more members than they have the capacity for, relying on the majority not going. As for etiquette, yes, it’s exceptionally annoying. When I was new I never had to be told that hogging multiple pieces of equipment was wrong. It’s common sense! Safety issues are also common sense. No walking close to the back of someone when they are squatting for example. Some people are just thick unfortunately.

I go at 5:30am to avoid the crowds (all year round). Usually it gets a little busier in January, but not painfully so. Mostly it’s back to normal in a few weeks.

You've never been to a hairdressers?

I need to join a gym. I'll wait til Feb half term having read this!

Is it just new gym goers who have signed up as part of a New Years thing though?

I am a regular gym goer and probably go more in Jan and Feb. Nothing to do with resolutions or anything but simply because the weather is grim and I fancy using the sauna more regularly than I do in, say, June. People also tend to have less on socially in Jan and Feb. I imagine a lot of people are like me, so it might end up busier from the same usuals just adding an extra trip per week?

How dare people try and get fit...the cheek of it

Communal straighteners - the list of very ordinary things that MN finds 'grim' extends once more.

@MyGhastIsFlabbered what's fitness got to do with hogging the equipment and their behaviour in the changing rooms? Should I straddle two lanes whilst driving just because I can?

I really don't get this when you've just got off communal machines, all sweaty, then sat on a communal toilet and had a communal shower. But it's the straighteners that bother you?

I swim every week. The pool at my gym is rammed full at the moment, as it always is in January. As for getting anywhere near the hydropool, forget it!

By mid-February it will be back mainly to the recognisable faces of the regulars again. Happens every single year.

@Gymmum82 I don't notice it in the week, this year my youngest is old enough for clubs and I use the gym at weekends so I'm more exposed!

I hate all-year gym snobs.

It's a bit frustrating, but, as someone else has already posted, just sigh, and appreciate that all the people who buy membership and then don't come after the first 3 or 4 weeks, are subsidising the membership for those who use the facilities all year round.

As so many have said. They subsidise the cost of your annual membership.

I moan about this every year! I prefer to be outside, but the weight classes are necessary. I get the intention, but how many people actually continue a ny resolution? The only things I've ever stuck to are based on fairly random times. Like c25k- one afternoon of boredom in lockdown has led to a habit nearing 5 years.

Don't hate on the selfie spots, it's an important public service, making sure the rest of us get our side-eyes and eye-rolls done 🤣

@NewYearStillFat I suspect a lot aren't hogging things at all but the increase in volume of people makes things less available and one little irritation snowballs. Plus it's down to gym staff to remind users of etiquette etc. some people are a bit self absorbed and unaware. I get your frustrations but you do come across as a bit selfish.

I was a regular gym goer until last year, a mixture of bad luck and life being shit meant I stopped going. I cancelled my membership last week. It's the first time in 6 years I'm not a member of a gym. I thought about joining a different gym to see if that would motivate me but I don't want to be accused of being a new year gym goer.

I used to hate January, it used to start quietening down at the end of February and by March would be back to normal.

I'm starting tennis lessons next week though so who knows.

It's your chance to let them know of The Gym Rules even if they are just your personal gym rules.

"Oh you didn't know you are supposed to wear deodorant*? That's ok; they miss a lot in the orientation but we are so friendly here and I'm glad to help"

*Not wear a tank top as a guy
*Not drop weights
*Let people work in
*Not go enter a class if you are >1 minute late

Possibly. If I was childfree and had more time I'd have been more relaxed I'm sure, but the clock was ticking to get the kids and I knew what I wanted to achieve.

Why is it grim? What's wrong with you? They're hair straighteners not a fucking communal dildo.

I'm always happy to assist new members and welcome them to classes but I haven't got time to

What's the "snob" part?

If you've got nits, love, do something about it. Don't just leave your nits (crispy fried or otherwise) for other people to deal with.

It’s the same every January!

Our gym has done a piss poor job of induction for new members which is making it a nightmare at the moment. They are being flooded with bad Google reviews though, so are scrabbling to get extra staff on the floor to remind people about sharing equipment between sets, re racking and wipe down etc.

Saying that, the worse by far are the long-term gym bro older men who seem to take it as a personal attack to share equipment with women or tidy up after themselves.

There’s one guy who purposefully leaves the heaviest plates racked when he knows a woman will use the equipment after him. He’s had several warnings but because the gym manager is a woman thinks he is the boss. He was locked out and throwing a tantrum last time I saw him so hoping he’s been barred! That would make up for the newbie chaos!

I had the exact same convo at the lockers this morning. It was heaving. Don't worry, come mid Feb, they'll all be gone again. I look at it as a small price to pay for their monthly subs keeping mine low. Assuming you're DL?