People walking on treadmills in the gym

[crinklechips]

OK to start with I know I'm being a bit U but I need to have a mini-rant.

I use currently use the gym mainly for running intervals and speedier sessions which are easier to manage indoors.

Every time I go in all the treadmills are taken, and mostly by people walking.

Now I can totally understand that people have different fitness levels, might be using the treadmill to warm up or for recovery and that's absolutely fine.

But there seems to a growing number of people (actually, exclusively younger women in my observation) just using the treadmills for a gentle stroll while messing around on their phones.

I ended up next to a young woman last night who spent the entire half hour I was on the neighbouring treadmill walking at 3kph, no incline, while scrolling instagram. I can barely call that exercise, it's below a normal walking pace. If that's how you want to kill time then I guess it's up to you but it just seems selfish when there's a queue of people waiting for a treadmill.

Plenty people including myself use the treadmills at my gym for walking.
Ive never seen anyone go for a gentle stroll on the treadmill.
I usually do 5,5-6 kph and an incline of 10%.
Not everyone can run.

Are you quite new to winter running? Wet feet won't harm you. Getting wet trainers dry is a bit of a pain, but I wouldn't let it stop me running in the rain.
You can get more running kit quite cheaply so you have more than one set - one in the wash, one to wear. No more washing than running in the gym, surely?
The high viz bibs don't make you at all hot.
Gloves sort your hands out and get stuffed somewhere if you need to take them off.
It can feel like an effort to get out in the cold, dark and rain, but it feels SO good, especially when we're cooped up indoors so much at this time of year.

speed runs and intervals aren't any harder or easier than a walk in a park. you just need a path and watch.

They pay the fee same as you. I literally can't run on a treadmill due to arthritis. Doesn't mean I dont get the right to use it at my pace. Buy your own if you are so bothered by it

I have an ankle injury and under structural instructions not to walk fast or at incline on a treadmill.

Why can’t you run outside?

YABU. Get a decent watch like. Coros that you can programme and do your intervals outside. They are just as entitled to use the treadmill as you are.

Maybe they need to go running outside if people are walking inside. If it was me I'd purposefully stay on longer 🤣

Blimey entitled much! It’s a public space where everyone has a right to use the equipment how they see fit. Why should anyone else judge them, they’re paying their membership. If you start assessing what’s acceptable and what isn’t where do you draw the line? Can they walk for 10 minutes, can you do half an hour if you’re injured or been ill etc etc etc. it’s utterly ridiculous. If you don’t like the downsides of a public gym buy your own treadmill and do what you like!
I used to belong to a gym purely for swimming, I struggled because all the gym users used the pool as their cool down/social space and just stood chatting at the end of the pool. They had just as much right to be there as I did but as it interfered with what I was trying to do I tried different times and ultimately went to a different pool.the choice is yours but you can’t get annoyed at other members using the equipment. If they were sat on the treadmill scrolling on their phone using it as a chair you may have a point but using a treadmill as a treadmill you are being very unreasonable.

I often walk on the threadmill at the gym, im overweight and trying to get healthier. My kids go to an hour long class i have a 45 min walk. Its better than no exercise but thanks for the judgement!

I think the point is you can walk anywhere (at least in summer when there is enough light) but a growing number of people use the gym as a hangout spot and/or to avoid their kids, or to conduct affairs.

It was probably similar in the 80s when the last big fitness craze happened.

Unfortunately, you can't dictate how fast or slow someone uses a treadmill. If they weren't also made for walking, then they wouldn't have a slow speed setting. If it irks you that much, find another gym

Try fast walking with a strong incline on the treadmill sometime, OP @crinklechips . My heart rate is the same as when I run on the treadmill.

And might I ask, if you like running, why not do that outside? Run to the gym instead of going on the treadmill. And the same answers apply to why you might not like running outdoors as why people don't like walking outdoors. Most people are obviously not JUST doing walking though. It's a warm up. And even if it isn't, what the heck. They pay the same membership as you and are entitled to use it as they wish, within the rules.

I go to the gym because I like cross training and using weights and other equipment, and being out of the house so I can focus without distraction.

Its not, what made you think that?

Reading your post from the first paragraph my first thought was this is definitely young girls in tight fitting gym gear, full of makeup they have no intentions of breaking a sweat and having it run off their faces. Every gym has an influx of them

'A bit unresonable' well done to anyone who can walk on a treadmill & scroll on their phone at the same time. Whether a gym member walks on the treadmill at a slow pace or runs like the wind is nobody's business & not for anyone else to judge. There could be many reasons for a slower pace including injury or health issues.

I think the point is you can walk anywhere (at least in summer when there is enough light) but a growing number of people use the gym as a hangout spot and/or to avoid their kids, or to conduct affairs.

This is not the point OP is attempting to make. It's just as silly and incorrect, but it's different.

This.

And all gym members have the same right to use the equipment.

The gym itself and the time spent in there is not a social club, people are there to exercise and pay a lot of money for the privilege. Your gym sounds amazing with its social events, you are very lucky to be a member.

I'm quite happy to ask people if they've finished using a machine, I don't have to flatten them with my amazing glutes 😉

I’d love to run on the treadmill but I can’t or my kneed will be sore for weeks afterwards, I have to do something to warm up and treadmill is the easiest on my knees.

Men have always used gyms as a social space. I think it's excellent that young women now feel like they can claim the space as their own too. If I'm using a treadmill for 30 mins what difference does it make if I'm walking or running? I have every right to use the equipment in a gym I pay to use. If you find there's not enough machines, that's a different matter and perhaps you need to look at moving gyms.

But my gym is full of students and cheap so I just wait my turn.

I would hardly call it selfish.....I would assume they pay the same gym membership that you do, so they are just as entitled as you are to use the equipment in whatever way they wish to. You aren't more important just cos you go faster!!

You are being incredibly unreasonable. They have paid their membership and can use the equipment to match their level of fitness.

I remember getting a gym membership after having surgery and got 3 sessions with a trainer who put an exercise plan for me to help me recover and that included a 10 minute walk on a treadmill. It would not have been wise for me to run while I was getting my fitness back.

I know plenty of people have said already but I'm going to add my own personal explanation.

I'm 53. At 19 I had a riding accident and broke my pelvis, spine and fractured my neck. In the past 3 years i have been (unsurprisingly) diagnosed with osteoarthritis, a degenrative disc, his dysplasia, rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia.

I am supposed to walk gently 20 minutes a day.

I do that on a treadmill. Walking outside is too treacherous at times with slippery surfaces / too hard surfaces/ uneven surfaces etc. I need to keep my spine as straight as possible and I need the cushioning that the surface of the treadmill provides. Footpaths and roads can cause havoc on my various muscles, discs and bones. I can control the environment on a treadmill.

I know it's frustrating for others that i walk relatively slowly for 20 minutes - 30 minutes. But I've paid my gym fees too, like everybody else, and if I exercise 'wrong' then I can literally be hospitalised at worst or very uncomfortable at best. I am sure people see fat, pudgy, menopausal me and think that i am a waste of space when they could be preparing for their marathons or whatever. But I don't think that and I deserve as much as anyone else in that gym to make that space mine for the time I need it.