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.

Go outside and run. It's the same as going outside to walk only faster.

YANVVVVU.

I can’t run - the last time I did my pelvic floor fell out and now I’m on a surgery waiting list.

Don't use the office microwave to heat up your crappy Tesco lasagne when I could be using it to heat my homemade tagine!

Someone next to me (on treadmills) spent the entire time I was there watching TikToks really loudly without headphones.

now THAT is unforgivable

Walking on thread mills is horrendous, isn't it?
😆
OP, why don't you sign into a boot camp, preferably managed by Ant Middleton??

If you are baffled as to why people might walk on treadmills, are you sure you should be using the equipment yourself?

Bloody hell that sounds so painful you poor thing. I’m glad you’re back up on your feet even if it frustrating. I actually winced reading your post!

If they pay the same fee as me then they can eat a pizza while walking for all I care.

But it’s FINE for people to use treadmills for walking, even if they’re not recovering, injured etc. They don’t need a reason or excuse to walk. It’s perfectly fine as an activity and use of the treadmill.

I used to run on treadmills - spent 20 years doing so, until my ageing knees complained painfully. I do very fast, uphill walks of between 40 and 60 minutes - is that acceptable, OP? Or should we over 60s relinquish the treadmills we pay membership for so that you young immortals can do your runs?

But even if they were running very fast on it, you’d still need to wait until they had finished???

OP, I'm sure that if you just explain to the staff that you have seen people less important than you using the treadmills, the staff will drag the offenders off the treadmills and have them thrown out

@crinklechips
I hear you!
These days it's normal to get in your car and drive a distance that would take five minutes to walk, I suppose walking on a treadmill makes them feel like they're doing something more intense?
Ultimately I couldn't give a damn about other people's exercise choices but it is irritating when they are clogging up the gym.

It feels to me there's a lifestyle component of being seen to go to the gym which is is peculiar to young women, it's the same ones who are strolling on the treadmills that are taking gym selfies. Obviously they've got as much right to do that as anyone else has to do anything but it is still somewhat irritating as it seems like a waste of time and gym equipment!

Many bodybuilders complete their NEAT on treadmills. It just shows how ignorant you are that you don’t understand anyone else’s exercise regime aside from your own. You can run outside. Even intervals. You just don’t want to. They could walk outside. They don’t want to either.

Even if she was taking someone else's possible place on that treadmill, so what? Gyms have a first come first served type of organisation, if someone shows up and the machine they wanted to use is taken, oh well.
I actually do agree with you that her workout doesn't look like what I'd personally call a workout, but I wouldn't think about it twice. She's paying for the membership, so she has a right to be there and use the machine. If she uses it properly (i.e. according to the general rules of safety etc), it's no one else's business how hard her workout is and whether it's a workout at all.

I mean as long as it's not too smelly and they offer me some then sure why not.

Exactly how are they clogging up the gym? Do you mean they are ahead of you in the queue to use the equipment?

I would never queue up to use any piece of equipment, I'd use something else instead.

People are allowed to be annoyed at stuff that they know is a bit U. That’s none of their business. Good job too or AIBU would die a death.

Im irritated by middle lane hoggers even though it doesn’t really affect me. I’m irritated by coathangers. I’m irritated by my partner scraping out his yogurt pot. And me and op are irritated by this. She doesn’t physically throw any walkers off the machines. Or shout at them. She just inwardly rolls her eyes. And that Doesn’t affect anyone but her. But seems to annoy a lot of people here. Which is ironic really.

My local small gym is jam packed with 17/18 year old boys sat on the machines scrolling through their phones for ages

that winds me up 😀

Your gripe shouldn't be with the people on the treadmills, it's with the gym management. It doesn't matter whether they are doing 30 minutes at 15 kph or 3 kph, what matters is your gym does not have either policies for fair equipment usage (e.g. 20 minutes only at peak time) and/or enough treadmills to support their user base.

Who says treadmills are for running? They're not exclusively for running at all.

I'm 5' tall. When I walk on a treadmill, I walk at 3kph. I'll boost it up for a fast walk, but for slow walks, 3 is fine.

Actually I'm recovering from a procedure, and trying to re-educate myself in general that pushing isn't always the right thing to do, and I'm finding the gentle walks (no incline, no weighted vest, no attempting to go faster or have a little jog) is actually raising my V02 max (which was average, is now good) faster than a couple of years ago when I was doing hill circuits.

There's a place for slow walks, and it makes a difference - especially if your body is coping with other things and can't deal with extra stress/inflamation.

Also... it's weird that you even know her exact speed and incline tbh. Stop skenning at her!