AIBU to find it odd when someone chooses the treadmill next to me?

[Icelolly101]

I was at the gym yesterday and there are around 20 treadmills all lined up next to each other very closely. Only two were being used. I got on one that left four empty treadmills on either side of me, so there was loads of space.

A few minutes later, a man came over and got on the treadmill directly next to mine.
I thought it was a bit odd but didn't think much more of it. Then exactly the same thing happened again today. Only all the treadmills were empty except the one I was using and a lady chose the one right next to me.

They’re all the same brand and make of treadmill. No TV’s over head and the air-con was on the other end so it’s not like they chose the treadmill due to that.

I genuinely can't work out why, especially when there are so many empty ones available I just find it uncomfortable being so close when it could easily be avoided. If it was busy and had no choice but to be next to someone then that’s fine but that wasn’t the case.

Why do people do it?

(pic is not the gym I go to but an example of how close together the treadmills are and today I was about where the pink line is and the lady came where the blue line was)

I also have a favourite treadmill!

Proof 🙄

I like to exercise alone so I don't go to the gym. Too many people in a small space. Seems obvious to me.

Yeah I think with it happening twice in two days I thought maybe it’s preference for a lot of people to be next to someone and wondered why that was. From the replies my guess is I just so happened to be next to two different peoples fave treadmill both days.

yeah but that is YOU. It's suggesting that OP does the same and pointing out the bleeding obvious as if she hasn't the intellectual capacity to realise that paying gym fees is cheaper than not paying them that was unnecessary. She's not an idiot, she knows that parks exist and that people can and do run in them, she has obviously made the decision that she prefers to use the gym.

It doesn't even make sense - yeah someone might not run quite as close to you in a park but it's not likely to be somewhere you can find 'solitude!'

They do it in cafes as well. It's incredibly annoying when they want to talk loudly and the whole place is empty except for 2 tables.

At the gym I move treadmills to avoid the flying sweat and my brain wanting to fall into rhythm with the pounding feet next door.

I wanted to pick a certain treadmill today because it had less glare from the overhead lights, but didn't because I know people can get funny about this stuff. It would have left a few empty to my right, but would have been next to the only person using one.

YANBU. Unless you don’t want to interrupt your stats, I would move away every single time. It’s rude.

Argumentative you say?

Yanbu, and they’re totally the same people who will park next to you at the back ofan empty carpark

Yes - I have a favourite and feel quite put out if it's occupied!

I also feel discommoded if someone chooses the one next to me when there are others free, but have learnt to live with it!

I’m not even replying to them anymore. Clearly they just pick a fight with everyone. Boring.

Maybe because most people don't even think about such things.

"There's a free treadmill, I'll use that one"

"There's a free parking space, that'll do".

The idea that someone is rude for making use of a facility that just happens to be close to someone else doing the same thing is fucking batshit 😂

But the thread isn’t about you, its about OP…

I find it annoying too. Once I asked someone and he said he always did his workout on the same treadmill unless it was taken - a bit like having a favourite cup .

Is this you parking.

This… but then I also have weird ‘habit’ related things - like I will often use the same toilet cubicle in a pub or restaurant every time I go. For no obvious reason. Or chose the same cafe table or area to park the car in the carpark. I think sometimes people just have a favourite treadmill, too (some of them are smoother, or the view out the window, or the connectivity to tech is better).

Same as those weirdoes who go in the toilet cubicle next to you when there are other ones to use. I mean why would you???

You’ll find it a lot easier to be snide to individual posters if you use the ‘quote’ function, OP.

You should ask them. I've challenged people who've done this to me before. Let's normalise making people feel uncomfortable for doing weird shit.

My gym is massive and has a really big women’s only gym attached to it, thank god!

yeah, I wouldn’t appreciate that.

Yes, you should definitely waddle out of your toilet cubicle with your knickers around your ankles and demand to know why someone has chosen the neighbouring cubicle, the weirdo.

Same, I like the only one that doesnt have the mirror in front of it 😄

Don’t you realise that you are often making the other person uncomfortable though? It’s a pretty basic social concept to grasp.

It's the same with literally everything. Car parks, seats on buses/trains, seats in hospital waiting rooms, park benches, even self service tills in supermarkets, etc etc. Some people are oblivious that others may prefer their own space. I utterly hate it when someone chooses to stand/sit right next to me when there are lots of alternative options for them. I do sometimes get up and move myself and then you get their "death stare"!

As for gym treadmills, I wonder if it's something like a better view of the TV screen or window, or whether even some of the other treadmills are known to be faulty/slippy or whatever.

When I used to go to a small gym with only 5 treadmills, there were only 2 of them that were actually useable as 1 was known to randomly cut out, and the other 2 were "slippy" in that the rubber conveyor belt would slip on it's rollers which would "jar" your joints if you were going fast at the time. So I'd always gravitate towards one of the 2 that I knew worked perfectly, as did most other regulars, so it may have looked like I was randomly choosing to go next to someone else when others were free, but I had my own reasons.

I have people do this to me too. I HATE it.
Like people who park next to you when the whole car park is empty.
The only explanation I I can think of is wanting to be closer to fans at the front maybe.