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)

It's a free treadmill. In a gym that also contains, presumably, other people, so it's not a safety issue. If someone is so frightened of the world that another woman choosing a treadmill beside them when there are more distant ones available, makes them 'uncomfortable', than they need help.

It's entirely different to a man entering an otherwise empty train carriage and sitting beside a solo woman.

In my gym there is a number of different treadmills, all the exact same ones but some auto switch to 'cool down' after 20 minutes whereas others dont switch to 'cool down' until 30 minutes. They also have different speed settings for some reason! (Even though they are exact same machines!) So my running pace on one machine could be on number 4 or 7/8 on another machine! No idea how or why they have been set up differently but it can be hard to keep track of your workouts and pace using different machines so that could be why

I always pick the treadmill, from where I can see my bike out of the window if one is available. That might look weird to the person next to me if they didn't realise that that was why I didn't take one further away.

Is your bike not secure at the gym?

Or do you like to gaze longingly at it?

Some people are such creatures of habit. Like those that go on a course for a week and then sit in the same seat every day for the rest of the week!

Surely they cool down/switch off after 20 minutes to remind selfish people not to hog machines for ages?

A bit odd, but I wouldn't think much about it. There are about 10 at my gym and I'd tend to go for one that's not next to someone, unless it's crowded, but it's not a big deal.

There’s a workout area at mine. I was there doing some hand weights and a woman came and set her mat to do some exercises behind my feet, the area is massive and I was the only person on it.
I then had to move to make sure I didn’t stand on her head.
People in the gym are bonkers.

🤣

I knew it would be a man before I read past your title!

We went to an outdoor gig at the weekend. You took your own chairs and stooped where you liked. We had tons of space around us, and one party made a row of chairs behind us, so close that we could feel their knees. They gave us a funny look when we moved forwards.

If someone gets uncomfortable in a public space because someone else is in the same space using it for it's intended purpose, then that's entirely a them problem.

Such people can move if they can't stand the thought of someone using a treadmill next to them.

At least it wasn’t a row of chairs just in front of you. I’ve had that happen before

I prefer to park away from others to protect their cars from the door of my car hitting theirs. Its quite windy where I am and the wind can whip a door out of a childs hands.

Enough people have a favourite machine, spot, seat etc that it's not inherently weird for someone to park themselves next to a person already there rather than giving them space. That's not to say nobody ever does it for dodgy reasons either, but as a pp said people are creatures of habit.

There'll also be situations where the treadmill is in the area with the cool breeze or the nicest view, the seat is next to the radiator in a cold room in winter and so on.

People are odd. I’ve had it at the gym, I don’t always go on the same machine so find it strange (they always run too 🤷‍♂️)

car park - nearly empty car park and they park really close to the drivers door. It’s not like I park anywhere near the entrance

camping, site for 400 pitches, about 10 in use and two different people pitched each side of us - we deliberately didn’t choose ‘premium’ pitch’s so as to avoid this. Camp site owner was scratching her head too

few years ago completely empty camping site so we picked our pitch miles away from facilities. Came back to find another tent pitched so close to ours we couldn’t get in without climbing over their guys - hubby moved our tent but in total took us 4 hours so I wasn’t impressed There were two pitches in use on the whole site

Thinking I must have a sparkling personality or use the best deodorant 🤣

Beach, campsite, car parks, gym, buses. Some people just have an inane herding instinct and lack social awareness. It's odd but quite common!

It’s not rude at all ffs

20 minutes is a crazy short amount of time!

How dare this riff raff go anywhere near you … I am enraged on your behalf!

I have a favourite treadmill. They are all calibrated differently at my gym 🙄

It's good gym etiquette to leave at least one space between treadmills unless it's too busy.

It's weird, but I've heard some people suggest joining a gym if you want to make friends; so maybe they were there for social reasons 🤷‍♀️ and that's why they were right up in your space.

I prefer to just go to the gym alone, put my earpods in and get on with my routine so I find it odd if someone chooses a treadmill/bike next to me when there are loads of others free.