Sound Off: My Gym Pet Peeves

While I was sitting around at jury duty yesterday, I got to thinking about my gym session the day before.  A lot of the time I leave the gym feeling great all around, but Tuesday was a bit of a different story. I had an above average workout, but it was just one of those days where the gym environment irked me in more ways than one. This propelled me to come up with a list of the things that annoy me most at the gym, and I know I can’t be alone here!

In no particular order –

My Top Gym Pet Peeves

#1 – Men who think it’s okay to take their shirts off. Is that really necessary?

Side note: The people who do this tend to look more like this…

Than this…

#2- When the gym is ridiculously sticky and hot – because sweating as soon as you walk into the gym isn’t cute (or comfortable).

#3- Obnoxiously panting and breathing – Yes, it’s okay to let out a deep breath here or there. It’s beneficial to breathe and not constantly hold it in while exercising. But all in moderation people! Groaning like crazy is not acceptable behavior and is distracting (yet also entertaining) to other people. No offense, but it’s usually men who do this. It’s even worse when they’re doing something easy like basic crunches. Get. Outta. Here.

#4- Chatting away on your cell phone. I understand that people get calls during workouts. It happens, but anytime my deployed husband calls me while I’m at the gym, I hop out of the room or keep it under 30 seconds. Lengthy phone conversations while you walk on the treadmill or exercise on the elliptical is just plain rude.

#5- Playing your music in something other than your headphones – I work out a lot in my gym’s aerobics room when there aren’t classes going on there. For some reason people think it’s okay to blast their music through the speaker system so loud that I can’t hear the music coming out of my earbuds. It’s even more frustrating when it’s heavy metal, which is not really my style. This also applies to people who play music with their device’s speaker feature. Walking around the weight room with your iPod blasting for everyone to hear? Not okay.

#6- Hitting the heavy bag as hard as you possibly can – There’s a small boxing corner in my gym where people hit the bag and such. Usually I barely even notice it, except for when the same 3 guys use it while I’m working out. These pretty scrawny dudes (also the same people who take their shirts off) obnoxiously hit the bag so hard that it becomes really annoying to listen to. Yes, tough guys, I get that you’re showing off, but I’m not a fan of listening to you hit the bag with a vengeance instead of my Usher jams while I bike.

#7 – Strange Gym Attire – As far as how much skin people should show at the gym, I’m kind of neutral on the topic and think people should wear whatever they’re comfortable in. However, part of me looks at some people and thinks but why?  Case in point, there’s the guy that always wears a tank top and a ski hat… to which I say, if you’re hot enough to wear a tank top, why are you wearing winter attire on your head? The other day I saw a guy work out with sunglasses on. Sure,  he could have some sort of sight issue or something weird, but chances are he just thinks he’s a rock star, as he also annoyed me with #3 the whole time. Or my favorite (and this I pretty much have only seen since I’ve lived in San Diego), people who wear beach attire to the gym. Flip flops on the treadmill? Now that’s just stupid and dangerous. I suppose these are all just fashion statements. Hey, I guess it keeps things interesting, as I clearly do a lot of people watching while I’m doing cardio!

What gets on your nerves at the gym?