So you’re just starting your gym journey and hear someone mention gym etiquette. The gym is a pretty hard core, intense place, so gym etiquette feels like an oxymoron. But in fact, gym etiquette should be lesson #1 before you start your first workout. In this blog, I’ve got you! Here are the gym etiquette principles you need to know before starting your gym journey.
Put your weights back where you found them
This first one should be a no-brainer but alas, I still see people leaving their weights wherever they were just using them. Some people will even put the weights “away” but they are no where near where they should be.
This is an important rule and helps with the flow of everyone’s workout. If I am going to a squat rack, it should be convenient and quick for me to load up the bar with the weights available on the rack.
However if there are only 25’s and 1 45lbs plate there, then I have to wander around the whole gym just to balance the bar.
It’s a small thing and, I would say, the easiest to do.
Be reasonable with your time on one machine or with one piece of equipment
As a girl who times her rests based on my training goals, sometimes resting for up to 5 minutes between sets, I know that some workouts just require more time with a machine.
However, be reasonable. If there are only 2 squat racks, and your whole 90 minutes workout is spent there, then please, I beg you, modify your workout.
Let’s take the example where I take 5 minute breaks. When I do that, the maximum number of sets I am doing is 6, and I am likely only doing 2-3 reps. The exercise should take less than 30s, and the rest is 5 minutes. Put that together and you get 32.5 minutes.
Even in the case of German volume training where you do 8 sets of 8 reps, if you’re training for volume, you r rest should only be maximum 2 minutes. 2.5 x 8 = 20 minutes.
So what’re you doing on the squat rack for 90 minutes???
Just be reasonable.
Clean the equipment after use
After COVID-19 you’d think people would be better at this, but turns out there are still some hold outs.
I am a firm believer in the “eat dirt” theory when you’re a kid yo help build your immune system, but at the gym I really need you to wipe down your equipment after you use it.
Anything that you touch for more than a few seconds should get a wipe down. It protects all of us from getting sick so we never have to miss a leg day. I also like to use hand sanitizer every now and then between exercises, just as an added measure to make sure I am not spreading any germs.
Be Mindful of Personal Space
During the busy times of day, the gym can get really crowded. As a newbie or an long-time gym goer, it is important to be mindful of personal space at the gym.
If someone has clearly set up a a small area to complete a circuit, do your best not to crowd them or cross their path so they can complete their exercises in peace and you don’t disrupt their workout flow.
From my time as a personal trainer working in a gym that ran 30 minute sessions in a small, boutique-style gym, with 4 others trainers and their clients, I had to find clever ways to get a whole selection of exercises done in a small space.
Whenever my colleagues would cross our path, or bring their clients too close to mine, it would intimidate my clients and impact their overall experience at the gym. Please keep in mind that not everyone feels confident at the gym, so give them their space so they feel like they are allowed to take up space and that they belong.
Avoid Smashing Down Weights or Unnecessary Noise
The gym can be a noisy place. From the subtle grunts and heavy breathing of weight lifters, so that humming noise that always radiates from the cardio section, it is normal to have some noise at the gym.
However, if you are being gratuitous with the noises you make, the point where it is distracting or intimidating, you’re really not being a team-player at the gym.
Again, this is a small thing that can easily be corrected to make everyone’s experience at the gym more pleasant. I am someone who makes sure I am breathing properly at the gym, so people can hear me exhale. However I am not Maria Sharapova on the squat rack. Excessive grunting and moaning distracting and best left for the tennis court.
Proper gym etiquette isn’t about limiting your experience at the gym, it is about enhancing your and everyone else’s at the gym. The gym can be an intimidating place, and can very quickly get disorganized and confusing for newcomers. So make sure you clean up after yourself, be mindful of personal space and time with equipment, and try to be reasonable with the extra noises at the gym.
Riley Pearce 