Gym Etiquette

Hitting the gym or health club can be daunting when you’ve been away for awhile and even more so when you’ve never been. While each gym will have its own rules about equipment usage, there are a few casual rules that apply to all gyms and when followed make everyone’s experience more pleasurable.

1. Many gyms have time limits on cardio equipment like treadmills, ellipticals and bikes which are enforced during the busy times at the gym. Generally the busy times at the gym are before normal works hours (6:00am-8:00am) and after work, about (4:00pm-6:30pm). These time limits which can range from 20-40 minutes can are in place so that everyone can have a turn. While you will likely encounter a person who disregards this time limit, most people will oblige, and obliging is the right thing to do. You can always move to another machine when your 20 minutes is up.

2. Wipe down equipment! Sweating can be a good indicator that you’re having a great workout, but touching someone else’s sweat is just gross. All gyms have disinfecting spray and paper towels, or disinfecting towelettes for patrons to use to briefly wipe down the equipment. Use them! It doesn’t take long, and just as you expect to step onto a clean treadmill, so too does the person using the treadmill after you. If you notice that the person ahead of you has not disinfected the equipment you are about to hop on, it’s perfectly acceptable to wipe it down before you use it.

3. Most people are at the gym to get stronger- you’re personal aroma should not follow suit. Wear clean gym clothes. There are some who throw their sweaty T-shirt into their lockers and just pull it out the following day to exercise in- this is not OK. Gym goers want to be gasping for breath because they are sprinting, not because your sweaty gym shorts are wafting an unbearable stench. The same can be said for perfumes and colognes. Heavy smells, even clean-smelling ones can be overwhelming in this environment, avoid dousing yourself in perfume or cologne before your workout.

4. Cell phones stay in your car or locker. We have to listen to people gab in elevators, buses and even restaurants- the gym is cell-phone free. People go the gym for respite and often use this time to destress, they don’t want to hear you describe your horrible day in inane detail.

5. Bring everything back to the place it belongs. It’s perfectly fine to bring a free weight to the stretching area of the gym, but bring it back to the racks when you’re done. This is a courtesy to the next user but also a safety issue; leaving equipment where is does not belong is asking someone to trip over it.

As you can see these rules are all based on common sense and courtesy. If you are not sure what to do in a situation, think of how you would like to be treated and act accordingly. If someone is bothering you with his or her lack of gym etiquette, bring it to the attention of a trainer or manager. There is no need to deal with this nuisance yourself.