Didn’t your trainer teach you any manners?
A guide to the unwritten rules of working out in a public gym
NEW YORK – Since weight loss tops New Year’s resolution lists year after year, gyms across the country are swarmed with newcomers each January. As any regular gym-goer can attest, the first few months of the year bring out all kinds of newly inspired fitness fanatics, many of whom could use a lesson in gym etiquette.
Thanks to a fed up gym regular, now we have a guide.
Bombarded by inconsiderate behavior at the Manhattan gyms she frequents, attorney and long-time fitness buff Lori Pines put down the dumbbells and wrote The Little Book of Gym Etiquette: A Handbook for Dealing with Annoying People at the Gym (January 2013, $8.95).
Pines addresses the culprits of “gym rage” among the regulars, and point newcomers to six helpful rules of gym etiquette:
1. Don’t be a slob
2. Don’t be a hog
3. Don’t be a space invader
4. Don’t be a super-talker
5. Don’t be a grouch
6. Don’t be an exhibitionist
“This is a topic every gym-goer has thought about at some point,” says Pines, who is tired of seeing empty water bottles litter the gym floor and listening to loud phone talkers barely breaking a sweat on the stationary bikes.
In The Little Book of Gym Etiquette, she cites the “3 C’s” everyone should know before a gym workout: be clean, considerate and cheerful. Following these three simple rules will, according to Pines, keep everyone in the gym satisfied.
With satirical descriptions and hilarious illustrations, Pines pokes fun at stereotypical offenders—the slobs, hogs, space invaders, super-talkers, grouches and exhibitionists—while simultaneously promoting fitness and encouraging readers to be accommodating.
“Let’s face facts—it isn’t easy getting to the gym. You have to walk or drive there, change your clothes, psych yourself up for the pain and exertion, and then clean yourself up and change your clothes afterwards,” Pines writes. “The last thing we need is a further deterrent to getting to the gym. That’s why there is nothing more annoying than having to deal with people who don’t know how to behave there.”
LORI PINES is a lawyer and avid gym-goer who loves her daily workout and thinks everyone is entitled to a peaceful, energizing session at the gym. She lives with her husband and two athletic children in New York City.
A Quick Q & A with Lori Pines
Author of The Little Book of Gym Etiquette
What are the 6 rules of gym etiquette?
1. Don’t be a slob
2. Don’t be a hog
3. Don’t be a space invader
4. Don’t be a super-talker
5. Don’t be a grouch
6. Don’t be an exhibitionist
What inspired you to develop these rules?
This book practically wrote itself while I was working out at various gyms. All I had to do was look around, and I couldn’t help but notice many incredible breaches of gym etiquette. Some of what I saw was funny, and some was just plain disgusting. I knew I just had to write about the topic.
What gym etiquette gaffe bothers you the most?
Each of the six rules is very important, but if I had to pick one, I would say the hogs probably annoy me the most.
What is the biggest offense you’ve ever witnessed at the gym?
I see violations every day like people leaving their dirty towels and used water bottles around the gym, but the biggest offense I witnessed was a guy juggling hard rubber balls on the treadmill. He said he was trying to develop extra balance.
