For many people joining a gym for the first time and then going along for their first workout, it can often feel akin to their first day at school or in a new job. Not knowing anyone, wondering what it will be like, and the realisation that you do not know where everything is so you find yourself wandering around, obviously looking lost, can all make you feel like the quintessential newbie.
Thankfully, most gyms are welcoming, with staff and other members happy to welcome new people, and the vast majority of them being friendly and helpful. However, there is one way in which those levels of friendliness might be tempered, and that is if you fail to follow normal gym etiquette. Whilst there may be specific nuances in individual gyms, the etiquette in each will be akin to the dos and don’ts of gym etiquette we have outlined outline below.
Gym Etiquette Dos
Wear Appropriate Clothing: The gym is not a fashion show, nor somewhere that you should ‘dress to impress’. Instead, your clothing should be appropriate for the workouts you plan to follow, and be worn for comfort and safety, rather than their style.
Practice Good Hygiene: Apart from obviously showering after your workout, as you use equipment ensure that you wipe it down with a towel to remove sweat, for example. We are sure you would hate it if you went to sit at the bench press and the seat was covered in someone else’s sweat. Yuk!
Replace Weights And Dumbbells On Racks: If you have been using weights and dumbbells, once you have finished that session, be sure and replace everything on the racks. This rule extends to replacing any other equipment which you may have moved during your workout.
Respect Personal Space: Whilst it might be educational to watch others to see how they exercise, beware of not getting too close. Always respect your fellow gym members personal space, especially if you have not introduced yourself to them previously.
Ask Staff For Advice: The largest proportion of injuries that occur in gyms happens when new members use equipment incorrectly because they did not take the time to be trained on it. For this reason, always ensure that you ask staff for their advice and guidance relating to the equipment you are not familiar with.
Gym Etiquette Don’ts
Be Impatient: If you are waiting to use a piece of equipment that another member is using, do not be a boor and make it obvious. Tutting, constantly looking at your watch and sighing loudly, is poor behaviour in any environment, built is especially so in a gym.
Hog Equipment: In the inverse to the previous point, do not stay on a single piece of equipment any longer than is necessary. The equipment is there to be used by everyone so do not treat any of it as your own private property.
Play Loud Music: Many gyms have background music playing but whether yours does or not, do not have your phone or any other music player blasting out music. It is rude, disrespectful, and one of the fastest ways to be thrown out of a gym.
Be A Show-off: One action likely to have other gym members hating you is to be a show-off. Prancing around like you own the gym, posing, or demeaning other members who might not be able to lift the same weights as you, are all a one-way ticket to having your gym membership revoked.