Gym Class Etiquette
We’ve probably all been there:
trying not to give the stink eye to the two people chatting in spin class
holding our breath as the guy who wore an entire bottle of cologne to the gym is next to us on the treadmill
a little shocked when someone stops in between sets during weight-lifting class to send a text
the lady in the front bellydancing with her eyes closed.. during yoga class
and various other distractions to our workouts.
I’ve written a few posts about tips for fitness instructors, but thought it would be fun to talk a little bit about tips for fitness participants: having good gym etiquette and being a good participant during class.
Here are some of the things I love to see in the classes that I teach:
1. Arrive early. Of course, I’d rather have people take class and be a little late than not be there at all, but latecomers are always a little distracting, especially if setup is involved.
2. Stay focused. By staying focused, that means we leave technology at the doorstep (like cell phones!) and restraining from chatting. One of the classes I have a hard time with this is surprisingly stretch… it’s supposed to be a peaceful, quiet time, and while I’ll joke around a little while I teach it, I feel like participants can catch up after class if they want to chat. Another thing is that if you can have a full-up conversation during a fitness class, you’re probably not working hard enough.
3. Be fresh and clean-clean. Wearing perfume or heavy cologne to the gym can be really distracting to some people, as well as the other end of the spectrum (super stinky smells). Wear your deodorant and nix the perfume until after your workout.
4. Let the instructor know in advance if you have any injuries or special considerations. This way we’ll be aware if we try to come and assist you, or if we need to think of an alternate exercise for you to do. Same goes if you have to leave early- try to let the instructor know in advance that you’ll be dipping out. If I ever have to leave early and can’t let the teacher know in advance, I make sure to look towards the instructor when I reach the door, wave and mouth “thank you”
5. A great attitude. No one expects you to be perfect, especially at the gym, but a smile on your face, energy and willingness to try is all that matters.
Some other tips:
–Keep track of your personal belongings. Try to stash purses or bags in a locker, and keep water bottles to the side against the walls so no one can trip on them
-Be patient and kind to other gym-goers, as you never know what their situation is like. As much as you may want to make a snide remark to someone on their cell phone, they could be dealing with a personal emergency, etc.
On Facebook, I asked what you do to be a good student during fitness classes. Here are some of your responses:
So tell me, friends: What are your gym pet peeves? What do you do to be a “good student” during fitness classes?
85 Comments
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Ahahaahaha SO true about the cologne, the chatters, and the texters. Like seriously, wtf. I’ve never seen the bellydancer, but the downright WORST thing is when a guy (or girl!) smells. Like, ew. Buy deodorant please.
Stinky people who are dripping sweat (I’ve seen it before!) and grunting like crazy while working out. And people who don’t wipe down equipment. Or who go from random weights area to the one I plan to use next, going in order!
To be fair, you can’t really blame someone for working hard and dripping sweat. Not wearing deodorant on the other hand…
Okay I DO want to stick up for all the heavy sweaters out there… I’m in shape and eat right, but I still sweat a lot for a girl! However, I always make sure I am extra deoderized, showered, in good-smelling clean gym clothes, and have a towel and headband. I also wipe everything–and I mean everything–down after I use it!! I think it’s all about respect for the other gym-goers.
As far as fitness classes, a few of my pet peeves are: classmates and even instructors in skimpy gym clothes who accidentally flash the class (my favorite teacher in the world wears waaaay too short shorts every week), people who absolutely do not try at all and just come to class for social hour, and low-energy instructors who obviously aren’t prepared and don’t care about the class!
Loved the post, Gina–and excited to learn the baby name when you FINALLY reveal it!
i sweat a ton when I work out…sometimes drippy if the temp is extra warm in the building and I’m working really hard. I can’t help it! In fact, there was a time that I felt super self conscious about it, to the point where it might prevent me from going to the gym.. not fair for a girl who just wants to keep in shape. I come clean but I can’t promise I smell like roses at the end of a long treadmill sesh. I DO always wipe down my equipment, though! Now I just learn to except that I sweat more than most and since I workout 5 days a week all year, I see my sweatiness as a mark of achievement, not shame.
I agree with these, and sweat and smelling are two different things, in my opinion. I sweat a lot, but I don’t stink when I workout. Some people (like me!) just sweat a lot and can’t help it.
heavy sweaters unite 🙂 I totally sweat like a dude, and I hate it. But I can’t help it…apparently my body has a super effective cooling system lol. But, I always make sure to show up in clean clothes, with deoderant, and clean up after myself.
I am totally guilty of singing when I teach. But only when it’s a good song… 🙂
Stinky people don’t bother me as much as chatter bugs!! I can’t stand chatter bugs, especially during yoga!! I need my focus!
And I totally agree with number 4. It always makes me sad like someone didn’t like my class if they leave early. 🙁 But if they say thank you then they probably just had to leave early.
In one of the classes I take, there is a woman who ignores the teacher and makes up her own choreography. I find it very distracting and incredibly rude towards the instructor!
that’s happened to me before. if you want to do your own thing, that’s great and totally fine, but do it at home then
This is why, no matter how many different Zumba instructors I’ve had, no matter how many different choreography moves I’ve learned for the same song, and no matter what my preference is, I always mimic the moves of the instructor whose class I am currently in attendance.
I think I am totally a good student! 🙂 Always early, always warmed up, and always ready to help out! And exra deodorant in tow for those *special folks* that may need it! 😉
I take Body Pump and I hate how EVERY time, like half the class leaves during abs/stretches. Sometimes I’m on the floor doing a stretch or whatever and people are stepping over me. Plus, stretching is the best part– I don’t get why you’d want to leave!
It always bothered me when people would leave during the meditation/rest portion at the end of yoga class. Nothing kills that relaxing moment like hearing the door slam, keys rattling, etc. I just stretched all my anxiety out, don’t stress me out again with the rude personal noises! 🙂
I find it so obnoxious when people talk during spin class. It’s not only rude to the instructor, but rude to everyone in class. Spin is the type of class where there’s no way in hell I could keep up a conversation (I’m almost always out of breath!), so it’s obvious that they’re not listening to the instructor or working hard at all.
Fortunately, the stinky-ness factor is very minimal at my gym. One of the perks of going to an all-women’s health club! 🙂
When I used to teach yoga in gyms, it was my peeve as an instructor to have students show up who were mopey, lethargic, and grumpy. Yes, we all have our days like that but some people are like that most classes.
I believe they’d be doing themselves a favor to just not attend until they clear up whatever is troubling them. As a teacher, there’s no way to really vibe with that energy and their energy can effect other students. I think they think that showing up = working out so they just show up.
So I totally agree with your tip #5!
Women who wear perfume kill me. I’m horribly sensitive to it and it ruins my workouts. I also hate it when there are 20 open arc trainers and someone feels the need to work out at the one right next to mine. They are stealing my air!!!
I’m not sure why it isn’t ok to check a text between sets of weights. I don’t do weights classes, just on my own but when I’m taking a second to rest between sets I definitely read texts/emails. Otherwise I rush that rest time….
I work out and take classes on a college campus. I absolutely love all of my instructors, but a lot of our classes occur early on Saturday/Sunday mornings and I absolutely hate when other girls in the class are not paying attention and are discussing their previous night’s hook ups. I’m there to work out, not get the dets about their sex life! I can tolerate juicy gossip while they’re together on the ellipiticals or treadmills, but please, not in a class!
I generally try to be a good gym-goer. I admit that the arriving on time thing was an issue for me for the longest time, but not for lack of care. The only Zumba class offered during non-business hours started at EXACTLY 5:00, and that’s the time I got off work every day, so I was always 10-15 minutes late for the normally hour-long class. But I tried to be courteous and take an empty spot in the side of the room by the door as not to distract. I was also a consistent Zumba-er, so maybe that helps? Heh.
I no longer work that office job, so when I’m able to go to classes, I go on time. 🙂
The only class I routinely attend is yoga. The two things I find pretty distracting are when people show up late, and when people grunt really loud during our flow. I always feel like the new guy with anything I do at the gym so I am always quite timid and always manage a smile. I figure if I do something wrong, it can’t be that bad if I am always smiling. As elf would say, “smilings my favorite.” Ha!
What a fun post!! I used to take a spin class three times a week and a few times a week a woman would come in at least 30 minutes late, drink her Starbucks ON the spin bike, petal slower than molasses, and then leave early. Drove. Me. Nuts. I don’t understand how the instructors never said anything!
I would love your take on this and what my mother should do:
Every morning after my mother works out and she is getting ready to go to work at the station for your hair dryer/straighter (there is only one station.) A young good looking lady pushes my mothers stuff aside to put on her makeup before she goes to work out (my mother says this lasts around 20 mins – and this isn’t the kicker) then right next to my mother this woman pulls down her pants (wearing NO undies) and rubs anti-chaffing creme all over her naked private areas. My mother is not the type to say something to this woman and “call her out” but what would you do?
Whoaaaaaa! I don’t even know what I would do! Can she move somewhere else to get ready? I’d politely ask the girl not to touch my stuff too
When I started going to Zumba classes at my gym I learned about the “Zumba divas”….the ladies who make sure they go to the front of the room and spend most of the class watching how hot they are. Creepy when one of them looks like she’s 12 but shakes her hips like she’s Beyonce.
There is a girl in one of the classes I go to that stares at herself the WHOLE time (there are mirrors on two walls). She makes sexy faces at herself and does whatever she can to make the moves sexy. I’m down with twerkin’ it, but taking it to that level is AWFUL! It’s also distracting because once I see that she’s doing it, I can’t stop looking at the faces she makes. She also watches herself after class has ended and she’s packing up and walking out the door. I just don’t get it!
I was also at a kickboxing class and a girl showed up with 20 minutes to spare. Not only was she supah late, she was trying to make kickboxing sexy. There is nothing sexy about kickboxing! Nothing!
Yes, the girl in my class makes “sexy faces” too AND wears make up to class! I find it odd, but also kind of want to ask her what the brand of make up she uses is because I swear it never falls off during the sweaty classes.
Such an interesting post! I’m a big workout dvd fan so I’m not in classes a lot with other people to notice things but as long as people aren’t being distracting with technology or talking and give me my little bubble of space to work out I’m good!
I just stopped teaching yoga at a gym because I started grad school but when I was teaching there was a mother and daughter who came to my class all the time and were really sweet people BUT the daughter was constantly late to class. Twice she came 30 minutes late. I’m not exaggerating. It was ridiculous and soooo distracting, plus she wasn’t warmed up at all so she really could have hurt herself. It was so hard for me to maintain my yogic calm-I was downright pissed! Another time a girl set up in the very front of the room and was on her cell phone during class- right in front of me! You can’t be on your phone during yoga! It goes against all things yogic!
Oh geez, I’ve seen some weird ones, but my top pet peeves are people who talk loudly on their cell phones; people who wear flip flops; women who wear inappropriate clothing; and men who don’t take their plates off the leg press machine. If they were strong enough to put them all on their, they are strong enough to take them off. 😉
LOVED this…wishing I could make my classes read it or like print out the tips and paste them to the group ex. walls. 😉
So question, I use an app on my phone to keep notes of my pace, speed, reps, etc. I am not texting but it may look like I am… is that bad? I like keeping track of what I do and using my phone is the most convenient. Thoughts?
Totally different! I wouldn’t worry about that at all
i cant stand grunters and be people who sweat SO much it flies everywhere.
Cell phone talkers. Can’t stand it! I realize that it may be their only time away from their kids, etc., and that they want to catch up with friends or family. But maybe focus on working really hard for a while, and then going outside and having a relaxing phone conversation for a while…instead of walking on 5 on a treadmill while chatting it up with your friend.
Top pet peeves:
People who get to class late and thus hold up the rest of the class! UGH!
Heavy perfume and cologne….nauseating!!!!
LOUD MUSIC….if I can here your ipod its TOO LOUD.
Lack of sports bra…don’t need to see the nips people.
People who don’t wipe down their spin bikes make me crazy! Such slobs!
This is so timely for me! Tonight I was in a boot camp class and the girl behind me kept moving closer and closer to me. Eventually she was so close that I had to look over my shoulder before I could squat! I finally had to move to a different spot but I just couldn’t believe that even though she had plenty of room she would not give me any personal space!
In the BodyPump classes I attend, there is always a sign up sheet because each class is PACKED. Despite this, there are always a few people not able to get equipment because people who didn’t sign up just walk in. There’s always 1 or 2 honest people here and there, but usually nobody fesses up to not signing up. It’s just rude because people went out of their way to get there early to be able to take the class.
not wiping your mother trucking ballsweat off of the machines. You are a dude, you wore short shorts, your jock sweat is all up on the machine. WIPE IT THE HECK OFF!! You are foul, you should be illegal. Also? wear some friggen underwear with your short man shorts. I don’t need to see your poky little friend. No one. No one wants to see your penis.
HAHAH ‘you are foul, you should be illegal.’ Amazing.
hahahaha!!! You are hilarious! I can’t stop laughing. Thank you! 🙂
I hate when people start putting their equipment away in the middle of class and weave in and out of everyone still trying to finish their workout. I also hate when people “borrow” your equipment when they forgot to grab something. All you have to do is ask politely!
At my old yoga studio, there was a guy who would breathe so loudly and empathicly that it sounded like he was doing something sexual to himself. It was SO distracting! He even did it during savasana! My other pet peeve is when girls are chatting loudly in the yoga studio before class starts when everyone else is quiet and trying to prepare for class.
my biggest pet peeve is talking in the yoga studio before the actual class starts. drives me c-r-a-z-y. things like texting at the gym, and chatting on your phone on the treadmill i think are silly and annoying, but they don’t bother me like the yoga one.
Men who grunt when they life, not cleaning off machine after use, the millions of inappropriate “gym clothes” people wear to the gym, people wearing cheap spandex ( not really annoying but funny) cause they are not aware of how see through they are when then bend over etc. and I love watching overweight people drink soda or smoothies cas their hydration source. I really can go on forever…I love this topic.
Ugh biggest pet peeves in classes are chatty Kathy’s who think it’s gab-fest 2011 and stinky people. Like seriously, how can you not know you smell like a 5 day old Italian hoagie?
My biggest pet peeve at my gym is the power lifters who drop weights 20 times over and over again! Mainly because it catches me off guard sometimes and a few times I have almost biffed on the treadmill – not funny at all! Oh and the fact that there are signs all over the gym saying DO NOT DROP WEIGHTS…
I probably agree with all of the pet peeves listed above. But, then my other pet peeve is not having tolerance for other people. Sometimes you have a bad day and you are “that” person. So…if you aren’t “that” person who arrived late, maybe realize that sometime, you will be. Ya know?
I hate when people sit on machines for a crazy period of time. There are other people who need to use ’em!
When people set up directly in front of me and my mirror space during body works – come on, I need to check my form!
Ditto the comment above – like, when the guy on the leg press tells me he only has one set left then goes on to do about a million more!!
Girl, I have to tell you, I love the pic of you rockin out in Zumba so preggers! Such an inspiration. This was such an awesome post that applies to all group style fitness. Dance too. It is just better to be on time, smiling and clean. Awesome tips and reminders.
So I only workout at home, so my biggest pet peeves are dogs licking my face during ab work and toddler crawling under me during down dog and plank 😉 But a lot of those gym pet peeves are my life pet peeves; too much perfume, texting at inappropriate times, remember the golden rule kids.
As an instructor, it really drives me crazy when people chat all through spin classes. Especially when it’s another instructor participating in the chat chatty!
I also hate when hold onto the treadmill handles when running. If you have to hold on, your form isn’t going to be right and you’re likely going too fast!
That happened in my spin class a couple weeks ago. I commented “ladies… less talking, more spinning.” The rest of the class started laughing. I found out later she told on me to our boss.
I also dislike when people come to a class to get a good workout in and then they sigh and stop and don’t give it there all. If you didn’t come prepared to do a kick ass workout, then why did you come? I get it if someone is a little tired or off their game, but sometimes people just seem to make excuses for themselves. I prefer pushing myself as hard as I can because that’s why I came to a class – to get my butt whooped! 🙂
I too prefer showered, deodorized people next to me in class. 🙂 And I dislike the guys in the weight room who walk around like their arms are 2 feet from their sides and grunt when they lift.
This is awesome! Especially working at a gym!
There is a lady at ours and she walks up to the mirror during a class and gets up REAL close and looks at her armpit and then rubs and picks at it – it’s SO gross.. She does it at almost ever class and she’s there a lot. I try to let her know that I’m watching, but she doesn’t seem to care – I think she kinda likes people watching, how weird is that?
At my gym no one is allowed to have their cell phones out, and I think all gyms should have the same policy. There are too many perverts out there that secretly snap pictures of women in their gym clothes! Another gym in my area actually found a hidden camera in the dressing rooms that someone had planted there! And there is always butt naked ladies in the bathrooms! If you’re that comfortable with your body then more power to you, but you don’t know if other people are going to be bothered by it. It’s just rude to assume that everyone is cool with nudity.
I love this post! I wish more people knew how rude it was to walk into a class late or leave early– especially yoga.
And being smelly– what a way to ruin someone’s workout. I ran on the treadmill next to a guy who smelled like 3 kinds of liquor. Kudos to him for sweating off a hangover… but not so great for everyone else. :/
I seriously cant stand the girls who come in to the gym with full makeup, hair and jewelry on. I mean.. come on.
I get frustrated by classes that run overtime, particularly lunchtime ones. I know it’s important to stay for the stretching but if I’m fitting in a class on my lunchbreak, I need to leave on time. I always try to wave and say thank you if I do leave before the end though.
I’ve always found other members at the gyms I go to pretty considerate to each other and polite to the instructors. When my membership came up for a renewal I went to check out a women only gym and I noticed that there was no soundproofing to the group class room so you could hear the instructor all the way through the rest of the gym and in the cardio section there were more women standing around chatting than on the machines. Those things drove me crazy for the short time I was there and were the reasons I didn’t switch my membership over.
I’m so glad you did a post on this, Gina! I take fitness classes three times a week up at FSU and I’ve been getting to frustrated lately. I go to class to unwind, clear my head, and of course, have fun! But some girls have been chatting non-stop lately. I just don’t understand how some people can be so inconsiderate!
I majorly hate it when people wear heavy perfume/cologne. I’m sensitive to smells, so it really bothers me! Also when people hog a piece of equipment like the bosu ball for their entire 45 minute workout, even though they only use it for a total of 5 minutes. 😛