Beginners Guide to Gym Etiquette

Maybe you have decided to recently join a gym or maybe you are just going as a guest of a friend.  Either way there are a few unspoken rules you should know about before your first trip.  Some of these may seem like common sense, however; I see people breaking these rules daily at my gym.

1) Don't do anything in the squat rack other than squat.  Since there is usually only one rack in the whole gym to do squats, it can really frustrate those who are needing to get in their squats during their allotted workout time.

2) Re-rack your weights.  There is nothing more frustrating than wanting to do leg presses and finding that someone has left six 100 pound plates on each side.  This can be very difficult to remove, especially for women.

3) Keep your music volume down.   Yes, I know that you are getting in the zone, but when the whole gym can hear your music also you are disturbing someone else's zone.

4) Clean your equipment after use.  I almost cringe every time I think about when I laid down on the workout bench only to find myself laying in someone else's puddle of sweat.  Even if you don't think you are sweating there are still other bacteria and virus's on your skin that others may not be immune to.

5) Don't hog a machine:  If you are in an empty gym then it is okay to take as long as you like on a specific piece of equipment.  However, during peak time, pay attention to the amount of time spent on each machine as there are others who are needing to finish their workout in an allotted time frame also