After my annoying experience on Monday with She Who Did Not Show, I started thinking about what else has been bothering me at the gym lately (hey why stop at one moan after all! 
).
I’m not a complete gym newbie by any means. Before getting into running I used to go to the gym four times a week before work…not classes, just the gym. How I managed to maintain motivation I have no idea as now I can barely stay on a cross trainer for more than six minutes. But anyway, I have (sort of) recently re-joined a gym in order to get involved with the different classes, such as body pump, circuits and spin.
I think with going to the gym it’s easier to be bugged by fellow gym goers because you’re in one place for a lengthy period of time. Whereas in running, you can, er, run away from people who are annoying you. Does that make sense?
So here we go:
1) Smug spin lady, just because you can almost peddle yourself off the spin bike does not mean you’re the best at spin. No need to look so smug because you don’t have a drop of sweat on you. I think you’ve missed the point. There’s a resistance dial on the bike: please acquaint yourself with it.
2) Sweaty man, heard of a towel?
3) It is never acceptable to wear a boob tube playsuit at the gym. Especially at 6.30am in the morning.
4) Walking on the treadmill while using your phone is pointless (and dangerous?).
5) Spin instructor, please stop shouting excessively loud. I can hear you over the music. In fact, the guys lifting weights at the back of the gym with ear phones on can hear you too.
6) Scary overly-muscular man, please don’t goad the instructor to work us harder. I’m finding the workout tough enough. No I don’t want to do sprints on the toughest resistance.
7) Pump instructor, please give me chance to at least grab my new set of weights before you jump into the next routine.
7) Lateness. It’s rude. It’s your job as an instructor to be there on time – preferably before the start so we don’t have to watch you setting everything up while it’s eating into our allocated class time.
Maybe I have the world’s worst gym? Potentially. I do pay peanuts in comparison to some places. Maybe I’m used to having space in my working out zone…who knows. Really not much of the above truly bothers me (apart from the lateness – that does get my goat). I guess it makes things more interesting to be able to people watch while you’re dying sweating working out.
On a more bright note…check out my blueberry plant!
There are actual blueberries on it. You’re probably thinking, “yeah duh, it’s a blueberry plant, big deal”. But seriously this is a monumental thing for me. I pretty much kill anything plant-like. Not intentionally…well, I just sort of forget to water things. It’s all the way in the back garden…I’m tired…I can’t be bothered…
But my lovely husband Ben has been looking after it and giving it some TLC and voila! Blueberries ahoy! OK so I can’t take credit for this obviously, but I’m still chuffed. I haven’t tried one yet but when I do I’m hoping it will be bursting with vibrant flavour and antioxidants 
What are your annoyances at the gym? Am I being over-sensitive and/or mean?
What funny observations have you had of people working out, or people in general? I see the funniest sites on my commute to work – women actually doing their make up in the car for instance.
Do you grow any of your own vegetables and/or fruit? In an ideal world I’d be like Jamie Oliver, planting my own produce and whipping up meals using the fruits of my labour. Ha.
Hooray for the blueberries on your plant! I love growing my own things, although am not that successful! I seem to manage fruit OK, but veggies- I planted carrots last year and think I had one! We grew leeks and I ate a couple but most got too huge and were not edible any longer. We grew onions but they are still tiny. I am growing some sweetcorn and I think there might be one cob on there.
Urgh, the gym. I used to get so annoyed with the men who would not use towels- I would bring a towel and put it on the seat so I never sat directly on the seat, but there was one guy who just used to leave foot long sweat smears all over the seats- so disgusting. We are lucky with pump- the class is down to be 55 mins, and we used to have a class right after so it was a right rush, but now there is not, so we generally have a minute between each track where she demonstrates the moves, and we can all change weights/ put the step away once we are done with it etc. So usually it lasts about 60-65 mins, including the tidy up at the end.
Also, I may have mentioned this before, but there used to be a lady who would just wear a swimming costume in the gym (ready for the steam room maybe?)- I had to do a triple take the first time I saw her on the exercise bike!
I get annoyed with people turning up late for classes- especially pump- it seems to happen a lot and it will be someone new who does not know what equipment they need- we are a friendly bunch and always help new people get the bits out, but it is so annoying when we have started the warm up track (or sometimes we are into squats) and then the instructor has to stop and show them what to do- I just feel that if you had never been before you would be on time!
Wow I’m so envious of all your gardening – even if you haven’t had loads of veg from it, it’s still really good that you get to spend the time doing it and I bet it’s great when you do get something!
It is a nightmare when you’re rushed with a class. Pump is especially bad because there’s so much setting up and packing away involved. You don’t really want to spend actual class time doing that!
Haha yes I remember the lady in a swimsuit – how random!
LOL. We must go to the same gym (except in different countries). I have this one guy who would while running for 30+ minutes on the treadmill, clap every 2 minutes. You could hear it all throughout the gym. At first I would get so annoyed, but now- every time I hear a clap, it means my rest time is over and time to lift the next set 😛
Those blueberries look great- hope they taste good too! I have a black thumb so anything I touch dies.
Hahaha that’s so random about the clapping!! How weird. But at least you can put it to good use haha.
Yeah I tend to kill a lot of things too…I killed an orchard by overwatering it. Apparently they don’t need too much water…whoops.
Lateness is a huge one for me, especially when a class is pretty much full. When I used to do kickboxing, a load of uni students would always turn up late and squidge in the back row – where there was no room. It left the rest of us kicking each other or missing moves because of a lack of space.
Yay for blueberries!
Lateness I think is just rude in any setting. Really bugs me. How annoying about the kickboxing. Not exactly ideal!!
I had to look up what a “boob tube playsuit” was. Ha. Why would anyone even attempt to wear that at the gym? One of my biggest fears in grade school was wearing a skirt to school and then having to play kickball or any other type of sport really, in gym class. Talk about uncomfortable.
We have some tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, zucchini, purple onions… (I think that’s it) in our garden out back. Oh, we have some lettuce too. I think we’re about out this season of fresh produce, but it’s exciting while it lasts.
What are you going to do with those blueberries? Hopefully make something delicious!
I know, how is a boob tube practical??? Hehe.
Woa I love how much veg you grow! That’s just amazing. Must be so tasty as well 🙂
Well at the moment I don’t have many…so many just a sprinklinh on some yogurt hehe. Though blueberry muffins sound divine…
Haha! I used to hate it when the body pump instructor would go on to the next move and not allowing time for weight changes. Congrats on the blueberries! 🙂
It just stresses me out! I hate feeling rushed, especially when it involves weights!!
This makes me laugh. I think my biggest gym pet peeve is when people don’t wipe down the equipment after using it. EW.
It’s just gross! And quite lazy.
Haha congrats on the bloobs! And omg #7 (the first one), yes, kills me every time!
Haha I love the term ‘bloobs’!
I can’t believe you have blueberries, that’s amazing! So jealous! We have an awesome gym at our apartment complex and it’s usually dead so I can just get on with my workout, my pet hate though is people walking on the treadmill, just go outside. There is also one guy who listens to his own music so loudly I can hear it over my own music! I’m just growing lettuces and herbs at the minute, my dad has a proper awesome garden full of stuff though, whenever I am home I bring back loads of fruit/veggies.
Amazing that you have a gym in your apartment complex! How cool that it’s so quiet as well.
Walking on the treadmill is just silly. Unless it’s torrential rain outside there’s really no excuse.
Very jealous of your dad’s garden!
Hehe those are well funny, I’m pretty lucky with my gym I think. I tend to go first thing so there’s only me and 2 or 3 regulars and they seem to be quite normal! Your blueberry bush looks fab, I wish I had the outdoor space to grow things!
Hehe lucky you! Yeah our gardenis very small but just big enough for a few plants.
I really want to grow blueberries! I figure it is all I can handle at the moment! did you grow them from seeds?
Haha no way – I got a Jamie Oliver plant and Ben just watered it. I couldn’t grow a weed from a seed if I tried hehe.
That blueberry plant is SO cool! With the rate I eat blueberries, I could really use one of those. I’m so jealous!! Also I’m with you on all of those gym annoyances. My biggest gym pet peeve is when the person on the machine next to me peeks over to my screen so see what pace/resistance/etc I’m on, and then sets their machine just a little bit higher. What is with this?? Can’t we all just get along??
Hahaha I’ve done that to people in spin classes…I look at what their resistance is on to check to see if I’m not on too hard or easy. Whoops! But it’s never for competition. It’s just because I’m not very good at turning the resistance dial as much as I should.