SparkPoints: (11,834)
Fitness Minutes: (8,190)
Posts: 526
2/9/11 1:33 P

I don't have these problems for many reasons.

1) My gym is well supplied. We have 2 squat racks, 3 lat pull down stations, about 20 exercise balls, 2 sets of all the dumbbells under 25#, etc.

2) I go first thing in the morning before work. Yep, 5am. Only the serious guys are there.

3) Don't be shy. If you see a guy resting in between sets on equipment you want, ask them if you can jump in there for a quick set.

4) I leave my water bottle or a towel when moving between machines. But I try to be quick. I do not really rest between sets so they see I'm coming right back.

current weight: 160.0

163 158.5 154 149.5

145

Posts: 20
2/6/11 4:50 P

Yes, I've already decided that Saturday mid-mornings are bad and that I will either go much earlier or much, much later.

There are polite guys there who ask before taking stuff near you and who seem genuinely surprised when you ask whether they are finished with a particular piece of equipment.

I will definitely need to form a more flexible attitude about my workout on days that I go when the gym is busy.

Thanks for the feedback, Loren. Good luck with your marathon training!

current weight: 135.0

167 157.25 147.5 137.75

128

Posts: 4,762
2/6/11 4:20 P

That's a hard one. I can't really see a way to get others to change his action (in his mind he is in the right, therefore you are wrong) that means you might have to change yours. So options to cope (but unfortunately don't fix the problem):

-Work out at a less busy time.
-I've had to go from exercise 1A to 1B to 2A then back to 1A to to avoid a clog, some trainers really don't want you to do this though.

Sorry this isn't much help.

Loren

current weight: 262.0

262 246.5 231 215.5

200

Posts: 20
2/6/11 3:01 P

So, I wanted to get the input of other members of the team. I just joined a local gym once finding that I was having to make too many modifications to do NROWL4W at the gym in my apartment complex. Granted I've only worked out at the new gym 6 times, but so far, I've only encountered one other woman in the weights sections of the gym in those 6 times. This "boys" club seems to lack communication skills necessary to share the weights section with a woman.

I'm finding that the "boys" don't do any alternating sets (they do straight sets) and I find my "spot" is often taken away on various pieces of equipment while I'm off doing the alternating exercises.For example, after doing lat pulldowns and then going off to do squats, I come back to the equipment to find a man now doing 4 sets of 10 lat pulldowns. Or while doing abs focused exercises, a guy has grabbed the exercise ball I was using and is now doing 100 mindless crunches on them.

Finally, none of the men write anything down. I'm recording everything trying to make sure that I'm making steady progress and follow the program, but the men seem to be just haphazardly choosing weight lifting exercises and this makes it hard to negotiate alternating in sets in their rests with them because some of them seem to not have any idea what they are doing next.

How do you deal with the protocols or lack there of in the weight lifting section of the gym? I find that so many of the men are tuned out (ear-buds in, minds elsewhere) that it's hard to get their attention to talk to them about alternating in sets on a machine or asking them how many sets they have left. Any advice in getting men to share better at the gym?

current weight: 135.0

167 157.25 147.5 137.75

128