Gym Bitches: A Rant
Dec. 21st, 2015 08:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jianantonicI've been going to my parents' gym since I've been in Charlottesville. It's a really expensive club and the people who go there are mostly soccer mom types who wear designer gear.
So the weight machines all have this big orange sticker on them that says "ALLOW OTHER MEMBERS TO USE THIS MACHINE WHILE YOU REST BETWEEN SETS." This is policy at most gyms, and it's common courtesy that most people follow, but not only is it policy at this gym, it's spelled out really clearly on every machine. Anyway. The whore machines as I like to call them (the ones where you either spread your legs wide and then squeeze them together to lift a weight or start with them together and then spread them wide to lift the weight) are set up side by side. They work companion muscle groups. Almost everyone who uses them goes from one to the other, alternating, until they've completed their sets. I'm often going back and forth with another person doing this at the same time. Some people prefer to do all their sets on one machine before moving onto another, and that's fine, too, but you still should let people work in with you. You don't need to take your rest ON the actual machine.
The past two days in a row, I've been doing the whore machines, alternating between the two, and some woman has swooped in and taken the other one while I'm on the companion machine near the end of my 3 sets. Both times, I just had one set left to do, and the woman came in and jumped on the machine I needed for like 20 more seconds. Not a big deal, because sets don't take that long and I can wait and whatever. Here's how this went each of the last two days:
Sunday:
Me: (finishes set as other woman sits down on my next machine. wipes down machine and waits near the other one for my turn.)
Her: (does one set, sits there and doesn't move)
Me: Do you mind if I take one last set while you rest?
Her: Oh I only have a couple more then you can have it when I'm done.
Me: Okay...
Me, in my head: BITCH, I only had ONE more. And do you not see that big orange sign that tells you to let me fucking have my set?
Monday started the same:
Me: (finishes set as other woman sits down on my next machine. wipes down machine and waits near the other one for my turn.)
Her: (does one set, sits there and doesn't move)
Me: Do you mind if I take one last set while you rest?
Her: (rolls eyes, makes a big production of getting up, doesn't pull the release that resets the leg pads back to a human position, so that I have to mount the machine like a baby deer learning to walk)
Me: (gets on machine, does my set, resets the pads, gets up and quickly wipes sweat off the machine, smiles) Thanks!
Her: (rolls eyes and makes a big production of getting back on the machine and checking the weight pin even though I didn't move it from where she had it.)
Seriously, my set took no more than half a minute, you could've used the one next to me (that I'm sure you're moving to next anyway) instead of standing directly in front of me and staring at me disdainfully while I do the exercise that has just derailed your whole day.
I really hate people.
You guys are cool, though.
So the weight machines all have this big orange sticker on them that says "ALLOW OTHER MEMBERS TO USE THIS MACHINE WHILE YOU REST BETWEEN SETS." This is policy at most gyms, and it's common courtesy that most people follow, but not only is it policy at this gym, it's spelled out really clearly on every machine. Anyway. The whore machines as I like to call them (the ones where you either spread your legs wide and then squeeze them together to lift a weight or start with them together and then spread them wide to lift the weight) are set up side by side. They work companion muscle groups. Almost everyone who uses them goes from one to the other, alternating, until they've completed their sets. I'm often going back and forth with another person doing this at the same time. Some people prefer to do all their sets on one machine before moving onto another, and that's fine, too, but you still should let people work in with you. You don't need to take your rest ON the actual machine.
The past two days in a row, I've been doing the whore machines, alternating between the two, and some woman has swooped in and taken the other one while I'm on the companion machine near the end of my 3 sets. Both times, I just had one set left to do, and the woman came in and jumped on the machine I needed for like 20 more seconds. Not a big deal, because sets don't take that long and I can wait and whatever. Here's how this went each of the last two days:
Sunday:
Me: (finishes set as other woman sits down on my next machine. wipes down machine and waits near the other one for my turn.)
Her: (does one set, sits there and doesn't move)
Me: Do you mind if I take one last set while you rest?
Her: Oh I only have a couple more then you can have it when I'm done.
Me: Okay...
Me, in my head: BITCH, I only had ONE more. And do you not see that big orange sign that tells you to let me fucking have my set?
Monday started the same:
Me: (finishes set as other woman sits down on my next machine. wipes down machine and waits near the other one for my turn.)
Her: (does one set, sits there and doesn't move)
Me: Do you mind if I take one last set while you rest?
Her: (rolls eyes, makes a big production of getting up, doesn't pull the release that resets the leg pads back to a human position, so that I have to mount the machine like a baby deer learning to walk)
Me: (gets on machine, does my set, resets the pads, gets up and quickly wipes sweat off the machine, smiles) Thanks!
Her: (rolls eyes and makes a big production of getting back on the machine and checking the weight pin even though I didn't move it from where she had it.)
Seriously, my set took no more than half a minute, you could've used the one next to me (that I'm sure you're moving to next anyway) instead of standing directly in front of me and staring at me disdainfully while I do the exercise that has just derailed your whole day.
I really hate people.
You guys are cool, though.
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no subject
Date: 2015-12-22 07:00 am (UTC)Another pet peeve? When there's a fucking sign on the wall that says please rerack your weights, and some big bozo leaves a thousand pounds on the leg press.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-22 11:08 pm (UTC)ACAC, right? I can totally see it.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-23 01:49 am (UTC)