With the New Year comes many new members at the gym. These are people who have recently made the commitment to get in shape. It can be frustrating to navigate the gym with so many newbies and it can be hard for new members to know the etiquette of the gym. Here are some annoying behaviors

1. Putting your lock right next to another locker that is being used when there are many other lockers in the row that are not in use.

2. Staying on a machine past the time limit when someone else is waiting or using a machine that you have not signed up for so someone has to ask you to get off.

3. Hovering around a machine five minutes before you are signed up for it.

4. Not cleaning off the machines when you have finished using them.

5. Erasing someone's name from the sign up sheet for a machine or for a class. This is very rude.

6. Coming into class late. Most gyms allow you to come ten minutes late but it is annoying to have people walking in during the beginning relaxation in yoga or having someone crowd in your space during a cardio kick class.

7. Not being aware on the track. Walkers who do not walk single file so one person is walking in the running lane. Walkers/runners who don't check behind them before passing a walker in front of them so they end up cutting off a runner.

8. People who use arm weights on the track so they end up taking up the whole width of the track and no one can pass them without getting hit with a weight.

9. People who just jump in and start circle swimming without giving the other two people who are splitting the lane a heads up.

10. People who spit water onto the steam sensor in the steam room. Also people who pour water onto these things. The steam will come on when it is ready and if you pour water onto it you will probably break it and then no one can use the steam room for three days because you couldn't wait a minute for the steam to work on its own.

11. Kids in the adult locker rooms, unattended teenagers in adult locker rooms who should be using youth rooms if available. Kids who are the other gender and above a certain age. If your son/daughter can't get ready without you consider using a family locker room or getting ready at home.

12. Taking long showers.

13. Using all the outlets so that you can curl and style your hair while someone can't even plug in the hair dryer. If you take a long time getting ready consider getting ready at home.

These are just some of the behaviors that I have noticed recently at my gym. I know that in the spring and fall when people have forgotten about their resolutions or can do more things outside that the gym will not be so crowded all the time. But for now I get to enjoy the feeling that comes from knowing that I work out at the gym year round.

Learn more about this author, Carrie Monroe.
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