Are there interesting people at your gym? It seems as if no matter when I go to the gym I see certain types of people. I wish that I had a reason to talk to some of these people to figure out what makes them tick. They are unique, but at the same time they are not the only people I’ve ever seen do what they do. For example…
- The Jeans Joggers – these are people who wear jeans to run on the treadmill or to lift weights. I wish I knew one of them so I could ask if they don’t have any shorts or if this is their way of protesting against them.
- The Khakis Pants People – these are the people who try to one up the Jeans Joggers by wearing Khakis pants to the gym.
- The Rules Don’t Apply – I’ve seen this personality type a few times in a class I take called Power Cut. The whole class is following the instructors instructions except for this person. They do their own routine.
- The Grunters – these are people that whether they are running on the elliptical or lifting weights they manage to let out a grunt. Why? Because they can. There is no other explanation as to why a person should grunt on the elliptical.
- The Talkers – these people come to the gym to talk. They can’t read body language or the fact that you have headphones on. They are going to talk to you no matter what.
- The Stretchers – these people stretch. There is nothing wrong with a little stretching, but these people do Tai Chi in the middle of the gym.
- The Gross – these people are gross because they don’t whipe down their machine after they use it. They leave their sweat for the next person.
I CAN'T STAND the talkers…and as far as grunting, there is no excuse for it on the elliptical but when lifting a heavy set, for some reason it seems to help. I sometimes wear jeans if I've come straight from work and forgot cloths to change into, but I only do upper body weight lifting…any significant leg movement in jeans just ain't good on all levels…i remember at the Y in Lynchburg this guy who would run on a treadmill or use the elliptical and when he got of it looked like he had dumped a 5 gallon buck of sweat on the machine and the floor!
All of this is clearly telling you to just stop exercising. Are you blind man?? Run, don't walk, away from this freak show. Mark my words, you will be transformed into your own "unique" category if you remain there any longer. LOL.
Jeans and khakis I'll never get. How can they stand it?
For the rules don't apply, some theories COULD be– and I haven't seen the person or people you are referring to specifically– they have an injury or condition that keeps them from performing certain exercises so they have to modify the exercise or skip it altogether and do something else. For example, I don't like putting the barbell on my shoulders for lunges and squats, as it hurts my shoulders because it causes them to over-rotate sometimes, and it loads your spine too much. So I either hold dumbbells in my hands at my side or skip the extra weight all-together (my body weight is quite enough in my opinion!!). I haven't taken one of those classes in a long time, but I am usually the only person who didn't hold the barbell on my shoulders. If someone has a knee injury, they may not be able to do lunges or squats, or not very many of them, so they may do abs instead, rather than stand and do nothing.
Another possibility is sometimes the instructors don't address all the major muscle groups. Or the person wants to spend more time on a particular muscle group. Sometimes, if I think a muscle group will be missed in a class like that or boot camp, I'll do something else to hit that muscle group while every one is doing what the instructor is doing.
If they are doing it the whole class, then I don't have an answer for that except maybe they should be in the wellness room, not the class.
Just my thought.
This makes me wonder what group someone puts me in. Like today, I was talking to Lisa while were both on the treadmill and I realized I was yelling. In class I laugh when something is really difficult. I wonder who blogs about me? Crap! You gave me a complex.
Now that I've joined the Y I'll be looking for these people… and try not to fall into one of these categories.
–Terrace Crawford
http://www.terracecrawford.com
http://www.twitter.com/terracecrawford
I'm with Billy…the talkers get on my nerves. I always get weirded out by the grunters, even though Billy says it's necessary. Maybe I don't lift enough, but I've never felt the urge to do that. 🙂 And I get hot enough in gym shorts, can't imagine trying to run in jeans. There was a lady running beside me on the treadmill recently wearing earmuffs and singing out loud…any idea what category she would go in? 🙂
Faith, those are good theories. You are probably right, but there was a girl who created her own routine during the whole class. I couldn't help but think why they were in the class if they were goign to do there own thing.