Gym Sins

Fitness club managers dish about their members' most obnoxious habits.
By Tina Peng Newsweek Web Exclusive


It was perhaps the most extreme case of gym rage—ever. While taking a Manhattan spin class last August, Christopher Carter became so annoyed by the unrelenting grunts and shouts of a fellow spinner that he tipped the other guy right off his bike and into a wall. The grunter was hospitalized for two weeks after the incident. Carter was acquitted of assault charges on June 2. Hopefully, the acquittal won't inspire a rash of altercations, as other exercisers decide that they too have had it with obnoxious gym behavior. Because any gym rat can tell you, grunting isn't the most irritating thing people do in fitness clubs. From making lunch in the sauna to sporting unsavory yoga attire, club managers report that some of their patrons are clueless when it comes to gym etiquette, or general decency. Here are nine of the most outrageous fitness club offenses.

1. The Sauna Stovetop A manager at a New York Sports Club was walking through the women's locker room a few years ago when she smelled cheese. Puzzled, she opened the door to the sauna, where a woman had placed bread and cheese on the hot rocks to make a postworkout grilled cheese sandwich. "Not only was it a health code violation, it was not really respectful to the other people in the sauna," says NYSC PR director Linda Hufcut. "She said, 'I do this all the time.' That was, obviously, the last time she ever did it.'"

2. Nude Fitness? A couple of visitors to a Gold's Gym in Paramus, N.J., decided to get naked and weigh themselves before they started working out. The two men didn't seem daunted by the fact that the scale was outside the locker room. They hung out by the scale, in full view of the other, clothed patrons, until a manager asked them to put some clothes on. They told Mike Epstein, the gym's owner, that they did that sort of thing all the time at their home gym. Perhaps they meant "home gym" as in the one in their basement.


3. Creative Blow-Drying A man in a California Crunch gym decided that the best way to dry out his sweaty shoes was to stick a hair dryer in each of them while he took his after-workout shower. He was shocked when managers asked him to cease and desist. "He said, 'I didn't even realize I shouldn't be doing this'," says Keith Worts, chief operating officer of Crunch, a national fitness chain.

4. Downward Dog? At another Crunch location a man had a habit of taking a yoga class while wearing shorts without underwear. He was more than happy to correct his faux pas as soon as managers made him aware that other members were uncomfortable with the view they were getting.

5. Work Out, Sleep In Some people get a little too relaxed at the gym. Gold's Gym managers have reported finding customers who fell asleep in the tanning facility and didn't wake up until the gym was closed, as well as customers who fell asleep on the bench press in between sets.


6. Killer Karaoke It's common and profoundly annoying: gymgoers get carried away listening to their music players. Before they know it they've treated everyone in the room to an off-key rendition of "...Baby One More Time." "I call it karaoke gone bad, because there is no background music and they're singing at the top of their lungs," says Harry Reo, a regional vice president for 24 Hour Fitness.

7. Talking (Too Much of) the Talk Fed up with people gabbing on their cell phones as they used the elliptical, many gyms have banned cell phones around workout equipment and designated areas for patrons to make calls. Still, people forget. "There's nothing worse than running on the treadmill and having someone next to you conducting an extremely loud conversation," says Hufcut, who's seen some people use walkie-talkies while on the treadmill.

8. Sweat Sins It seems basic, but enough people forget to wipe down their equipment after using it that this was one of the four deadly gym sins included on an informational video NYSC taped a few years ago. During the segment a careless gymgoer didn't dry off his machine; when he stood up, the entire machine was covered in dripping goo.


9. Scrimmage to Scuffle It's only logical that testosterone can run high at the gym, and sometimes managers need to break up altercations on the basketball court, says Nancy Pattee Francini, co-founder and president of the Sports Club/LA, which has 10 locations around the country. "Those guys, when they're playing basketball, can get into fights," she says. "They're not terrible fights—we're a high-end club."

These are, of course, the worst offenses, not the norm. Obnoxious behavior can usually be curbed with a little etiquette education, say gym owners. "Most of the time it's really an awareness issue with members," says Worts of Crunch. "We have to remind them that they're in a shared public space." Nonetheless, it might not be a bad idea to look over the list and make sure you're not committing any gym sins.

Build Muscle From Home

By Jonathan Potkins

Is it possible to build real muscle from home? I get that question a lot and the answer is yes!
You don't have to join a gym to build muscle or get stronger. With the right equipment and planning you can have an effective bodybuilding program from the comfort of your home.
Maybe you can't afford a gym membership due to your financial situation. You lead a busy lifestyle and would prefer to save time by training at home. Maybe you're simply too embarrassed or uncomfortable to train in a regular gym setting at the moment.

What ever the reason there are many benefits from working out at home. You don't have to wait forever to use the equipment. You don't have to smell everybody.

You get to listen to what ever music you like and feel more confident because you don't have a group of people around you. I could grunt, yelp and scream through my sets if I was in the mood without disturbing anyone (hey, squatting to failure isn't easy okay?) or train shirtless if I felt like it. When the workout was over, I could sprawl out on the floor in exhaustion and know that my post workout shakes were just a few steps away, and that I wouldn't have to hobble to my car and spend anymore time driving home.

The only real disadvantage is that your exercise selection will decrease because you won't have access to certain pieces of machinery such as a leg press or calf machine. You can purchase certain machines if you have the money to spend and plan on training at home over the long term, but for the majority of people this simply won't be possible.

The good news is that planning out a proper bodybuilding routine does not require the use of any fancy equipment, and all of the machine exercises that you would regularly perform can be swapped for free weight substitutions. Build muscle from home required equipment.

Here is the basic equipment that your home gym should contain:

1) An adjustable barbell with free weight plates - A cast iron set is probably a good idea, and you must also make sure that you purchase enough weight so that you can continually progress from week to week.

2) Adjustable dumbbells - This is much more efficient and cost-effective than purchasing an entire set of dumbbells. You should be able to buy the barbell and dumbbells together in a single set.

3) A bench with incline adjustments - A good sturdy bench is a must-have for performing bench presses and other seated movements. If possible you should purchase a bench that can be set on an incline and that also contains safety catches if you plan on training alone.

4) A chin-up bar - These can usually be purchased for 15-20 dollars and can be placed inside of a door frame.

5) A squat rack - This is usually the trickiest piece of equipment to purchase, as a full squat rack can be pricey. Squats are an irreplaceable movement and should always be a part of your workout routine, especially if you don't have a leg press machine handy.

If you can't afford a squat rack then you'll have to be creative. The bottom line is that you must have some sort of apparatus that will allow you to safely unrack a loaded bar and drop the bar onto a safety catch (or the floor) if your strength gives out during the lift. Don't ever squat without a safe place to drop the bar! Most full squat racks will also provide a chin-up bar on top, so you can kill 2 birds with one stone if you decide to purchase one.

There you go the best top five pieces of equipment for you home. Try using a fitness ball, no it's not girlish you actually get a really good workout. Do push ups on it and it works you pecs and your abs because your abs have to keep you center. Do sit ups and your abs get stretched while being work which increases your gains.

With the right equipment and information you can absolutely Build muscle from home.
This is Jon Potkins answering all your fitness questions.

For more information join me at http://freeyourabs.com - plus free report when you subscribe!

In Preparation for A Bodybuilding Competition

By Shareen Aguilar

There are many reasons why a person enters the realm of bodybuilding. Some may just train to body build to become healthy, firm and fit while some may enter bodybuilding to claim a title or to reach their bodybuilding dreams. If a person participates in a bodybuilding activity, it may even be a mission of both: to fulfill a dream and live a healthy lifestyle and be in good shape.

A person striving to participate in a bodybuilding competition has to be extremely disciplined at all cost. This means that from the mental and emotional stability of a person down to what he eats everyday has to be diligently stabilized and followed.

Since preparation is a must for a bodybuilder contender, it is important for that person to believe in himself that he can watch what he eats and maintain what he does. In line with this, as a bodybuilder contender, the thought of getting the mind conditioned to what is going to happen (be it good or bad) during the competition should also be expected. The bodybuilder contestant who is confident always about what shape he shows on stage is going to count as one of his major assets. So if you're nervous about the competition, be sure you train yourself to stay calm and collected because the people who are going to show up will see this in you.

When it comes to disciplining yourself, you'll be surprise to realize that it's much difficult to maintain a mind over body concept. Because your mind controls everything what you do, your body follows instinctively. But what if your mind thinks the reverse of how natural bodybuilding training should be? Since your body responds to every thought your mind creates, you'll find out that it's important to pay attention to what you also think because it manifests to something you could possibly do later on.

Do whatever you can to maintain healthy bodybuilding training and learn to teach your mind to think healthy as well.

Shareen Aguilar is a writer for Body Building Training Program which has information on Bodybuilding and other fitness topics.