The Mind-Muscle Connection

If you are a newbie or not a regular visitor to a gym, there are some unwritten rules that you should follow so that you don’t piss off any of the serious lifters.  These are rules to live by that will make you a better lifter and gain the respect of the gym contigent.  These are the first 10 commandments of the Gym Etiquette Bible. 

1. Unless you are playing music or logging your workouts on your cell phone, leave it in your bag…or at home for that matter. Under no circumstances should you talk on your phone at the gym
2. Do not bring a book or magazine to read in between sets.  The gym is for training, in between sets you should be regaining your strength and focus, not getting caught up on Paris Hilton’s drug addiction
3. Empty the bar after you are done with a machine, station or rack.  No one wants to strip 5 plates off each side of a bar before they even get started.  Don’t even leave a 45 lb plate on, not everyone starts with that weight. Make it a habit to clear it every time
4. Do not do any exercises right in front of the dumbbell rack, just because it is easier to load and unload the weights.  In case you haven’t noticed, there are more than just the weights you want to use on the rack that other people are inevitably going to want to grab.  Get your weights and go to an open area to lift.  This especially goes for shrugging by the dumbbell rack and ESPECIALLY doing dumbbell rows ON the rack. 
5. Don’t leave any of your stuff on the racks, weight trees, benches, or machines if you aren’t using it.  Take it with you. It’s not your closet and someone might want to use that machine.  With all your stuff on it, it looks like someone is using it and they aren’t.
6. Don’t do circuits in a crowded gym.  Taking up 5 machines when you are only using one every 10 minutes is wasting peoples time in the gym
7. Don’t grab weights off of a rack if it is attached to a machine that someone is working out on. Don’t even go near it, and definitely, don’t walk in front of the person training.
8. Try to stay out of a lifters way when they are lifting.  In all directions. Don’t stand around them, don’t walk in front of them and don’t set up shop directly in front of them while they are training
9. The gym is not a social gathering place.  If you want to talk to someone for 20 minutes, do it in the locker room or lobby. And definitely don’t do it on or around a piece of equipment that someone who wants to workout could be using.
10. Wipe off the machine after you are done. No one wants to walk up to a bench slimed by you on your previous exercise.  At the minimum wipe it with a towel, preferably use the cleaning solution to get it clean and germ free.