Man at the gym tells me he is "using" the equipment I'm on when he was no where to be found

No one knows what happened other than you, so all this speculation about who you are and your adversary is... is just speculation.

This is about etiquette and nothing else. If he leaves, its within your right to look around and make sure no one is using it. And then grab it if it looks free. Nobody knows what he was doing. Maybe he got a drink of water. Maybe he has a medical condition and had to take a medication. Who knows. The fact is that he came back and asked to finish his set.

There are a couple things:

1) if he is doing a little circuit, well... he needs to understand that he can't occupy 3 machines at the same time. And he's wrong. Especially if he was being a jerk about it. If he's like most people in the gym, he may have said, "hey, do you mind? I have 1 more set." Most people will just do something else and let them finish. So maybe he's wrong. Maybe he's rude. We dont know what the tone was.

2) how would you feel if in the middle of your set, someone took your bench over to the Smith machine because you got up to make some notations in your workout log? You might walk up to them and say, "hey buddy I got two more sets. Do you want to work in? Or could you let me finish?" The idea here being... etiquette is about treating others the way you would like to be treated. If you are totally ok with people grabbing your weights and grabbing your bench during your set, then I guess that's fine. Most of us in the gym expect to have other folks do us a favor and let us finish our set so that we will pay it forward and let them finish their set.

Based on your responses, though, it sounds like you would be pretty annoyed if someone took the bench back over to the Smith machine in the middle of your set. I say this because you make some big claim about other folks being inconsiderate and leaving the weights out for you to put back. This does not make you any different from most of the other reasonable people in the world who end up cleaning up the mess of others in communal spaces. Why should anyone care if you take it upon yourself to rerack the weights? A lot of people do it.

Golden rule. If you expect someone to let you finish your set. You should let them finish their set.

GymEtiquette? wrote:

Yeah, it's rude to hog equipment you aren't actively using. I personally won't remove someone's personal item or towel out of respect, but it definitely annoys me because it is a public facility that we are all paying to use

This not a public facility. It is a gym at work.

What's the point in posting if you can't keep track of your own story?

OP, I take it you are an only child.

He can't be that rude. He let you keep the bench after your took it from him.

i haven't read the whole discussion, nor will I. But i generally agree with the original poster that the guy was out of line, and it would have annoyed me, too. I have spent a lot of time at the gym.

I wonder if much of what's being posted here is just to be adversarial.

Gyms are open to all different types, and i'd try not to let it bother me.

seattle prattle wrote:

i haven't read the whole discussion, nor will I. But i generally agree with the original poster that the guy was out of line, and it would have annoyed me, too. I have spent a lot of time at the gym.

I wonder if much of what's being posted here is just to be adversarial.

Gyms are open to all different types, and i'd try not to let it bother me.

We've only heard one side of the story though.

At my gym, if someone saw a woman (or man) struggling for 20 seconds to move a heavy bench, there would have been several people coming over to help her/him out.

I wonder why nobody cam to help you with the bench. Do you have a certain "reputation" in this gym?

I never leave my equipment in the middle of a set if I want to keep it to myself so this would never happen to me. It would be impossible for someone to take a machine from me while I am using it because I am physically at the machine. when i walk away, i generally accept that there’s a chance someone else will use it and that’s fine

good point.

Upon looking at the original post a little closer, i think this might be complicated by the fact that the guy may have interpreted that you were altering a piece of equipment. This is different than merely cutting in and using a piece of equipment. She removed the bench so that the guy, later on, would need to re-assemble the equipment if he was to use the smith machine.

That might piss him off, and i can understand that, too. One wonders, where was the original bench for the bench press?

All i am saying is that i would be a bit more sympathetic to the guy given the circumstances because she was removing equipment from the machine. That is, if the smith machine usually has a bench with it.

yeah it’s obviously my fault that other people are unhelpful. personally i dont care if anyone helps me but by all means, feel free to blame this on me rather than acknowledging that others may be into their own workouts

let me? what was he going to do, pry it out of my hands?

GymEtiquette? wrote:

I never leave my equipment in the middle of a set if I want to keep it to myself so this would never happen to me. It would be impossible for someone to take a machine from me while I am using it because I am physically at the machine. when i walk away, i generally accept that there’s a chance someone else will use it and that’s fine

For the last time, a set is one SET of reps (like 5) done in succession. Multiple sets of reps (like 3 SETS of 5 reps each, with 2 minutes in between for rest) is an exercise.

you frankly come off as a rude and not fun person to be around. people might be sympathetic if you were nicer and not so entitled.

so you can bench 90lbs but can barely slide a 45lb pound weight bench 3 feet? Why didn't you just count moving the bench as your workout and go home.

But yeah, a lot Gyms do have that 70's Shag carpet, could see how that makes it harder to slide that bench.

How much does your work usually charge for their gym?

Can I join?

Think about it. 99% of people who walk into a gym can slide the bench almost as fast as they can walk. You claim you were '20 seconds into sliding the bench' that only needed to be moved a few feet. So would you say it took 10 seconds per foot?

One second per inch?

so you are basically max efforting to budge the weight bench one inch along the floor at a time?

I want people to try and imagine a bench so heavy that someone can only budge it a few inches at a time, yet is moved all the gym all day long since they are short of benches.

Was this Bench attached to an 1982 Nautilus machine?

work on your story, not your bench bress bro.

9/10, this keeps getting better. OP is a master at riling up people.

GymEtiquette? wrote:

yeah it’s obviously my fault that other people are unhelpful.

That was kinda his point. :-)

lower the score since at least half the people know it's a troll and he was called out very early.

I read this book on how to pick up women. One of the tactics was exactly this.

You wait until a chick tries to get on a piece of unoccupied gym equipment. You come over and say you were on it. If she gives it up to you, you start up a conversation with her a few minutes later,

...excuse me, i was actually out of line asking you to wait for me..., you were so nice, i feel so badly, do you come here often...'

Then you seem like a nice guy actually, and you broke the ice. You give the equipment back to her and .... whatever.

If, on the other hand, she ignores you and goes about getting her way, forget about her. Which is what he did.

Okay, so he was really hitting on you. Feel better now? Good, now get the hell out of the gym and start laying down some miles (preferably outside, trust me on this).

I feel like you have watched too much My Cousin Vinny and think this is that scene where they debunk that old woman’s testimony by testing her vision.