Fitness facilities are opening worldwide to offer to its members a place where they can exercise in peace, feel rejuvenated and content about their commitment to feeling and looking better. We come day in and day out to either focus on cardio exercise or resistance training, to hopefully reach our goals of either fitting in the wedding dress or looking like one of these professional bodybuilders you see in the magazines. Whatever your purpose, the one good thing WE all share in common is that commitment to a healthier life. However, for everything in life, there are the few that comes in an disturb the peaceful and sweaty feeling fitness facilities gives to everyone of us, by either screaming while pumping iron, or by not being respectful of others when it comes to the use of fitness equipment or anything else you may see them do during their session at the gym. Some get pissed but say nothing, while others might complain to management.
Obviously, the trouble makers might not do all of this on purpose, they might just not understand the laws or commandments in a fitness facility and behave accordingly. Is it a lack of education? Or maybe a lack of manners that they might have lost throughout the years of visiting different gyms and where in some location, their behavior is accepted while others, it is frowned upon. Regardless of all this, everyone shall follow commandment and abide by them, just for respect to others utilizing the same common area as you do.
So let's get started:
Commandment 1: Hydration: OK, so you exercise hard, you lose water so you need to hydrate in the fear of fainting and dealing with IV needles in your arms to hopefully bring you back to consciousness. So why get to that point when you can simply get to the water fountain and get a few sips of water and get back to your training. However, what happens when you get to the fountain and deal with someone who HAS to refill their 5 gallons jug of water prior to going to their next exercise. Yes, it is great to walk around with 5 gallons bottle of water in the fear of feeling remotely dehydrated, but come on, if you see very thirsty exercise goers waiting to use the water fountain, step aside and let them get their sip of water so you can get back to filling your gallon jug so you can cross the Sahara desert in peace.
Commandment 2: Share the use of equipment: OK, it is cool that you know your stuff when it comes to resistance training, or that you want to show off my doing several challenging exercise that make others wonder what are your secrets to be that massive. Obviously, certain time of the day can allow you to utilize all the dumbbells at once, without disturbing others. However, if you are working out at peak hours, you need to allow others utilize the weights or let them join in to your new and exciting training program. Whatever you decide, you need to share with others and not be selfish about your use of equipment while doing your sets.
Commandment 3: Be hygienic. Now, for this one, its not about sharing weights or letting others drink a sip of water, we are talking about hygiene. Would you want to lay in a puddle of piss or having to deal with someone that doesn't understand the meaning of shower or deodorant? We are not asking to come to the gym looking like you are ready for a photo shoot or anything, but make sure to look proper when you come at the gym, even though the end result might not be the same, but that is acceptable and expected. Also, when it comes to cleaning after the usage of the equipment is crucial. Put the weights back on the rack, on its appropriate space, such as 40 pounds dumbbells sits on the sections where you see 40. It's very simple. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Make an effort. Yes, you did exert energy performing the exercise, OK, I will give you that much, but you can also exert another 2 seconds of your set to put the weight back in place.
Commandment 4: Feeling comfortable in your own skin: OK, so Adam and Eve did walk around naked in the Garden of Eden and God was very specific to NOT eat from 2 trees, the Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge. In the first few chapters of Genesis, we discover that there are actually two trees placed in the midst of the Garden of Eden: "And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."
So, as per the Bible, the serpent was sitting peacefully in the tree of Knowledge and convinced Eve to eat from the apple and share it with Adam. After that, they realized that they were naked and hid from God. They were actually ashamed of how they looked.
The reason why I referred to the bible is because when you are at the gym, you should feel somewhat prude and cover yourself up, even in the locker room. Yes, you might be proud of your bottom package, but please, cover it up. Just show some little respect to others by being a bit more modest ïŠ
Commandment 5: No use of cell phone: OK, so that might be a commandment that you will ignore. Let me be more specific here. When I say the use of cell phone at the gym, is basically not share your whole life stories to others in your direct vicinity that can listen to your whole phone conversation. If you want to share something, post of Facebook for God's sake. If you want to talk on the phone, leave the gym and talk as much as you want. However, when performing a site, DO NOT, and I say, DO NOT perform the set while sharing your Saturday night extra-marital affair with the person on the other end of the conversation. I mean, come on. Use the KISS principle at the gym. Keep it simple and stupid, like: "Yo, wasssup, I am pumping da weights, talk later dude"
Even better, why not leave the phone in the car or locker when you are headed to the gym so you won't get disturbed? However, if you own your business, sometimes having the phone on you might be crucial, especially that executive decisions might be needed on the spot. Either way, the time at the gym is a time for YOU, and ONLY you. Act like it is.
Commandment 6: Offering your help and strength: OK, so lets say you are resting from your set, you see someone piling up weight on the bar to perform bench press. Now, you are looking at the gym-goer, wondering how he can even lift a feather, but not really discouraging them from performing the set. Despite his determination and eagerness to wanting to lift the equivalent of a semi-tractor trailer, he might need a spot to perform the Hercules task. Don't just stand there and let the bar crush his thoracic cage and let him fall in the abyss of reconstruction surgery. Get up and spot the poor kid. The good part is that you might exercise a body part that wasn't scheduled on that day. Bonus point.
Commandment 7: Never interrupt the performance of a set. As you may know that already, performing a site requires concentration, effort, fear of having the weight fall on you, and strength, obviously. What is also a very important and safety issue while performing the set, is that you fail to accomplishing that task, the weights might be falling all around you, or on the feet of people being to close to you during the performance of the set. So for your safety and the one of others, do not ask anyone how many more set they have while they perform their set. Wait while they rest between set and ask questions. You'll be glad you did.
Commandment 8: Keep the singing to yourself: OK, so you've been rejected by American Idol judges or the X factor because of your terrible singing talents, I terribly apologize about that. However, you feel like YOU are talented and the judges do not know what they are talking about. So here you go, sharing your excruciating talents to the whole gym and killing a few birds in the process. When it comes to listening to music while exercising, just sing along in your head, NOT out loud. People do not want to be bothered or suffer from this predicament. If you want to sing out loud, do it while in the shower after your work-out (at home) or while driving back home. You are doing all of us a big favor.
Commandment 9: Be sociable. OK, so you just moved to a new city, being vigilant in looking for the perfect gym that you can feel comfortable in, and you become a member. We all know that the gym environment is NOT solely to exercise, and I would lie if I did say that, but you can also socialize. Yes, I said it. Socialize. Approach people, especially when you are new, introduce yourself to make new friends, help people if you feel they need help, and take initiative. The gym staff is hired not just based on their knowledge of fitness but also their social skills, their capability to talking to anyone, making people feel at home because between you and I, the gym is considered as a second home for most people. I know it is for me.
Commandment 10: Take care of the property: As in commandment 9, look at the gym like being your home. You are being careful with your own property right? You do not slam things on the floor, or the counter, or anywhere else. How pissed would you be if everyday you get to the gym, by an act of god, every piece of equipment is in REPAIR. Every body part you intent to train on that day is replaced by a sign: Under Repair. Sorry for Inconvenience. Management." I bet you won't stay member of that gym much longer. So, if everyone is being careful with the equipment, repairs will be few and far between regular maintenance schedules. So make the effort, keep it clean when you work out and avoid doing unnecessary acts that torture the gym equipment. I can guarantee the management will also be grateful. Having machines down is not always good for their image either.
So here we are, all 10 commandments for you to abide to when using. The Jews were the ONLY tribe that accepted God demands and requirements. So it is your turn to accept these commandments above and make sure to keep the fitness environment as safe and pleasurable as possible for everyone.
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