Have you ever been to a gym where you are so disqusted you don' t want to train before you clean up a bit? I have, lots of them, it's not fun, it's not pretty and it does not have to be that way. Every person who uses a gym whether it be someone's home gym or a commercial gym needs to put their equipment back and put their garbage in the trash can.
I have trained at gyms where people leave their garbage everywhere including empty water bottles and coffee cups. People have no problem dropping chalk every where and leaving their equipment and gear behind. Are you one of those people who don't put plates back? or the specialty bar you used back where it belongs? I wonder what these people's houses would look like if this was normal habit. Do you do this at home and if it was your gym would you do it?
We take pride in our home gyms and we have two of them. Our "Kettlebell Studio" and our "Powerlifting Gym" and we are continually trying to make them bigger and better with top notch equipment and keep them clean. After all it is our "HOME" gym.
We continue to make our gym user friendly, clean and safe and hope that everyone using it appreciates the time, effort and money that goes into having it.
We are fortunate because for the most part we have a great crew of people that comes to train here. We have a hand selected group not open to the public. Having said that sometimes there still needs to be etiquette, manners and rule reminders when coming into someone's house and being part of a club or a team. Here are the top rules I would follow if I was to train at someone else's gym, home gym or commercial gym.
1. Always bring indoor shoes, take your outdoor shoes and boots off at the door. Do not walk across someone's floors with your dirty wet shoes or boots on. Even in the gym on the rubber flooring we don't need dirt and water and salt stains, please bring indoor shoes always.
2. Be on time. When a class or training session starts at a certain time be on time. I understand circumstances come up, people have commitments, kids, traffic etc but be respectful of the group you are training with. Your lateness distracts the others, and puts everyone behind.
3. Unload and put your plates and dumbbells back when you are done and before you leave. Don't just train and leave, leaving 8 plates on the belt squat machine for the next person to unload, or plates on the squat bar or dumbbells on the floor. There is a place for every plate and every plate should be put in it's place.
4. Don't leave your garbage laying around. I have been to so many gyms where people just leave their garbage laying everywhere. If there are garbage cans, use them.
5. Stay to help out your training team members. Just because you are done doesn't mean everyone is done. Help spot, unload their plates, take video's, it's a team environment where everyone should help together, coming to train yourself then leave without helping takes the T right out of TEAM.
6. Don't invite every Tom, Dick & Harry you know to come train at a private gym. Especially don't bring extra people without checking first. You don't bring extra people to your commercial gym without memberships, private gym's space is limited, training is exclusive to invited or paying members only so don't assume it's ok without asking first. I'm pretty sure this is a rule with most gyms.
7. Respect the equipment, most is bullet proof but some is not and understand that some items do wear out. Be mindful of that and that someone has to pay for all that equipment you are using. For example don't put your drinks on the padded equipment, it leaves marks and water stains.
8. Chalk, let's talk about chalk and baby powder. We all use it and we all need it to a certain extent. It also can be contained and kept to a minimal if used properly so please try not to spray it all over the entire gym, keep it over the chalk bucket and baby powder on your legs.
9. Don't leave your gear bag or water bottle/protein shaker on top of the equipment. Chances are someone else may want to use that equipment.
10) Last but not least and my biggest pet peeve, don't drop the weights when you deadlift. You can't drop it from the top in competition and you shouldn't do it in training. Not to mention we have neighbours who have to put up with the banging. Home gym's floors aren't as resilient as commercial gyms to dropping that much weight may crack the cement floors.
Plus you never know who may pop by for a visit. A clean gym is a happy gym.
Looking for your own equipment or gear, it's available at Elitefts.com at very reasonable prices.
Call me fussy, call me a girl, I don't care, these are the top 10 Courtesy, Common Sense, Etiquette rules I would live by if I trained at a gym and would expect the same back from people coming into my home gym or any gym for that matter.
Like I said, we have a great crew, lots of these rules reflect back to some of the gyms I used to train at. It's appalling to say the least and as a gym owner I would never let that happen to my gym, or do it to someone else's.
Training is serious and can be fun and is an important aspect of most people's lives. Let's all enjoy it to it's fullest !
#driven #livelearnpasson #strongher #keepthegymsclean
"There is a place for every plate and every plate should be put in it's place." I've been training for 45 years mostly in commercial gyms and with few exceptions, I find heavier plates racked over lighter plates. Not sure what makes someone do it. It's often necessary to remove 45's to reach a 25 or lighter plate. Not a big deal for me but it is for a lighter or older lifter. This is bad enough, just as bad, or worse are the inconsiderate individuals who walk away and leave bars, leg presses and other machines loaded. Unfortunately inconsiderate people are found in gyms, as they are elsewhere.