I absolutely love love love love my gym, but the one thing that bugs me are the women who take classes by some of the really popular instructors and flock after these teachers like crows. They're obsessed and it's almost cult status. Maybe the classes are really great and I just haven't given them a chance because I prefer the cardio machines and one on ones with my trainer, but come on, these teachers aren't gods.

Three biggest--which I guess all have a theme of inconsideration for other gym-goers:
...not wiping down machines after use.
...not showering before going into the pool/Jacuzzi
...wearing strong perfume (when you heat up it is overwhelming to others).

People who walk between the machines while people are on them. It's a tight squeeze and catches one off guard, use the proper walkway. And people who wear street clothes on the machines, buy some shorts and tennis shoes.

I don't like the older women at my girls-only gym. They are overweight, chatter instead of workout, and talk down to the trainers with nothing but excuses for their laziness. It's seriously motivational to never become like them.

I also don't like walkers that take up the three runner-quality treadmills that we have. I joined that gym to use that specific piece of equipment, and there are 20 fine treadmills in the next room for walking and jogging. Be polite, please and let us use the equipment marked for runners.

When someone chooses the cardio machine riiiight next to you... when there's a whole row of machines open!

I hate when people hog the gym equipment, either chitchatting with other people or watching TV and doing nothing. And yeah, I hate when people don't wipe down the machines/equipment after using them.

I agree with the perfume (or cologne for guys). Also, *arriving* to the gym with body odor and/or no antiperspirant. I've had to stop and move to another machine because someone reeked so bad (and it only got worse as he started to work up a sweat). I'm usually at the gym a little after 5 am, and that is just waaaay too early to deal with stomach-turning B.O. Basic hygiene, people- come on!

- when people hog the equipment, either chitchatting with other people or just sitting there watching the TV/group room and not doing anything for a loooong time. C'mon!
- Not being tidy! Leaving tissue/rags everywhere or the free weights lying around. And NOT wiping down the equipment...
- And I'm with Anonymous: "When someone chooses the cardio machine riiiight next to you... when there's a whole row of machines open!"

Anonymous, I have frequently chosen the machine next to the fastest runner at the gym because it helps you keep pace. Is it really rude? It's not like I talk to them, but the atmosphere of energy is helpful to work out next to.

i hate the woman in my pilates class who breathes SO LOUDLY...its unreal, i can't believe spit doesnt come out of her lips cuz she's nearly whistling

and i hate when guys try to pick you up when you're on a machine...like i'm working out with my ipod in, do i look like i want to talk to you?

People (usually the big buff boys) who don't rack their weights when finished. I'm done with my weight training by the time I take theirs off and get started!

I agree with #5. Hate that. I don't need someone all up in my business when the gym is empty.

Also hate when machines are not wiped down.

I don't like when people take their shoes off in the stretching area. Their sweaty gross feet are walking all over the mats. Ick.

I don't like when people who hire the (veryyyy) expensive trainers at my gym (Equinox) spend half the time on their crackberries. (This is really just one woman who I just don't understand.)

I also don't like when people have clear disdain for overweight people at the gym. (There are some snot-faced Miss Things at my gym who act like their crap doesn't stink). I am in great shape myself, but I applaud people who aren't making the effort to change their lives and improve their health.

The rest of my pet peeves are locker room related:

Not picking up after yourself. Maintenance is not your maid.

Leaving your stuff everywhere. It's a bench, not your bedroom.

Extreme nudity. I am NOT prude at all. Nudity on the way to the shower, while toweling off, etc. doesn't bug me (but I know it is uncomfortable for some people)...it's the stuff like bending over to blow dry your hair upside down with no undies on that I just don't get...like seriously. Put some panties on. I don't need to see that.

*are (not aren't)

people who talk on their cell phones while on a machine. wtf, you're RUNNING, talk to them later.

jkat, YES about the nudity... I know what boobs look like, whatever, but please put your clothes on at some point.

God, I also hate it when people who talk on their cell phone while on the machine. If you are working out easily enough to talk, you need to be going harder. It's sometimes so loud, I can't even hear my iPod.

I also hate when people hit on you... I did't come to get hit on, its a gym people!

+ + + + + on the nudity. NASTY
Like the old saggy women who come in and get naked while i am blow drying my hair, come up, stand right next to me so I'm at eye level with thier naked disgusting asses that are no more than a foot away from my head. PLEASE! Why dont you just rub it in someone's face.

I will third the opinion about someone choosing the machine *right* next to you when they are all mostly available. Why? Just...why?

Actually I pretty much agree with everyone here on everything. LOL. They are all annoying.

@#10 OMG I belong to an Equinox (in NYC)as well and the nudity is not to be believed. Like walking around buck naked or plucking your eyebrows or blowing out your hair NAKED is unnecessary.
I also find it unsettling that no one talks either I understand if your working out but the locker room dead quiet like you could read.

People who habitually leave fitness classes 10 minutes early. I used to go to a body pump class that always ended with a few minutes of stretching, and the same girl always left as soon as the hard workout ended and the cool down portion began. It was a class that required multiple sets of weights, a mat, and a step, so to make matters worse, she would have to make a couple trips back and forth in order to put all her stuff up. It was very distracting to everyone else in the class and also disrespectful to the instructor.

Well gee, on behalf of all saggy, overweight, old women everywhere (I am 55 and weigh 145 pounds, and am in better shape than many of the 20 and 30-somethings who work out at MY gym), we beg your humble pardon. If you are a mom, why don't YOU try stopping your incessant gabbing about all the birthday parties your kids are going to and the chatter about the Halloween room parties, or how drunk you got last weekend, and stay off the damn cell phone while your kids are at school already and you are on the treadmill next to ME. I'll pass this on to my other AARP friends, and we'll try to keep our saggy, disgusting asses out of YOUR personal gym. BTW, I never get naked there, and really nobody does, but I am in the Midwest.

PS: you all will be old(er) someday too.

Spacekatgal: OMG, you're so right. Overweight people have no business showing their overweight faces at a GYM. How dare they bring their fat into your sacred skinny space where you might actually have to look at them.

They may be fat, but you're a bigoted idiot--and they can lose weight.

The overwhelming body order or cologne. Got stuck next to this guy that was sweating up a storm and reeked. ugh. . . and when a woman walks by drowning in gag me perfume, disgusting. i can hardly breathe with stuff like that.

People who don't wipe down the machines, especially if they sweat a lot and the pads are clearly wet. People who don't put their weights away--if I want to bench press, I'd rather not have to lug off 4 45-lb plates before I load my weight. People who come to the gym sick--I've had people get on cardio machines next to me and cough every few seconds through their entire workout! I also agree that I do not like when people get on the cardio machine right next to me when there are tons available. If I'm coming at a non-peak time, it's because I want the personal space around me.

I don't know if it's because of the economy or what, but my gym has been SO bad lately as far as cleanliness and repair. The same cardio machines have been broken for MONTHS. I was on the treadmill and went to put my ipod in the little slot and there was a dirty bandaid. At kickboxing class last week there was a chewed up wad of gum on the floor from someone in the class before. DISGUSTING. I walked right to the counter person and told them to cancel my membership for the end of Dec (when my contract is up).

Also, I had a guy on the exercise bike next to me who just kept coughing and not covering his mouth. I was on the bike right next to him and the fan was blowing from his side so he was coughing and it was just being blown into my face. Horrifying. Apparently that's what I get for choosing the $20 a month cheapo gym.

Vanonymous... I am starting to think you go to the Bally's at clark and diversy in Chicago (my old gym). I even saw roaches there! That was the last straw for me.

I also agree with those who hate when sick people come to the gym. Nasty.

Women who walk barefoot in the locker room and shower!!
I have only seen this at my gym but many females don't wash their hands when they come out of the bathroom stalls either.
Using the weights at an area marked "stretch zone, no weights" and leaving the weights there after they are done. Sometimes I get my cardio done just by looking for a pair of bells.
Talking while on a weight machine between sets and/or sitting there for more than 5 min to "cool off" seriously??? There are other people who need to use those machines. Take your conversations outside or wait till you are done with your sets.

My biggest pet peeve is people who want to chat with me while I'm working out. Just yesterday a guy I know from high school came up and got on the machine next to me and would not shut up even though I was clearly not interested in talking. I'm not there to chit chat!

It's annoying when people don't use a lock in the locker room and you have to open five or six before finding an empty one.

Oh, I get a new one every day:
1. Stop talking on your cell phone. Who are you talking to for 45 mins at 530 am anyways....
2. Part of that last rep is putting the weights down quietly, no slamming is necessary.
3. Do not let the man in charge of letting you in the door select the music... ha.
4. If you are sweating hard enough to leave a pool of it behind, clean it up.. not just the machine, but the pool of sweat too.
5. It's fine for you to have a conversation with the person on the machine next do you, but does it have to be at 200 decibels, and does it have to last the entire time you are on the machine.
6. No, you can't sing - so please stop trying, esp. while you are huffing and puffing away.
7. The empty piece of equipment next to you, is not a place for you to set all your crap. That's what the lockers, or at the very least the floor is for.
8. Sitting and chatting for any legnthy period of time on a piece of equipment is rude.
9. It is also rude to interrupt someone in the middle of their set of crunches to ask when they will be done with the machine.
10. Please turn on the fans every once in a while.
11. Take of sniff of yourself before you go to see if you need a swipe of deodarant, or to wash off some of your cologne.

Walking barefoot in changeroom gives me chills - the floors are so dirty

"extreme" nakedness like someone else said. i just don't see the need to stand around having (LONG) naked conversations. in my case, i am talking about my pool's locker room, though, and it is VERY close quarters.

cleanliness. again, at my very small pool locker room, people just throw their bags everywhere. it's hard enough to get around in there.

sickness. please stay home, we don't want your swine flu. someone in my yoga class actually showed up so sick she couldn't get through a sun salutation, so she just laid there for an hour and a half. why?

not a gym pet peeve, but a running pet peeve is crowding. i have been in races where i have been cut off completely, or had people running in front of me that just came to a dead stop (look around you, move to the side, THEN stop). i have also had people pass me on WIDE trails (not in races) so close it actually startled me. just be aware of the people around you.

as for disdain some of you have for overweight people...how the hell do you guys think they're going to GET fit? at least they are making an effort and moving. tolerance, people...tolerance. i applaud anyone who can take that step and try to better themselves. and gyms can be intimidating places for the less than fit, i think, so good for them.

The people that walk at maybe 1.5 mph on the treadmill while talking on their cell phones are my number one pet peeve. Number two would probably be not wiping down the equipment.

Not to mention the people that will come up to you (mostly the soccer mom set) and inquire as to when you will be done because you are on their machine (even though the cardio room has no time limits). Seriously... anyone who does that needs to be smacked in their idiot head.

Let me be very clear. If you are overweight and at the gym trying to lose weight, I think that's awesome. You have my total respect.

However, at my particular gym - it's a bunch of overweight older women who come and PRETEND to work out. That is the key factor that annoys me. Pretending to work out is walking at 2.0 mph for 10 minutes, then having a 40 minute conversation. The treadmills are not a social club.

I live right next to Harvard, in Brookline which is a district with all the schools. So basically, it's all the old money people obsessed with gossiping about the politics of the local Catholic school

Man... I have a some good ones...

#1. Talking on the phone or carrying on a conversation while "doing cardio", ESPECIALLY while other people are waiting. Seriously? There is nothing that important that you need to discuss it on the treadmill or bike. if it is, get out of the gym and handle your business.

#2 People who wear sunglasses to the gym.. Really? I don't even need to explain.

# 3 People who are ridiculously dressed. I've seen people topless, with a zip up sweatshirt on (men) and faces full of make up.

# 4 People who treat the gym as a social event or a pick up joint. It's fine to greet people you know, say hi and so on and so forth. But for a group of 8 men to be camped out by the smith machine, gossiping and like little girls, is crazy. Do your exercises and move on. Talk later.

# 5 Lastly, this may not be an issue at some gyms, but the smell of food while I'm working out.. Ugh! I'm trying to get my fitness on and I'm smelling fried chicken and hot sauce. The trainers are ordering food and we all smell it. They could at least order something healthy. Geez...

*steps of soap box*

well said skg

I have nothing against some primal heavy breathing, but there is one guy at my gym who actually hollers like Braveheart heading into battle when he lifts. Um, sir? That's too heavy for you if you have to holler. Please put it down. Attention wh*re.

Also, I have the top locker and the b* who has the bottom locker think she owns all the ground space around the entire area. *snap*

Also, girls in full makeup, and people in general who do 10 minutes of working out and 90 minutes of gabbing. Blarg!

LOL @ Notsouncertain's post (" . . . hollers like Braveheart heading into battle . . . Attention wh*re . . . ").

As for me, I don't like getting hit on. Also, I don't like it when men look at me as if they're undressing me with their eyes. I canceled my gym membership because of all this. Attending the gym wasn't worth it for me anymore.

spacekat--Did it ever occur to you that the overweight women you talk about may be new to exercising and CAN'T go a lot faster than what they're doing? Maybe they're working up to being able to have a little bit of endurance. My MIL is extremely sedentary and for her, walking 20 minutes a day is a huge feat. You shouldn't judge people's situations based on what you see.

My gym is actually pretty great, but I have a few pet peeves: I hate when they blast annoying music over the loudspeakers so I can't hear my TV show or MP3 player. I also don't like it when people talk to each other when they're working out; it's extremely distracting. I agree with everyone else about the perfume/BO issues. Wear antiperspirant and just smell neutral so you don't annoy other people.

And another one, especially relevant now: people who cough and sneeze all over the machines and then don't wipe them down. If you're sick, you shouldn't even be working out and spreading your icky germs all over the place.

At my yoga studio:
1. People who eat indian or food filled with garlic before coming to yoga, plop their yoga mat like 2 feet away from me, and then proceed to have sweat running off them that reeks like a "dirty diaper filled with indian food" - you know who you are! That stench is coming from you! (and yes I quoted anchorman) I don't want to have to move my mat in the middle of yoga but it's hard to concentrate on my breathing when I'm gagging.

2. The girl who leaves her bra and undies hanging on the rack in the changing room. We have only two changing rooms, and each has two posts, that all must use to change in. We don't need to know that you wear lacy padded bras and g-strings.

3. People who think yoga is a competition. Please don't watch to see how far everyone else is bending and then grunt and moan as you try to bend farther. Who grunts during yoga?

At the gym:

4. The old jewish ladies who will sit in the locker room naked because they (mistakenly?) think it's a steam room. They're there when I change to start my workout, and there when I am changing after my workout. And yes - I occassionally work out at the JCC - it's free through a friend. WTF? I don't think they actually work out, they just meet at the JCC to have naked talks. Their like 80!

5. People who don't wipe down their machines, or only wipe the part their hands grip and don't wipe the ass sweat up. Nasty!!

6. Men who stare or watch you while you work out. No audience necessary - my hubby's on the machine just down from you!

7. Girls who think the gym is a fashion show. Really - you need a full face of makeup and jewelry for spinning class? And stop giving me a dirty look that I actually get sweaty and wear gym clothes - I'm there to work out! I don't need you to look me up and down because I'm not in a tennis skirt and tube top.

Might pet peeves are:

1. people on their cellphones
2. people who do not wipe down the machines.
3. there is this one guy that watches sports while on the machine and screams at the TV (so annoying)

I think it's sad that people do not want overweight people at the gym, because those are the main people that need to be there. Some people might be walking at 2.0 because it's there first time and want to build themselves up or they might have asthma or some kind of medical condition. It's great that they are taking the first steps at trying to get themselves healthy. I think it takes a lot of guts for an overweight person to enter the gym amongst all the in shape people. I think that people need to try to encourage them and make them feel welcome. If we want to mitigate the Obesity in America, we need to get the overweight people in the gym. (and possibly get rid of McDonalds, but that's another story). Just b/c they are overweight shouldn't mean that they are not allowed to use the showers. When you are in the locker room don't look at them, focus on yourself.

I hate it when men are working out on strength-training machines near me and they just sit and stare at women while they rest between sets. This is one case where texting on a Crackberry would be a welcome alternative!

I hate when people wear swishy pants and are on a machine near you, and you hear their legs swishing repeatedly for 45 minutes. So grating.

SKG is not anti-fat person--- she's anti people turning the gym into a social scene.

I have to preface this by saying that I love my gym, it's small and private and I love that. That being said my biggest pet peeves are:

-Not wiping down the cardio machines after you've just sweated all over them. so gross.
-Talking on the cellphone while you're working out. I've seen people do it while on cardio and during strength training. I just can't imagine thinking that I'm that important to have to be on the phone while I'm working out.
-Women who get all dolled up makeup and perfume for the gym. wth? If you're coming from work that's completely different.

The phone thing drives me INSANE. The other day a lady actually closed the door to the studio so she could talk on her phone in there. There is one girl who talks on her phone on the elliptical every night. Last week she was talking to her itty bitty cutesy wootsy niece in baby talk. /gag. I've seen the same girl actually work on her laptop on the elliptical too, sort of propping it up there and holding it in place.

I don't like seeing the same people everyday wearing the SAME clothes. You know they're not doing laundry every day, gross!

Tonight at the gym, this person that started using the treadmill next to me wreaked of cigarette smoke. Yuck. I dont like that smell, especially at the gym.

Oh yes, and the people who use the treadmills, but hold on to the sides or handles right in front of them. What would you hold on to if you were hiking or running outside? Nothing! It is NOT beneficial to hold on to the treadmill.

People who don't wipe the machines down. You disgusting, dirty person, please work out at home.

Inconsiderate people in the locker room who takes up the entire bench with all their things.

Why are some people so territorial? It's a shared space! Get over yourselves!