Music. Welcome to Two Cents Worth, I'm your host Ryan DeFavor. Today we are talking about gym etiquette, gym misconceptions, you know, things that I see on a daily basis that I know of, that I experience in my gym going and what I see around the internet and whatnot. Whatnot, and just some common themes that go into being a gym goer. So let's start with gym etiquette. Gym etiquette. Two of the biggest things that you see, well, there's three really.
Is the number one thing. And everyone likes to kind of blame like the high school kids or the younger kids or college kids, whatever. Let me tell you something. they actually do a pretty good job of re-racking their weights. It is gym goers of all ages, of all sizes, of all sexes. The re-racking of the weights drives most gym goers crazy. Drives me crazy, right? If you go and get something, why is it so difficult to put it back?
Back where in your head are you so entitled that you think you know what someone else can come and pick this up here's my thought might be controversial but go fuck yourself if you go and pick something up and use it put it back. That's free weights. Those are weights and all that, right? You go and take something, you go and put it back where you found it so that the next person can use it and find it easily. It's labeled. They're all labeled. You should be able to know where to put things
back. You got it from there, put it back. When you go to benches, the other thing that drives me crazy, the benches at our gym have the pegs, the weight pegs on the sides with the number of weight that's supposed to go on said peg. So things don't get all messed up and you can pull them off easily. Why is it so difficult for you to see that the 45 pound plate goes where it says 45, The 25 pound plate goes where it says 25, the 10, the five, the 35, whatever it is, it is fucking labeled.
How are you so oblivious to this? Or how are you just so set in your dickheadery ways to not put it back where it's designed to go? No, it's designed that way. It drives me crazy when somebody puts the 45 where the 10 goes and then the 10 where the 45 goes and then you can't get them off because then you got to take the 10 off to then get the 45. Put it back where it goes. It's not difficult. It's etiquette. It makes you a real shitty person when you don't do that.
That is the number one thing in gym etiquette that everybody that goes to the gym should know. If you take something, put it back where it belongs. We're not your fucking mates. Whatever happens in your household, whatever, you know, your parents taught you, whatever you feel entitled to, that all goes out the fucking window when you go to the gym. Put shit back where you fucking found it and where it belongs. belongs.
That's the number one rule in gym etiquette. I could almost make a four-minute, five-minute podcast just on that. Put things back where they belong. Clean up after yourself. Be a decent human being. Be someone that should be thriving in society. Do that, and we have no issues. More gym etiquette. Gyms are busy, especially this time of year.
I appreciate that. I love the fact that people come in and I'm going to get into that about misconceptions about, you know, the common, gym goer thinking, or you thinking that if you're not a common gym goer, that we're judging you. It's not the case. I appreciate anybody that walks in the door and wants to better themselves selves and work on their self-improvement. Absolutely.
Now with gyms being busy and gyms in general, if you are not using that machine, you do not get rights to that machine.
Plain and simple. I see too many times people come in, they go and put their bags right next to a piece of equipment and walk to sometimes, I'm not kidding, the other side of the gym and start using another other piece of equipment, you see that and you being a decent human being, you go, okay, well, someone's working here and you can look and you wait a couple minutes and you wait a couple minutes and you keep on seeing it and you're like, no one's working out on that machine.
And then you go and you watch other people go and try and work out of the machine. The person from on the other side of the gym is like comes hauling ass over. Oh no, I'm using this. The fuck you are. I'm sorry. This isn't your home gym. It's busy. There are people there. You don't just You just get to lay your shit next to it and say, this is where I'm working out, and I'm also using this machine over here, and I'm using this machine over here.
It drives us people that go to the gym on a daily basis and the new person fucking crazy, because now the new person is intimidated, right? And we're setting up a bad misconception that... The gym is an intimidating place. It certainly can be. So don't make it worse. And don't be a fucking asshole. There's our number one etiquette. That's what it should be right when you walk in the gym. I might put that in the bear's den. I might have to change the sign because I have young kids.
But number one rule of the gym, of gym etiquette, don't be a fucking asshole. I think that's pretty self-explanatory. But, like, when people put their stuff next to equipment and they're not using it, oh, I mean, chaps are ass. And it's such a shitty move. It's such a, like, again, it's not your house. It's not your gym. It is being used by hundreds of people at a time that are trying to also get a workout in. And some of us only have a limited amount of time.
So don't do it. If you're not using it, let other people use the equipment that you are currently not using. It is not that difficult. And it's amazing to me that people just have this entitlement of, well, I put my stuff there. I'm eventually going to use it. I don't care. One of our buddies at the gym, he did it to somebody.
Made a point to call out this person this is a while ago made out made it a point that this person came in put their stuff at a rack and then went to the stair stepper and was on the stair stepper i'm not kidding for 15 to 20 minutes you don't get to claim that rack for 20 minutes without using it and he came in and started using it and this person got off the the stair stepper and like gave him an attitude and i'm like no he did the right thing you weren't
using it just Just because you put your shit there doesn't mean it's yours. That's two, right? Gym etiquette number two. The third thing, if you're using a piece of equipment, going back to the whole cleaning up after yourself and shit, like wipe the equipment down. We're all in there to get a workout. We're all in there getting sweaty and gross. And the last thing I want to do is get on a piece of equipment,
get on a bench or whatever. and your sweaty ass is all still all over the fucking machine. Wipe it down. It is not difficult. The gym I go to has paper towel dispensers and disinfectant bottles everywhere. Get your lazy ass up, walk to it, and clean it up. Not difficult. And once again, I think the misconception is that, oh, it's the high schoolers. No, no, no, no, no. Now, these are grown adults not doing this shit. People that I see every single day in the gym doing this shit.
The theme of today is going to be, don't be a fucking asshole. That's gym etiquette. Don't be an asshole. Gym etiquette. The fourth thing. Be nice to your other fellow gym goers. We're all trying to better ourselves. You don't know what everyone's going through. You don't know what anyone's going through from a body perspective, a mental perspective, spiritual perspective, whatever it might be.
When you're in the gym that's our sanctuary right like i see now like this there's a very popular shirt and sweatshirt out there where it says the gym is my psych ward right it's like where i go and fight my demons it's where i go and get my release so be nice to people there don't be a fucking asshole but if you see other people being assholes to other people call them out on it the The gym is a sacred place in my mind because of the fact that we are all going in there.
We're making a conscious effort to better ourselves and you don't want to make it a place to where it is intimidating to people. It's intimidating to begin with. To begin with, it's intimidating. Anybody, male, female, young, old, the minute you walk through those doors of a gym, your your first time, your hundredth time, it can be intimidating. So don't make it worse as a gym goer. Don't, don't make it worse for the people walking in just trying to get a workout. Put your weights back.
Don't be a fucking asshole. Clean up after yourself. Don't put your stuff next to equipment you're not going to be using in that immediate moment and be a nice person. That's It's Jim Etiquette, like Jim Etiquette 101. It's plain and simple. It's not difficult. It really isn't. We're all going through shit. Like, I don't care if, you know, you had a bad day or whatever. We're all going through shit. Why do you get to be the exception? You don't. Don't be a fucking asshole.
Misconception. We're going to go into misconceptions. Biggest misconception in the gym is that people are judging you. There are people that judge you. Absolutely. There's people that judge you in everyday life. People that judge you... People are judging me right now listening to this going, I don't believe one thing this guy is saying. saying. I don't like what he's saying, so I'm going to judge him about it. This is my opinion. This is my two cents worth, right?
You're listening to it. You can always turn it off if you need to. We're not judging you. The only time I judge people is when I see what I just talked about. When I see somebody basically going out of their way to be an asshole, that's when I judge you. you. We're not judging you. The decent gym goers, the decent human beings, which I will tell you is the majority of us, when you walk through that door, we're applauding you.
Because regardless of your body shape, size, sex, whatever, we're applauding you. You're there putting in the effort, just like we're there putting in the effort. Like I mentioned, we're all going through it, whether it's body dysmorphia, whether it's wanting to just get better for yourself, maintain, whatever it is, right? Of why you're there, being healthy, living a healthy lifestyle, setting a standard for your children, marriage, whatever it might be, friendships.
Wanting to just better yourself in general, stronger, leaner, whatever. We're not judging you. We're applauding you. You walk through the doors just like we walk through the doors. Hold your head up high, have confidence in yourself. I mentioned about that last week, right? Like self-affirmation, like you're making the decision to go to the gym. Hold your fucking head up high when you walk through those doors. Applaud yourself because we're applauding you.
I have no issue with the gym being busy. Yes, it can be frustrating, right? Because certainly in the beginning of the year, you have a lot of new members and unfortunately, Fortunately, a lot of those members kind of fall off. And for majority of the year, you get used to a less busy gym.
But I will never get mad at a busy gym knowing that these people are coming through the door and trying to better themselves, trying to live a healthy lifestyle, doing what they feel is the best thing for them body-wise, mentally, physically, emotionally, whatever, right? Spiritually, whatever. We're not judging you. We're applauding you. Is the gym intimidating? Absolutely. Am I always the happiest person in the gym? Am I the most approachable in the gym?
I will honestly tell you, no. Pete, my workout partner, he'll talk to everybody and anybody. There are times where I'm just there to get the work done and I want to keep on moving through the workout. There are other times where I want to be social and talk and smile and laugh.
Pete and I don't work out with headphones anymore because this is our time, the one hour a day that we spend together that we actually want to talk and have conversation while also working out and trying to push ourselves and get better for ourselves but you know am i the most approachable at all times no that's also in daily life you know like if you know me in general once you get to know me i'm a very approachable person but like initially i'm
a very observant person and i'm very reserved in initial conversations and meetings with people because I want to make sure that you're going to fit into the circle that I need and I have. But I want to tell you, I know it can be intimidating, but a common misconception is that people aren't approachable. People are judging you. They're not. I want to see people succeed. Another misconception in the gym, you can't ask for help. I will tell you this right now.
You know who are probably the most helpful people in the gym in regard to either asking for for a spot, asking for help with a machine is usually the meanest looking person. Because once again, they're there just kind of getting their work in. But if you approach them, they are arguably the nicest people in the gym. And they are the people that are most likely to help you and give you a spot or show you how a machine works.
Because that's the other thing. I don't want people coming in and hurting themselves and then not being able to come back to the gym and and then falling into that trap of, it was so intimidating, nobody helped me, I hurt myself, I did the exercise wrong. If you need help, ask for help. People will help you. We will help you. I want people to have proper form. I don't want people to hurt themselves.
I want people to have the experience that I've had in the gym for the last 20 plus years of enjoyment, of getting to see your body change in ways that you sometimes didn't think was possible and how you can live a healthy lifestyle and build muscle and build bone density and be healthy and strong year over year. And I don't want you to miss out on that. You've made the effort to come through the door. Don't be afraid to ask for help. I see so many people doing exercises wrong.
And not wanting to go and ask for help or be intimidated by a machine and not use it when And it could be a very simple machine, but they don't know what might be the proper form to do so. Don't be intimidated. We're not judging you. Ask for help. I think people like myself maybe need to do a better job of helping with these common misconceptions. Like I said, maybe I'm not the most approachable in the gym. But again, it is my one hour a day that I'm there to try and better myself as well.
And sometimes I put blinders on and I just want to get the work done. done. But if I see somebody struggling or I see somebody that might be intimidated, maybe I need to do a better job of being more welcoming to them if they're around me. Obviously, I'm not going to go out of my way all the way across the gym and be like, I see that you're uncomfortable because I wouldn't do that. And I wouldn't put that person in an embarrassing situation like that either to be like, no, I'm not.
This is just how I am in general settings. But common misconceptions of gyms is that they're They're intimidating, which they can be. That's not a misconception. It is intimidating, but I wanna say like, It doesn't have to be intimidating. You're walking through that door. Have confidence in yourself. Pick your head up. Ask for help. Don't be afraid to try different things. We're not judging you. And it can be an extremely enjoyable experience day in and day out.
And as you go more and more, as I do, you become more comfortable and you become friendly with most people that are there around the same time that you are. And when Pete might miss a workout or I might miss a workout, Pete then has somebody that he can ask for a spot or I can as well or work in with somebody or actually even just work with that person if they're doing the same exercises that day. And you build a little community. The gym is a community.
It is exactly Exactly that, right? Like, again, we're all there trying to better ourselves. And you find a lot of common themes. This is where, this is one of these places where religion and politics all kind of go out the window and you see how a community can interact with each other. Because when you go into the gym, you see all types of races, ages, sexes, sizes, whatever, right? You see it all. You see what's all great about where we are in a country of, like in America is, right?
Like a very diverse population and they all are cohesive and working together towards the same common goal, right? right? It's a community, and we need to treat it as a community and treat those that are in our community with respect and help them as they need. So those are some common misconceptions of the gym. The first part of the conversation, obviously, around gym etiquette, it chaps my ass. Obviously, you could tell I got a little fired up about it.
But honestly, like I just mentioned, it's a community. Take care of your community, and it'll take care of you. And that's really it. Like, be a decent human being. You're in the gym with other people who are working towards the same goals as you. Don't make it worse for them. Don't make it impossible for them to have an enjoyable time in the gym. Like, that's just it. Like, it should be enjoyable. It should It should be welcoming. It's a community. So treat it as such.
Those are my thoughts. That's my two cents worth on the gym. I know it can be intimidating. I want you to know, go in there, hold your head up high, be confident in yourself, and knowing that you're there with everybody else, just trying to better yourself. Be a part of the community. We welcome you. We want you to be healthy. I see too often the stats of America and where we're heading from from an obesity perspective, health issue perspective, take care of yourself.
I've said it so many times here, we have one life. Don't ruin it. Take care of your body. You only get one body, take care of it. As always, I appreciate you. Share, like, comment, share this with anybody you know that might need to hear this message today. The gym, let's not make it intimidating. Let's get some of these misconceptions out the window let's work on our etiquette and the theme of the day and this is in general in life don't be a fucking asshole thanks everyone.