The halls are different. In an ordinary fitness club, it is enough to be polite, ask if you are going to disassemble someone’s equipment, and not pester people with questions and advice. In the halls for powerlifting and weightlifting – not to sit on someone else’s bench, always follow the line of approaches to the weight, and not step over the barbell if it is not far from San Diego. Establishments for the “elites” of this life do not accept loud screams when approaching and dropping weight on the floor. Crossfit clubs are almst half full of flying barbells and growling people, and that’s the norm. First, take a look around, and you will understand how to behave. And we will tell you the general rules of conduct in the hall.
Elementary rules of conduct and safety
We will not tell that you could be taught this in the family or in the section where you went as a child. Not everyone has had this experience.
1. Take away weights
In some reserves for the rich, personal trainers are engaged in this. But if you still do without the services of such a guy, if you please disassemble the leg press behind you, remove the dumbbells, and not even throw around fitness rubber bands if you are a fit girl.
You need to take off the pancakes from the simulators and hang them on the rack in order. This is especially important in those rooms where all the pancakes are black, and you have to wind several kilometers in chaos in order to collect, for example, a barbell for deadlift. On the racks for the scales, there are usually signs with the weight of the pancakes, what and where to hang.
Even if you are very tired, and in general, on the verge of fainting, sort it out after yourself. An exception is the case when someone wanted to warm up with your working weight. And that, and this also happens. This rule applies equally to girls and boys, it is unlikely that you immediately start warming up on squats from 100 kg, so you will not overwork too much if you sort it out after yourself.
2. Don’t drop weights
Sometimes dropping the bar to the floor is part of a competitive movement, or a way to save your back if you’re doing a lot of repetitions of some kind of hard work. But in a fitness situation, such things are not used. Even if you suddenly wanted to push the barbell in the aisle, on the floor, without a platform and at rush hour, you will have to lower it from the top point and not throw it off.
Usually, “flying” equipment does not last long if it is not it’s about professional weightlifting bars. Therefore, carefully lower it. It will still come in handy.
3. Dress normally
Half-naked fit babies in shorts and tops look cool on posters. But in life they may be asked to dress if a beauty appeared in this form in an elevator or weightlifting gym where professional athletes are trained.
The same applies to the largest bodybuilders, who are happy to bare their torso at every workout … Most people are completely unprepared to use exercise machines after the naked person in the room. So even if you are in great shape – wait with its demonstration to the beach or the competition.
Everyone’s favorite item is slates. Coaches in some gyms may not allow a beach shoe lover to attend. It’s not that ugly, it’s just not safe. Feet can slip and it is so easy to get injured due to the banal unwillingness to wear normal shoes.
4. Don’t leave any puddles of sweat behind you
Yes, I want everyone to see that you are not just walking from simulator to simulator here, but are actively engaged. But it is not at all necessary to leave behind puddles of sweat. Open clothes and intense training? Carry a small towel with you that you can lay under you or to wipe down benches and machines behind you. It is also advisable to wipe the bars, especially if you are squatting in an open T-shirt, and your body cream is actively moving to the bar. Not all halls can use chalk. The person following you may be injured.
5. Stay out of other people’s privacy
Of course, the exception is when you have been asked to insure someone. But even here you do not need to joyfully hug the insured while squatting, and even cuddle up to him so that the amplitude of movement becomes minimal.
Try not to stare at the person who is starting the approach, especially if this person has collected a large barbell for himself. , and is planning a hard approach.
6. Wear a change
It’s good, of course, in the summer to get out of the car and go straight to the gym, without changing shoes, and without changing clothes. But it’s still better to change your shoes, because the rules of most clubs allow you not to allow people to change without changing before class.
Etiquette rules
1. Don’t mess with talk
In every club there is a “hobby group”, which discusses who is friends with whom, who beat whom in the octagon, and what are the chances of winning the next players. And there are people who are greatly annoyed by the participants in the “conversation circle” who are standing or sitting on the simulators. Even if you saw that a person is doing something amazing, it is better not to go to him with your admiration during training. It is considered the norm to say hello and toss over a couple of phrases, and not to stand and discuss something constantly between approaches.
2. Do not forbid doing “one by one”
Yes, many clubs are still poorly equipped. Maybe they have a bunch of machines, but, for example, there is only one bench press. In such a situation, everyone who studies in the evening should take turns. Even if your working weights are well over a hundred, allow other people to join you. Yes, they will be able to remove and hang pancakes themselves, but you still have a long rest. Those who are engaged in bodybuilding according to some kind of “fun” schemes with a rest on a timer, with drop sets, or some other method of increasing the training volume, can simply explain their needs. Or find a less peak time for your workout.
3. Ask if the machine is free
No need to happily sit on any free bench and try to swing something there. The guy over there next to the machine is clearly using it. Ask how many more approaches he has, and ask to be in line. The main thing is not to go silently and not start changing working weights. This is why impudent newbies are not liked.
4. Don’t bother
Even if you are a master of sports in powerlifting, and the girl in front of you is squatting with a terrifying forward bend, vertical shins and undersized, keep your comments to yourself. She may be injured, or the ward of some newfangled “gluteal” trainer. And you obviously don’t like starting your acquaintance with a conflict. In general, it is not entirely ethical to give your comments about other people’s technique before you are asked.
5. Dedicated to lovers of circuit training
Most likely, for the sake of your great methodological scheme, you will have to walk not on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights, but in more free hours. A person occupying a lot of equipment at once interferes with the entire hall. Even if you are not striving to become the most popular person in the gym at this moment, it is better to choose another method for this.
6. Believer
If it seems to you that someone is barely lifting their weight, you do not need to run happily and lift this weight for him. It so happens that the approaches are planned at the extreme level of resistance, and the person just has to do everything himself, and with your help you deprive him of the approach. By the way, when you are asked to insure, it is better to keep your hands away from the bar until you clearly understand that it is time to help.
7. One pulls, the other presses
If you are engaged in “egolifting”, and just hang exorbitant weights for yourself and try to lift them somehow, tie it better. There is no sense in the fact that your belayer will pump the long muscles of the back. Are you pressing? Use a normal bench press program. Doing bodybuilding and fitness? Choose adequate weight.
8. Stay out of the action
It can be quite difficult during rush hour, but you don’t need to attach your bench where there are a lot of people. You will hurt them and interfere with your exercise. Be careful.
9. Reset the weights
If you asked someone in line and hung your pancakes on top, remove them yourself. The person who put you in weight is not obliged to do an additional amount of work because of you. The same goes for simulators.
10. Be tactful
Yes, people are different. Someone cannot sit down normally even from 20 kg, while someone starts to warm up with a barbell of 70 kg, and work – from 300. Therefore, it is better to keep your valuable comments and opinions to yourself. Moreover, do not make jokes about the appearance of other people. It’s just not polite, and hints at the low social status and cultural level of the joker.
11. Do not refuse insurance
If you are really able to help, never refuse, it is very ugly. But those who are not confident in their abilities should be told about this. There is nothing shameful or bad about it.
12. Shouts and growls
People growling during the approach are the norm in the lift rooms. And not the norm in ordinary fitness, where they work on health and beauty, and not on becoming truly strong. Therefore, try not to make particularly loud noises during your workout.
13. Talk & Music
It is not recommended to behave like on a bench at the entrance, for example, loudly and with sound show your friends videos, and loudly discuss what is happening.
14. Perfumery
This applies not only to girls. Some guys stifle themselves so brightly that even the most seasoned ones cannot be near them for more than half an hour. For the hall, it is enough just to take a shower, use some not too odorous deodorant and that’s it. You shouldn’t pour a liter of perfume on yourself.
There is nothing to be ashamed about being a beginner. They do not like beginners, but those who, by their behavior, distract from workouts and bring chaos into the harmonious inner world of the gym.
Code of Conduct and Safety
In any gym, it is better to train so as not to create potentially traumatic situations. Even if you are doing CrossFit, it is not at all necessary that after each set your pancakes fly off the bar and all the space around you was littered with kettlebells.
The safety rules are as follows
- When training, wear clothes that cannot get stuck in the machine and shoes that are designed for this type of training. Of course, you don’t need to buy weightlifting shoes if you put a 20 kg bar on your back for the first time in your life. Any sneaker with a hard sole will be enough. For deadlifts, sneakers are suitable, and for regular exercise in simulators, any athletic shoes that fix the leg;
- If you do not know where to get something from the equipment, ask the trainer on duty. No need to look for locks half a workout;
- Yes, you will have to wear locks, especially if the bar is assembled with several pancakes and you are not sure of your stability under load;
- Don’t drag your viruses into Hall. Have a cold? Sit at home and heal. It is unlikely that your preparation for Olympia is disrupted due to SARS, but infecting other people is a bad habit, which, moreover, makes the gym not the healthiest environment in the world;
- Ask for insurance on the bench press and squats if the weights are working. Try not to rely on the stress factor, which, according to legend, helps to squeeze out any weight;
- Do not sit with your smartphone on exercise benches. It makes everyone nervous, from attendees to trainers;
- Don’t eat in the gym. The only exception can be made perhaps by powerlifters who train for 3-4 hours in a row, and may well drink a portion of a gainer between sets or eat a bar;
- If you are eating in the locker room, do not disturb other people. In general, now there are few places where there are establishments that do not have a fitness cafe or something like that. There you can always eat your own food too. In fitness clubs, this does not raise questions, because these establishments are created so that you can get better and eat healthy food.
Trainer or instructor
Modern gyms are divided into two broad categories. In the first, instructors can only tell you where what equipment is, and conduct the first training-instruction. It usually consists of running through all machines for all muscle groups, and demonstrating how it works. Some free plans for beginners may be publicly available in the gym, but usually trainers write them in such rooms for a small fee.
If you want to do serious work on yourself, you will have to hire a personal trainer. This is the name of a person who will be with you every workout, and will follow both your technique and exactly how you are doing. A personal trainer will write a training program, help you adjust your diet, and help you achieve any goal.
Usually, attempts to get a personal training from the person on duty are crowned with nothing. This is not a bad coach, but this is the club’s policy. You have to pay if you want a personal touch. If you just bought a subscription, but not a coach, you will get access to equipment and insurance as needed.
The second category of halls is still quite rare. These are studios or, all of a sudden, old school gyms where people train athletes as coaches. They can tell and tell completely free of charge. If you decide to put on the technique and practice according to the plan, pay. No – the trainer will do everything so that you simply do not get injured, tone your body, and even pump up your biceps for the summer. In studios, there are subscriptions that include the services of a coach. Then any person can either do it himself or turn to a specialist for help.
