Respect The Space

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome y'all to Rule the Gym, the podcast that's all
about mastering Jim etiquette and making the most of your workout,
from wiping down the machines to not hogging the bench.
Where to help you train smarter, respect the space, and
crush your goals the right way. Here's something that I
may know something at least know a little something about.

(00:21):
So this morning I went to the gym. I usually
go to the gym, and I thought a good topic
for today would be jim etiquette to start with. This
is going to be a long series of podcasts about
how to act in the gym, what to expect in

(00:42):
the gym, what to do when you're in the gym
to actually get results on how you look and how
you feel, you know, with some different kind of workout programs.
So I made a list a little earlier, and now
I'm looking at the list and I'm like, really did

(01:04):
I come up with that list? So, you know, when
I'm in the gym, I just don't like when people
get up in my space. You know, I'm a pretty
big guy, you know, six six one two forty ex
football player, been lift in since I was fifteen years
old and I'll be fifty nine here pretty soon for

(01:26):
a long time, so I have a lot of experience
in different gyms. I've owned my own gym acually, I
owned one now sort of partners in a little warehouse gym.
But I hate when people just feel like they need
to get up in your space. You know, give me
some give me some room to work. You know, you

(01:48):
don't have to pull your bench right next to me,
because that that's not going to be happy. I believe me,
You're not showing all to me, all right, because I've
seen it all before. So you can take your bench
and your dumbells, whatever they may be. I don't care
what you're lifting because what you're lifting does not affect me,
and just give me my space. So that's one part

(02:13):
of gym etiquett. And again that's not the most important one,
it's not even close, but it is something that, you know,
that just kept coming to my mind. And then today
there was this guy. You know, he's one of those
guys that just wants attention, and you can tell. So
he gets done with a set of doing something I

(02:34):
don't even know what in the world he was doing,
and he's got to make a phone call, I mean,
and then not only there's a special little area you
can go to in our gym and make phone calls
and do that kind of stuff. And he's not going
to go over there. Oh hell no, he's not going
over there. He's going to stand right next to me,

(02:54):
and he's going to talk about as loud as he
can about some kind of business. You think I care
about his business deal. I don't care about his business deal.
I don't. I just want to get my work out in.
I want to not be bothered, and I want to
get out and I want to go home and I
want to do stuff at home. I want to join

(03:14):
my family. I want to, you know, get some work done.
I want to do this podcast. He just wants attention.
Those are the worst people in the gym. Don't go
to the gym because you want dad gum attention. Okay,
that's not a good mix. Go to the gym because
number one, you want to better yourself. Number two, you

(03:38):
want to look a little better. It makes you feel better.
You know, you would release some endorphins and you feel
like you're on top of the world. And you walk
out of the gym, even if you're tired, You know,
you feel like you've accomplished something, and you really have,
because you've done some really good things for your body,
even if you have no idea what you're doing, because

(03:58):
you're doing some sort of extra size while you're in
the gym. That's a different podcast. I'll tell you how
to get real results. You know, this is something that
really came along. The next thing is that really came
along during COVID, right when you know the six foot

(04:18):
thing and you had to wipe everything down like top
to bottom, like you detailed the daggum bench or something.
You know. Yeah, I'm on the fence about all that.
You know what, if I want that piece of equipment
that I'm about to sit down on and work out
on and all that kind of stuff, if I want
it spotless and clean, I'm going to clean it myself.

(04:41):
I don't need you to half ass wipe it down. Okay,
I don't get that. And there are these people for
a while we're like, oh, showing, so didn't wipe down
the equipment. You know, get a life. It's like somebody
on the homeowners Association board, right, you know what, go
get a life, because well, we don't care about your stupid
little bitty rules that you feel like you need to

(05:04):
enforce in micromanage on a daily basis. You know, go
be a greeter at Walmart, Go be a good grandparent,
Go do something and get yourself a real life anyway,
that's a different that's a whole different podcast there too. Well.
One thing that I do and pretty big on is

(05:27):
putting your equipment back. You know, put it's not that hard.
You know, if you're putting forty five pound plates on
a leg press, when you're done, I don't care if
you have two on there, or if you have twelve
on each side. When you're done, put them all away.
Don't leave one on because you think the next person

(05:50):
who comes up is going to be able to certainly
be able to do that. You know, it could be
someone who's just starting out and can't do one on
each side of a leg press, and maybe that person
at that particular stage in their gym development can't even

(06:11):
take that forty five pound plate off. So you know,
keep that in mind. Put put your weights away, rack
your weights, your dumb bells to put them back in
the right place. You know, some gyms have it labeled
for you, you know where the forty five pounds, where
the sixty pound goes, where the you know whatever the

(06:32):
five pounds, if it's labeled, take a second and try
to put it in the right place. Sometimes you can't,
I get it because some other moron before you has
put the wrong weight in the wrong place. So now
you know. I Do'm not say this is your job
to go and rearrange all the dumbells, but do the
best you can make it close. Don't sit there on

(06:58):
a not list type machine, a Life fitness machine, whatever
brand you have in your gym. Don't sit there for
five sets and not get your butt up number one.
That's not good for you. Right, you should do your
set and you need to stand up. That helps with
with blood flow, it helps with oxygen, oxygenating your muscles.

(07:22):
I mean so many different things. You need to stand
your butt up, maybe stretch a little bit that certainly
wouldn't hurt a lot of us. But don't sit there
on your phone texting away for four or five minutes
in between a set that you just did. You know,
I mean, because a lot of people are too intimidated

(07:46):
or too shy to or don't understand gym etiquette to
come up and say, hey man, you know your mind
if I do a couple sets in here, we a
if I'm working with you, because everyone should say yes
that I don't care who you are, you should say yeah, absolutely,
come work in. You know, So just keep that in mind.

(08:08):
Don't don't be a machine hog and just sit there.
But it's ridiculous. And someone like me, who can sometimes
be the gym police, you don't want you don't want
that to happen. You really don't. Okay, here's one. Here's
one h too. Here's one for the for the women, right, okay,

(08:30):
especially the young women where proper jim attire, all right,
we don't want to see that thong up your butt
that happens to be over some leggings. I mean maybe
some people do, but that's not why I go to gym,
you know. And if if you're dressed that way, you
probably have on full makeup too, and eyelashes and all

(08:52):
that kind of stuff. That's that's not that's just not cool,
you know what. Don't look good, look good, but don't
don't be a total distraction like that. And you know
that's mainly for like the younger women, that's especially true
for women. My age. Don't dress like that. Just don't
dress like that. The makeup thing, I understand if you're

(09:14):
coming from you know, if you're coming from work. You know,
when you're just gonna throw on your gym clothes and
you got your makeup on and all that kind of stuff,
Well then that's that's that's different. That's cool. Just go
ahead and come on. No one, I don't that's awesome.
I'm glad you're coming to the gym. Here's kind of
a one that you don't think about too often, but

(09:38):
perfume or clone, it's just overwhelmed me, you know, I mean,
do you need that to cover up a bad smell?
Because go take a shower your clothes you wear in
the same clothes you've worn to the gym three days
in a row. When you're trying to cover up that
smell with too much colone and and and perfume, I mean,

(10:00):
leave the fragrance, man. I mean, you don't need to
put some deodorant on, Put on some clean clothes, come
on to the gym and get a good workout. Like
we kind of talked on before. You know, if someone's
on a machine and you need to get that machine
and they're doing three or four sets there. It is
absolutely appropriate for you to go up and ask to

(10:23):
work in with that person, because otherwise, what are you
gonna do? You know, you're gonna end up going to
do You're gonna get frustrated. Then you're gonna go do
a machine or something you don't want to be doing.
You know. But when you do that, be polite. I mean,
just because you're in a gym, and just because you

(10:44):
may be a big guy, you know, or maybe you're
not a big guy. It doesn't matter. But you know,
be polite to people. You know. So if you accidentally
run into someone or you walk between them in the mirror,
you know, give them a hey man, I'm sorry, or
excuse me, you know, you know that kind of thing.

(11:08):
And here, okay, here's a big one. Here's a big one. Okay.
Do not, and I repeat, do not give unsolicited advice
to someone else that is working out, like you are
the absolute supreme, know it all of working out. Okay,

(11:29):
don't do it. I mean, if it's a cute girl,
I don't, still don't do it. Talk to her about
something else, don't don't try to correct her and show
her how to do a certain movement. Keep you just
keep it to yourself. You go do what you're gonna do.
You take care of yourself in the gym. If someone
asked for your help or your recommendation or starts up

(11:50):
a conversation about working out, by all means, go for it.
But as far as you know, just going up and say, hey,
I think you're doing that wrong and you need to
change it. Do it this way, and you know, blah
blah blah, don't do it. Just don't because you're gonna
make people angry. You're gonna make people feel sub conscious,
just you know, not cool. A few other things, right, Okay,

(12:15):
I'm the kind of list a couple of these here.
Don't block the mirrors, okay, don't don't be one of
those one of those people that that goes and stands
in front of the mirror and starts shadow boxing. Okay,
see that makes me laugh. Who's whose buddy you're gonna kick?
You're gonna kick shadows. But because I don't think that's
gonna happen. People in the mirror and they're like shadow boxing,

(12:36):
you know, and we got their footwork going, and mean,
what the heck are you doing? Go sit down, grab
some weights. I'm gonna go get on a treadmill or something.
I don't know, but don't don't do don't block the mirror.
Don't be in front of the mirror pulling your shirt
up so you might see if you have an AB
or two there, or if you don't have an AB
or two there, or pulling your shorts up so you

(12:59):
can see if you got a quad. You know, not cool.
Nobody else wants to see that. Dude, or do that,
whatever you want to call yourself, I mean, don't do it.
Don't don't. Next one, don't go above your ability without
the spotter of some kind. It is not rude or

(13:22):
inappropriate to ask someone to spot you. Okay, don't get
yourself in trouble lifting heavier than you should. And here's
another thing. Don't make a whole lot of noise when
you're lifting to get attention. That drives me crazy. Don't
drop the weights. Okay, yeah, you're doing you're doing deadlifts.

(13:43):
I got it. You know it might be a little
bit heavy, but if it's so heavy that you have
to drop it at the top of your range of motion,
then maybe it's just too heavy for you. Are you
so weak that you can't actually set that down. Now,
if you're doing you know, if you're in a meet
or you're really training to that degree, you know, then

(14:07):
maybe that's appropriate. But it goals gym or at what's
that gym where they call you lumpers and stuff? Oh
Planet fitness, Oh planet fitness. Anyway, but thank god for
people to go there and get a workout. You know,
don't don't do it, don't drop away, don't drop the dumbbells.
And if you're doing a flat chest press with dumbbells,

(14:31):
you know, and you're getting heavy, you're doing you know,
seventy eighty nine d ten pounds dumbells, you know, then
then okay, when you're done, you got to kind of
drop those, make sure you're over some kind of rubber
matter or something like that. But that, you know, that's
so annoying, and mainly guys do that to get attention.
Look what I just dropped? I mean, I don't see

(14:53):
just dropped. What did you just lift? Also, when you're
using the machines, the stack weights, don't drop them from
the like the cable crossovers. You're doing triseep or back
or something, don't drop the stack from way up high.
I mean it makes a lot of noise. Number one

(15:15):
and number two, those those weight stacks will break and
then that machine is out of order. If it's like
most gyms, it's out of order for weeks. They don't
do that, man, just don't. Just don't just think about that,
all right. You know, you do clean up after yourself,

(15:37):
so you know, don't leave your cups and your water
bottles and you know, tiles whatever. Don't. Don't you know,
find a place for that. That's not a big deal.
But I see it sometimes and don't just sit there.
So I notice a lot of high school kids and

(15:58):
maybe young college kids. They go and they go to
the gym and a posse. Right, there's like four or five,
six or seven of them, and they they don't disperse
and go do their own workout. They all do the
same thing. So it's what they're doing is they are
monopolizing one piece of equipment for fifteen minutes. You don't,

(16:19):
don't don't work out in a posse. Don't do it.
That takes up way too much time. Anyway. This is
step one, Okay, this is step one of the gym
process and how we go to the gym and what
we wear to the gym. You know what, Listen, if

(16:39):
you want to wear it's going back a little bit
to the beginning. If you want to wear a cutoff shirt,
you know, with the sleeves off. I'm a big believer
of a Second Amendment right, the right to bear arms
man right, absolutely, especially if you got some nice guns
there put you don't put them out there to show.
Wear a taktop, but don't wear if you're not in

(17:01):
halfway decent shape. Don't wear the string type tank tops.
And then your your saggy chest is hanging out and
your your back fat is coming through, and you know,
just dress appropriate for your fitness level and your appearance,
so to speak, right, and don't do it to draw
a whole lot of attention to yourself. So I'm going

(17:22):
to I'm going to end on this all right. Number one,
if you're not going to the gym, go join the gym, Okay,
I don't care what you're doing. I would prefer if
you don't have it's a lot of experience. Don't do
CrossFit yet. Maybe not do CrossFit ever. That's really hard
on your joints. I know a lot of like really

(17:45):
really good athletes and then shape people that have really
gotten hurt. But but go go to the gym, pay
use your three free visits with the personal trainer. You
don't learn something, and if you can afford it, get
a personal trainer. I mean they don't have to be
you know, Elon Musk of personal training, but they can

(18:10):
teach you something because it's what they do. So you know,
do that. But for those that are going, keep going.
Don't make excuses. That's the biggest thing. If you're looking
to join a gym, I know, I'm all over the place.
A location, location, location. Okay, it may not be the

(18:30):
nicest gym, but it's three minutes from your house or
your condo or your apartment. Okay, the nicer gym, okay,
it's super nice. It has all these great little things,
but it's twenty minutes away. Where are you going to go.
You're not going to drive twenty minutes after work when
your dog tired, or on a Saturday morning when you've
had a long dinner night, your date and all that

(18:51):
kind of stuff and you're tired, maybe a little bit hungover.
You're not going to drive twenty minutes. You the gym
not going to do it, but you would possibly go
to the one that's three minutes away. So think about
that as a matter of fact, think about that until we
meet again. All right, go join the gym, go work out,
enjoy your workout, and we're going to get more depth
on your workout and stuff as we get further into this.

(19:13):
So I just know that I know because I am
the man and this is my podcast. God bless y'all.