Overheard in the gym - Share!

[Waldo]

Glad to hear you keep to the sidewalks and keep it safe. I am generally a calm, collected dude but I get intensely mad when people run on the road ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE IS A SIDEWALK RIGHT FRIGGIN' THERE! The absolute worst is when they are running on the same side of the street as the sidewalk, they don't even need to cross to get to it! There is ZERO reason for anyone to do this.

Either your town has some crazy nice sidewalks, or have you not run on sidewalks?

Sidewalks are a constant tripping hazard around me. This is compounded in the dark. Between big cracks on the sidewalks/big joints, crap like sticks on the sidewalks, and overgrown brush that you have to go through. Though it doesn't seem like it would make a difference, asphalt is noticeably softer to run on than concrete as well. I run on sidewalks on busier streets where cars go faster, but in the neighborhood(s) where cars are scarce and go 25, I run on the roads and skip the sidewalks.

[The Tin Man]

Where I run my 5k in my neighborhood, there is about a 100 yard stretch of road with a sidewalk with no sidewalk anywhere near it before or after. I don't run on that sidewalk since it is just so short. (Also it is low so it is always wetter than the road shoulder and the sidewalk tiles are very uneven). But on the main road part of my path that is about a quarter mile I run on the sidewalk.

Fair enough. Maybe zero reason was a bit strong if the sidewalk is short and wet/dangerous. The worst I have seen was many years ago when girls on the HS cross country team were running in a pack with traffic, in the road on a 35mph road where nobody goes under 40 and the shoulder is about 12" wide. Also, there were empty, high-quality sidewalks on both sides of the street. That is textbook stupidity. The only thing they were missing was running at night in all black without any sort of light/reflector.

[WizardTrip]

Fair enough. Maybe zero reason was a bit strong if the sidewalk is short and wet/dangerous. The worst I have seen was many years ago when girls on the HS cross country team were running in a pack with traffic, in the road on a 35mph road where nobody goes under 40 and the shoulder is about 12" wide. Also, there were empty, high-quality sidewalks on both sides of the street. That is textbook stupidity. The only thing they were missing was running at night in all black without any sort of light/reflector.

I still get what you're saying. As a driver, trying to get home....sorry, I hate runners. Where I live, if they aren't on the road, they are dashing across intersections when the walking sign clearly says stop, to try and beat the drivers. With that said, I'm reminded of:

"As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists." :-)

Which leads me to an ARGH about cyclists not obeying traffic laws that I need to post in the ARGH thread.

[The Tin Man]

I still get what you're saying. As a driver, trying to get home....sorry, I hate runners. Where I live, if they aren't on the road, they are dashing across intersections when the walking sign clearly says stop, to try and beat the drivers. With that said, I'm reminded of:

"As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists." :-)

Which leads me to an ARGH about cyclists not obeying traffic laws that I need to post in the ARGH thread.

Haha, I like that line. I'm at the point where I absolutely am not frustrated by runners if they are doing things safely even if I'm inconvenienced. If they are not, I want to light them on fire. Note to runners in my area: flame-retardant gear is part of "running safely". Though I guess you'd only need it if you're not being safe. I have to think on that one.

Cyclists can do everything right and still get me angry.

[The Tin Man]

Either your town has some crazy nice sidewalks, or have you not run on sidewalks?

Sidewalks are a constant tripping hazard around me. This is compounded in the dark. Between big cracks on the sidewalks/big joints, crap like sticks on the sidewalks, and overgrown brush that you have to go through. Though it doesn't seem like it would make a difference, asphalt is noticeably softer to run on than concrete as well. I run on sidewalks on busier streets where cars go faster, but in the neighborhood(s) where cars are scarce and go 25, I run on the roads and skip the sidewalks.

Okay, I guess maybe I should specify that it's okay if your sidewalks are a craggy, dangerous mess. Or are short and dangerous. Can't anyone let a guy write an all-encompassing, no-qualifications rant without bringing "reason", "thoughtfulness", and "exceptions" into the discussion? Sheesh.

I have a strong feeling that most anyone on these forums is reasonable enough to properly judge safety and have respect for heavy, fast-moving weights of metal and plastic with idiots in control of them. My rant is mostly because of my severe distrust of anyone behind the wheel of a car, especially while running/biking.

[morethanjustamom]

Fair enough. Maybe zero reason was a bit strong if the sidewalk is short and wet/dangerous. The worst I have seen was many years ago when girls on the HS cross country team were running in a pack with traffic, in the road on a 35mph road where nobody goes under 40 and the shoulder is about 12" wide. Also, there were empty, high-quality sidewalks on both sides of the street. That is textbook stupidity. The only thing they were missing was running at night in all black without any sort of light/reflector.

In high school our CC coach used to take us all out in the bus several miles from the school in a hilly neighborhood and just drop us off. We were ages 14-18, about 20 of us boys and girls, running along a road with no shoulder and blind hills and curves.

Coach would sit at the football field on the tailgate of his truck with a book, a stopwatch and an apple and wait on us. He only had to do one search and rescue during all my years on the team.

Looking back on that, our parents never saw anything wrong with a pack of teenagers running around odd neighborhoods every day after school, but I wouldn't even let any of my kids on a team where this would be the training method.

On the other hand, because of all that, I'm great with a group in a 5k, keeping folks together, cheerleading, encouraging laggers-behind.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Looking back on that, our parents never saw anything wrong with a pack of teenagers running around odd neighborhoods every day after school, but I wouldn't even let any of my kids on a team where this would be the training method.

Why not? No one is going to bother someone with a pack of 20 of them and if someone gets hurt, there's tons of help.

[andygates]

Cyclists can do everything right and still get me angry.

Bring it, Grumpy-pants.

Sidewalks? Luxury! Round here you have to run on the road or in a field. Nothing a bit of reflective and a head-torch won't deal with, and if you don't have a torch you'll end up in the field anyway. Kids these days, with their 'sidewalks', pff!

[morethanjustamom]

Why not? No one is going to bother someone with a pack of 20 of them and if someone gets hurt, there's tons of help.

Nowadays I'd be just as suspicious of the kids on the team as I would random passersby. Plus my little town made the news last year when an outraged motorist actually tried to kill a runner (who was running against traffic, during the day) not far from where I live, and I live way out in the country.

[The Tin Man]

Plus my little town made the news last year when an outraged motorist actually tried to kill a runner (who was running against traffic, during the day) not far from where I live, and I live way out in the country.

My rant is mostly because of my severe distrust of anyone behind the wheel of a car, especially while running/biking.

Yep.

[Morrigainz]

Yep x2.

[nickls]

Yep, yesterday I was driving and stopped at a stop sign at a T-intersection while someone was crossing the street. While the person was still in the end of the crosswalk and a car was coming in the lane I wanted to turn into, the guy behind me starts honking. Then after we both make the turn and I was admittedly driving a bit slow because I was pissed, he whips by me on the right in the parking lane.

I swear, half the people on the road around here during evening rush hour are road raging so bad.

[NotBadForAHuman]

Recently I was waiting to make a left turn with one car in front of me. That car decided that it HAD to beat the little kid who was running across the street in his karate uniform, and made his turn about 5 feet in front of the kid (who was in the crosswalk and had a walk signal). I wanted to catch up with him and punch him. It was SO uncool.

In a similar story I was waiting at a stop sign for a teenage girl and a few younger boys to fully cross the intersection (I don't screw around when it's kids, much less adults) and the entitled asswipe in the Mercedes behind me got pissed off, pulled into the left turn lane to go around me and crossed the intersection while the kids were still in the crosswalk. I remember his license plate (I caught up to him and rode his ass for a little bit), and if I ever see his car parked anywhere, his car is going to remember my key.

[The Tin Man]

...did I accidentally turn this into a road rage thread? My bad. I wish I had good gym stories to get this back on track. All I have is the advice from my trainer when I first joined my ex-gym a while ago when he spent 3 days setting me up with a machine circuit even though I said I wanted to try free weights. Guy was a body builder so that's how he saw the world. Only good part was his emphasis on controlled, full ROM reps without worrying about the ego part of how much weight you're lifting. If only he preached that about the squat and deadlift.

[nickls]

What is up with the idea that grunting in a gym is the worst thing ever? I remember hearing about how Planet Fitness bans grunting, and today I was reading the comics and "the guy who grunts in the gym" was in a comic as one of the "four horsemen of annoyance". I can understand how extreme grunting would get distracting, like some of those professional women's tennis players, but uhhh it's a gym.

God forbid someone should let out a noise while exerting themselves and interrupt your television watching session on the eliptical.

(may be offensive)

[The Tin Man]

What is up with the idea that grunting in a gym is the worst thing ever? I remember hearing about how Planet Fitness bans grunting, and today I was reading the comics and "the guy who grunts in the gym" was in a comic as one of the "four horsemen of annoyance". I can understand how extreme grunting would get distracting, like some of those professional women's tennis players, but uhhh it's a gym.

God forbid someone should let out a noise while exerting themselves and interrupt your television watching session on the eliptical.

(may be offensive)

Their idea is that they want to seem accessible to newcomers to the world of gyms, especially those very nervous about it. They feel grunting/yelling and people who are giant and strong can scare those tentative folks away.

[bigm141414]

What is up with the idea that grunting in a gym is the worst thing ever? I remember hearing about how Planet Fitness bans grunting, and today I was reading the comics and "the guy who grunts in the gym" was in a comic as one of the "four horsemen of annoyance". I can understand how extreme grunting would get distracting, like some of those professional women's tennis players, but uhhh it's a gym.

God forbid someone should let out a noise while exerting themselves and interrupt your television watching session on the eliptical.

(may be offensive)

Excessive grunting is annoying. Like the guy doing 20 reps of 10lbs DB curls and screaming and groaning like snakes were biting his testicles. That is annoying. But grunting a little because of a heavy couple of reps is normal.

Note: I am quiet as a mouse in the gym. I make very little noise myself (no grunting/ heavy breathing, very little plate dropping). This way I go unnoticed which is fine by me.

[nickls]

I am not a big grunter, and wasn't advocating freedom of obnoxious grunting. I just find it a funny trend that people are so annoyed by grunting in the gym. Maybe there's just too many obnoxious grunters out there.

I definitely didn't appreciate the group of guys yelling at their friend to egg him on while he tried to bench press 400 pounds, probably with horrendous form.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Note: I am quiet as a mouse in the gym. I make very little noise myself (no grunting/ heavy breathing, very little plate dropping). This way I go unnoticed which is fine by me.

that's because you're not dead lifting enough...

I didn't used to grunt, but on later sets on the squat as well as working set deaflifts, I do now. I also let out Chewbacca yells during PRs.

[chairohkey]

that's because you're not dead lifting enough...

Oh snap! Oh no he didn't!

[bigm141414]

that's because you're not dead lifting enough...

Ooooooooh, them's fightin' words Mr. Corey.

[Morrigainz]

I grunt in the gym. Because I'm usually pushing myself to my limit. I also make weird faces. All the dudes look at me, but you know what? They're doing curls in the squat rack and arching their back during bench presses and shiznit. And they drop weights all OVER the place. I at least try to set mine down (somewhat) gently. I don't just drop them from above my head or anything.

Maybe they're just weirded out by seeing a chick in the weight area. I'm usually the only one

[Pat G]

Overheard a screamer in my new gym today.... first time for everything. Kind of like Victoria Azarenka or Maria Sharapova but with weights...

Can i report something i SAW at the gym today?

a fella, quite swollen, with a singlet(I'm told you american's dont know what they are, wifebeater?) so low cut and thin strapped, that you could see his nipples quite clearly, now i'm all for showing your guns... but i don't want to see what your girlfriend sees while i'm squatting...

[wildross]

I'm with Corey..heavy deadlifts will squeeze the grunt out of me...Haven't tried the wookie hell yet. May be when I get over 400 like Corey...

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

Ooooooooh, them's fightin' words Mr. Corey.

I'm pretty sure you're doing more than me right now. Couldn't make it to the gym this week because of schoolwork and the gym is closed next week for renovations. I need to run more anyway, I'm nowhere near ready for the 10 miler. I may take some time off from lifting so I can train more seriously for that.