Gym Groaners

[Anonymous]

I say hi, smile or wave to most runners or walkers, and I find that most of them say hi, smile or wave (or nod) too. I feel like it's good to have a sense of community, and that sense of community might lead others to be good samaritans if something ever happened to me on the trail.

I'm female.

Have had issues on the trails a couple of times, but not because I smiled at someone.

[Anonymous]

present_tense wrote:Context is key. I've seen people complain about people who drop weights from time to time, and I think it's important to point out when it's actually SAFER to drop weights, and when someone's just being obnoxious.

First, one shouldn't be deadlifting 400 lbs in the middle of a commercial gym. As much as deadlifting that much weight is good for a person, it's just not appropriate in many, many places. Strong dudes (it's usually dudes who are causing the issue) ought to find a proper barbell club or Crossfit facility where the noise isn't frowned upon.

Second, I would say even in the context of a commercial gym, it isn't necessarily inappropriate for someone to drop their weights.

Take a dumbbell chest press for instance. The typical guy's pectoral muscles are much stronger and can handle more of a load than the typical guy's deltoids and biceps. In order to lower, say, 80 lbs down to the ground without making any noise, the guy would have to essentially do an eccentric curl of that load to lower the weight down. This potentially compromises his shoulder joint and puts a lot of stress on his elbows. Not good.

It's better and safer for him to do a controlled "drop" of the weight down to the ground. This will make a little noise. That's okay.

There IS a lot of posturing in many chain gyms, and there IS a lot of abhorrent behavior. But it is possible that the person you see dropping their weights is actually lifting properly. And it's also possible that if you're under your headphones and focused on your own work, you won't even notice what other people are up to.

At the end of the day, there's always the option of building your own garage gym...

Jason

p.s. It should go without saying that people doing weightlifting SHOULD be dropping their weights. It's simply not safe for someone to do a barbell snatch with any sort of appreciable load and then control that weight to the ground. I doubt that's what most PP's are talking about, but it's another good example of when dropping the weight is the safest and best-advised technique.

Right on to this post!
I would also like to add, that I do not like groaning or grunting, but it is part of the deal. Same with heavy Darth Vader breathing in yoga class. Drives me nuts, but is part of the whole thing, so I just skip the gym and yoga studio. These noises are part of working out with the public.