Ep 161 – Gym Etiquette

Dani:

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of vegan proteins muscles by Brussels Radio. My name is Dani.

Speaker 2

And I’m Giacomo.

Dani:

And this is episode 161.

Speaker 2

So, in the spirit of how long this podcast has been running, actually, it’s been like about ten years now.

Dani:

It’s been ten years. This podcast has been on for ten years.

Speaker 2

We’re going to take some of our old episodes, which many of you have probably never listened to, and we’re going to get into some of that and redo it with different perspective because we’re.

Dani:

Doing it ten years older.

Speaker 2

Yeah, exactly.

Dani:

And as I’m going back and listening to some of our older episodes, ten years makes a pretty big difference, actually. So I think some of the topics I still feel similarly about, some of them I actually feel quite differently about. So I think that it’ll be kind of fun to redo some of the episodes.

And you can always listen to any of the episodes. If you go to veganproteins.com and click the podcast button, you can scroll back through all of them. But Apple gets rid of any podcasts, I believe, like, more than 100 episodes back.

Speaker 2

Really? Hey, you know what I just heard this morning with one of the software updates that are happening nonstop these days? Apple’s including a transcript of all of the episodes. So every episode that gets published, you should be able to see a transcript at the bottom of it.

Dani:

That sounds like it would be terrible, though, because there’s so many, like, weird sentences. For example, what I just said, there’s so many, like, weird sentences and ums and uhs, and. I don’t know. It doesn’t. It’s not gonna read like a book.

Speaker 2

I got no idea. I just know that’s a thing now. We’re literally transcribing everything. It’s all the bots and the AI and who even knows? Yeah, we’re basically all aliens at this point.

Dani:

I. I don’t like this. Like, I don’t like the sound of any of this. But also, I give up. Like, they win. They get all my data. They have it. They have everything about it.

Speaker 2

Are you personifying robots or the people controlling the robots?

Dani:

What’s the difference anymore? Like, what is the difference? I don’t know. I have no idea.

Speaker 2

Oh, my gosh.

Dani:

What we’re talking about today is gym etiquette, gym do’s and don’ts, which is always kind of a fun and funny thing to talk about because you can, like, go off, basically.

Speaker 2

I remember just how salty that we got when we first made this episode. And we were just basically going, add it on. Like you shouldn’t be. I mean, maybe your memory of the episode was different, but I remember, like, really dogging on people for curling in the squat rack, for example. And I don’t know, maybe I’m old and a little less cranky about it, but in other ways. What’s that look?

Dani:

Who gets old and less cranky? Like, I just listened to the old episode and I feel just as strongly now as I did then.

Speaker 2

Yes, but would you be as reactive as you were back then in the gym and on a podcast about it?

Dani:

We’re gonna see. We’re gonna see. I actually know one of the things, so I guess we can get into it. In the old podcast, I said, oh my gosh, this one upsets giacomo so much. And thinking about it now, I think now it upsets me way more than it upsets you. And that is lifting directly in front of the dumbbell rack.

Speaker 2

Oh my gosh.

Dani:

When you pick up the weights from the dumbbell rack and you just stand there and do your exercise. None for that really, because last time we were at the gym, it was happening to me and I was looking at you, I was giving him the look like, do you see this? Do you see what’s happening? And he was like, just let it go, blah, blah, blah. Which I did. It’s not like I went up and fought anybody, but I was super

annoyed.

Speaker 2

For the life of me. I don’t understand how anyone thinks that staring dead in the mirror is going to give them gains or help them with their form or anything.

Dani:

I disagree, but we’ll get there.

Speaker 2

But on top of the mirror, as opposed to five, 6ft away.

Dani:

But that’s not what you should. You said, I don’t know how staring at the mirror is going to help you with your gains or your form.

Speaker 2

Well, that closely, Denny. Yeah, yeah.

Dani:

Just you’re in everybody’s way. If you are picking up the dumbbells and doing shrugs or curls or, God forbid, lateral raises, nobody can get to the dumbbells until you are done. And that is obnoxious. So whenever that does happen to me, this is my passive aggressiveness coming out. When. Whenever that happens to me, I will literally stand right behind that person holding my dumbbells that I need to either put back or get until

they are done. And the second they finish, I like, dart in front of them to do what I needed to do. So they are very aware that they’ve been in my way for the last 30 to 40 seconds.

Speaker 2

They don’t care. You can also get aggressive and literally put weights down and away right in front of them to the point where you’re literally connecting with them, which I’ve done before, because honestly, like, I’m not gonna touch anybody. Well, you’re directly in the way. And I’m putting my weights

down and they’re very heavy, and I have to get to my next set. I’m not gonna sit here and stare at the floor.

Dani:

But there’s an easy solution to this. Just don’t do it. Just don’t do it. Just don’t do it. A lot of the stuff on my list, which is a long list. It’s a long list. Seems like it should be common sense, but apparently it is not that common.

Speaker 2

Someone needed to teach them etiquette 101 because they clearly did not take that class and they did not get the memo.

Dani:

Well, let’s keep talking about them. What’s one of the things you’ve got?

Speaker 2

Well, back to the curling and the squat rack. It’s called a squat rack for a reason. I know these days we call it by all kinds of names, power rack, blah, blah, blah. But listen, it’s a squat rack. You can do other compound movements in there, but if you start using, I don’t know, dumbbells or going in there and using the barbell in other ways where it’s not a compound movement, not cool.

Dani:

You guys are gonna start to see why this has not been a video podcast this whole time.

Speaker 2

Why?

Dani:

Because of all the faces I’m making now that we’re recording it as well.

Speaker 2

Just upgrade. It’s gonna get better.

Dani:

So I agree, don’t curl in the squat rack. But the reason is different than it sounds. Like what you just said, you can curl anywhere in the gym. You do not have to curl in the squat rack.

Speaker 2

Exactly.

Dani:

But there are exercises that you kind of do have to do in the squat rack.

Speaker 2

Do you have a delegate in a squat rack?

Dani:

Sometimes I will rdl in a squat rack because I want the weight to start high.

Speaker 2

Do you have to bench press in a squat rack?

Dani:

No. Usually no.

Speaker 2

Right. But people do these things anyway, even when they don’t have to do them. But you have to.

Dani:

Oftentimes you have to military press in a squat rack.

Speaker 2

Well, depending on the gym, a good gym should have a mil. If you have a gym with a rack, you’re probably gonna have a gym with a seated military press.

Dani:

What if you don’t want to do it seated? What if you want more core engagement?

Speaker 2

Well, the idea here is to the squat is king in the power rack. Squat in the squat rack. Everything else is secondary.

Dani:

All I’m saying is use the squat rack when you cannot do that exercise anywhere else. And I don’t think anybody’s gonna have a hard time with it. I’ve never been annoyed. Somebody’s pressing in the squat rack. Like shoulder pressing in the squat rack if I’m waiting for a squat rack.

Speaker 2

But it’s principle alone. I distinctly remember that one session where like, the gym was empty and someone’s in there being like, ha ha ha. No one can stop me now because I am curling here and there’s literally no one in the gym but me. And like five other lifters. And us being two of those lifters, I just kind of grilled them like, no, just don’t do it. It’s just poor form on principle alone. Don’t like, go curl somewhere else. There’s really no valid reason to do it.

Dani:

Yeah, I agree. Squat rack is like a super hot commodity in a gym. Most gyms don’t have a lot of squat racks, although that seems to be changing a lot these days. Yeah, I remember when we, when I started going to the gym, that gym, which was even before you did, they had one squat rack. By the time we moved back here together, there were two.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Dani:

We asked them to get a power rack for years.

Speaker 2

Yep.

Dani:

And then they finally got a power rack. So then there were three. And now I want to say there’s.

Speaker 2

Like a five at least. There might even be more than five.

Dani:

Yeah.

Speaker 2

So I think five is where they’re at.

Dani:

I assume other gyms are kind of going in that direction as well. But this kind of leads me to my next one, which is don’t do exercises in places that you shouldn’t.

Speaker 2

Such as?

Dani:

Such as doing your floor crunches over by the dumbbells, like in the middle of the weight room, or doing your push ups over by all of the squat racks. Or doing your sprints. I don’t know if you remember this. People used to sprint across the weight.

Speaker 2

Room a little bit.

Dani:

People used to hurdle over the benches, sprinting across the weight room.

Speaker 2

I’m not exaggerating, by the way. This actually did happen.

Dani:

I’m not. It did happen. There’s certain places to do certain exercises and try to keep it to the places that make the most sense, you know? Man, I wish I could think of other examples off the top of my head.

Speaker 2

I’m trying to as well.

Dani:

Well, I understand it can be tough sometimes to find a place. It used to be hard to find a place to deadlift in our gym. It used to be really hard to find a place to hip thrust. Now over the years, they’ve made designated stations for those things, which is great. But, you know, you could be a.

Speaker 2

Little rude with a jump rope. If you’re in the wrong spot, that can be kind of iffy.

Dani:

You can be a lot rude with a jump. I saw somebody the other day jump roping by where we put our coats, and I was like, dude, what are you doing? I had to stand there while he, I don’t know, did his 60 seconds of jump rope so that I could just get my bag and leave. It was so weird. But if you’re not sure where you should be doing something, ask. Most gyms have an exercise room, like a classroom that’s empty a good chunk of the time.

Speaker 2

There’s a little bit of bend here. We’re not trying to be too hard up about which area you should be doing what in. However, there’s also clear times where you just should not be where you are at. Whatever, like you said, like push ups in a near where people are squatting, for example. It’s distracting.

Dani:

It’s dangerous.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Dani:

I mean, it’s dangerous.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Dani:

Imagine doing floor crunches where a bunch of people are, you know, doing bench chest presses. And at the end of a bench chest press, most people are kind of putting their weights down on the floor.

Speaker 2

Not cool.

Dani:

You can get hurt very easily.

Speaker 2

Speaking about putting weights on the floor, what about re racking your weights after you use them?

Dani:

That is my next one.

Speaker 2

Is it okay? I had a feeling. I guess my feeling was right. Because I’ll tell you what, not only. Well, there’s two things here. One, right, re rack your weights when you’re done with them. Two, put them where they belong. And three, maybe I’m just jumping into two here. But also the idea of hoarding weights.

Dani:

Yeah, the hunter weight. I would call that another one entirely.

Speaker 2

We’ll go there in a little bit.

Dani:

But, yeah, re rack your weights. And I feel like our gym is actually awesome about this.

Speaker 2

They really are.

Dani:

They’re so good. The dumbbells are maybe sometimes the twelve s and the 15s are flip flopped. They’re always in order.

Speaker 2

There are gyms like that. This is not the only gym, our gym, that we go to. I’ve been to gyms before in the past where the re racking with the proper weights in the proper areas, there’s just. It’s like a universal law and it is respected this is not. But I’ve seen the opposite, too, where no matter how hard you try, no one cares.

Dani:

Yeah. When we travel, we go to gyms. When we travel. And sometimes I am just, like, flabbergasted by where stuff is put back, or rather, not put back.

Speaker 2

I’ll tell you a horror story. Ready? I don’t know if you remember this one. I think I might have told it you once before. Had a friend of mine that I trained with, and he was lifting one day. Really cool person. Knew how to lift really strong. Really nice person. His finger came off. You know why his finger came off?

Dani:

What?

Speaker 2

Yeah. You don’t remember when I told you? Just allow me to refresh your memory. But we had this conversation, right? So I was at this gym. I used to actually be a trainer at this gym, and I would be the one just scurrying around, furiously putting the weights back.

And it was a losing battle every single day. But I tried my butt off. I was in my twenties. I had all the energy in the world. But it’s still like that to this day of this gym, by the way, weights everywhere, dumbbells everywhere.

Dani:

Finger came off. Get to it.

Speaker 2

So there’s dumbbells all around where this person is doing his dumbbell bench press, and he goes to put his weights down, and when he goes to put his weights down, his finger gets wedged in between his dumbbells and the dumbbells that were on the floor because some schmuck, whatever, did not put it away, and he’s literally lost a finger. No word of a lie. So, yeah, I mean, not only is it stupid and annoying, it could actually. You could hurt somebody.

Dani:

Yeah. I mean, some, I’ve seen people trip overweights. I think I’ve almost tripped over weights. I’m pretty clumsy, though. But no, I don’t remember that story. I don’t think you told me that story. I think you just. I think you’re just telling me that for the first time. Yeah. Putting your weights back. Not only does it make it so much easier for everybody else to find what they’re looking for, re racking your weights is not just dumbbells, it’s leaving eight plates on the leg

press and just walking away. Great. Wonderful. Congratulations. You can do eight plates on the leg press, but maybe the 60 year old woman who wants to use it after you cannot do that and also cannot safely unrack. What is that? 90 times 4360 pounds. Right.

Speaker 2

And what a misuse of. Well, I’m saying what I’m trying to say is the other person is gonna have a misuse of their time because they’re gonna be busy putting your weights away. So they’re spending more time. They’re getting frustrated, and they’re trying to load their own weight and get through their own work, and they gotta clean up your mess, which is ridiculous.

Dani:

It’s so rude.

Speaker 2

So rude.

Dani:

That one is so rude, too.

Speaker 2

Selfish.

Dani:

And I feel like it’s like a brag. Like, that’s what I see a lot, is it’s always the worst on the leg press. Yeah, you don’t you. I don’t usually see people leave, like, a barbell loaded up, but the leg press especially, like, and if that’s the hardest one. So it’s like, I get it. You’re very strong, but you’re also very lazy because you didn’t unrack it.

Speaker 2

Exactly.

Dani:

Lost gains there because that’s half the workout.

Speaker 2

Yep.

Dani:

And you could hurt somebody, or it prevents somebody from even using it.

Speaker 2

Correct.

Dani:

Which is terrible. So, equipment hogging. Go for it.

Speaker 2

Well, equipment hogging happens in many different ways. The one we were just talking about or getting ready to mention was when you grab multiple pairs of dumbbells and you use the excuse or the reasoning that you’re doing a superset or you’re in between sets and you want to jump a weight, what makes you think you’re the only one in between sets that needs to jump a weight?

Why should you have the. Why should you have the weights and someone else doesn’t? Right. For one, for two. Do you really need to do a superset with three sets of dumbbells when you’re not the only person on the gym floor? Maybe rethink your superset and do something else.

Dani:

I think having two sets is okay. Personally, I think having two sets of dumbbells is usually okay as long as you’re kind of quickly going through them.

Speaker 2

What if you’re a pair of lifters and you each have two sets? Is that okay?

Dani:

I don’t know.

Speaker 2

Exactly. This is where it starts to get tricky.

Dani:

That’s a weird question.

Speaker 2

Well, it happens. That’s why I’m asking. This is a real scenario. There’s two lifters or three lifters, and each one of the lifters have more than one set of dumbbells.

Dani:

I also think a lot of this has to do with the time of day that you go, if the gym is empty, if you’re not going at peak hours. I don’t think this is a problem, really. Doing supersets with either dumbbells or machines, it’s usually not going to be a problem. But during peak hours, it’s kind of a dick move.

Speaker 2

Sometimes I don’t mind. Sometimes I’m not in the mood to ask you for your weights because I’m doing my set and bring them back to you. I remember times in the past where I would just be like, hey, can I work in? And I’ll bring these weights right back, blah, blah, blah. I mean, you could do that, but you don’t necessarily you in the gym to do your lift and go about your business. Maybe you’re not in the mood to do that, and maybe you’re just already frustrated with the fact that you want the

weights and you don’t want to, like, take that out on the other person. Or maybe you’re in the middle of doing something else where you’re lifting, like, listening to your favorite beats or something like that, or thinking about something else, and you’re just not interested in having that kind of conversation about someone else who is taking up the weights. The other thing is taking up multiple stations.

Dani:

Right. Like supersets on machines.

Speaker 2

Right.

Dani:

So, again, I think if it’s dead, supersets have their place. Like, supersets can be fine. They can be really helpful. Part of a lot of people’s workouts. But read the room, which I think is true of a lot of these, is read the goddamn room. If it’s packed. Taking up the leg extension and the leg curl is not gonna fly. Those are both hot commodity items. And taking them both up at the same time, probably not gonna work. When I’m writing programs for my clients, I either try to put machines

that I know are close to each other, but I tell them, hey, if it’s busy and you can’t do this as a superset, that’s fine. Just do it as straight sets. Or I try to pair. Make a superset that is something with dumbbells and something with a machine. So they can bring the dumbbells over to the machine, do their supersets, and then put the dumbbells back.

Speaker 2

Exactly.

Dani:

All right, so you brought something up about asking for the dumbbells, and I actually had a question about this. Like, I don’t. I don’t see this very much anymore. And we did talk about it the first time we recorded this. Working in with people, I feel like. I feel like Covid changed things. It used to be totally normal to ask to work in with somebody, so that would be, let’s say somebody’s using a cable station.

And you say, oh, can I work in with you? And they do a set, then you do a set, then they do a set, then you do a set until whichever one of you finishes first is done. So you, like, do your set while the other person is resting. And that used to be normal. Fine. Okay. People don’t really do that anymore. What do you think?

Speaker 2

Well, it’s more than that. People are buried in their phones, and it’s very easy to use your phone with headphones that pair seamlessly. So people are all up in whatever it is that they’re getting into.

Dani:

People were using headphones ten years ago when I recorded this the first time.

Speaker 2

The way that they’re doing it now, people are way more in their own personal space on their phones and listening to stuff or watching stuff than they were in the past. And I feel like it affects lifter’s ability to. Someone’s ability to actually be like, yeah, it’s okay, you can work in with me.

Because they’re, like, so in their own little zone that they’re just not even interested. It’s more of a hassle to say yes. They’ll just walk away or be like, I have another couple sets. That’s how I feel. I mean, that’s my personal sentiment. I don’t know how you feel about it.

Dani:

I never liked to work in with people. If somebody asked me if they could work in, I would say yes, but I would never ask somebody else if I could work in with them because I don’t want to talk to people at the gym. Usually, I’m very, very introverted. I’m not there to make small talk, and I don’t want anybody to confuse that and think I’m asking to work in as like an in to have a chit chat. I’m not. So I just wait. But I did used to see it a lot and would be asked frequently and was always fine with

it. But I think it’s actually Covid, like, people don’t want to be touching stuff after other people touch stuff, but, you know, it’s a gym and you’re gonna end up touching stuff after other people touched stuff. So I don’t know. I’m curious to hear what you guys think. Do you guys still work in with other people, or is that something of the past?

Speaker 2

I think it also depends on the gym, too. I was at a gym in Florida called South beach fitness, and it was totally acceptable and even encouraged people to work in. And I think it just, again, depends on the gym. The lifters at the gym, et cetera, et cetera. Certain gyms, in my opinion, are a little more. It’s a little more comfortable atmosphere to do that. And other gyms, maybe not so much.

Dani:

Don’t stand in front of people when they’re using the mirror. So this is the thing you said at the beginning. I don’t know how staring in a mirror could help you with your gains or your form. Totally disagree. Absolutely think that the mirror can be super helpful when you’re lifting. Now, you should be able to lift without a mirror. Don’t get me wrong. But for me, anyway, sometimes, like, literally locking eyes with myself in the mirror helps me focus on what I’m doing better.

Also, I can see my form. I can see if I’m, you know, maybe not getting a full range of motion. So I like to have the mirror in front of me for certain things. And I would never, like, start doing my set directly in front of somebody behind me doing their set if I could avoid it. If the gym is, like, slow enough that I don’t have to do that, I’m never gonna do that to somebody interesting.

Speaker 2

I feel like that used to be a thing for me back in the day, but it’s really not anymore, because when I think about training in a gym, I think about the fact that people are there, and they’re mostly concerned with being, like, lifting really hard, and they’re mostly thinking about not even. They don’t even thinking. They’re just, like, grunting through their exercises and getting to the next exercise. So.

Dani:

What does that have to do with mirrors? What does anything you just said have to do with mirrors?

Speaker 2

It has everything to do with what I have to where my head’s at with mirrors, because your spatial awareness ain’t there. If you’re too busy, like, focused on lift, the lift, and being physical, like, you’re not paying attention to anything else, to the point where, like, you’re literally gonna be afraid to block a mirror. So you slow down your ability to get from one station to the other or get one down below, like, where you are.

Dani:

I’m not talking about passing in front of somebody. I’m talking about setting up shop in front of somebody to do your set.

Speaker 2

Right. And when you’re being physically aggressive, because you’re lifting, you’re not necessarily thinking about where you’re at spatially. Like, you’re just literally lifting hard. Again, I think the intention is there, but I don’t think that it happens 100% of the time. That’s what I mean.

So I’m a little more forgiving of that, put it that way. I mean, I also feel like, as a lifter, I’m able to be a little more forgiving because I have enough body awareness and not need to look in the mirror. But I can understand where you’re coming from, especially if I don’t need to.

Dani:

Look in the mirror. I like to look in the mirror, and if I have a mirror, I’m going to do that. If I don’t, then that’s fine. I mean, I can work out in this room. I don’t need a mirror. I just find them to be kind of helpful and motivating.

Speaker 2

Right. And if I’m about to, like, flex on a mirror and you get in front of me, that’s a different story. I might get a little pissed at you.

Dani:

You are a strange man. A strange, strange man. So my next one, I guess it’s kind of. Well, no, it’s different, but it’s to give people space. If the gym is, like, slow enough that you can give people space, you should be trying to give people as much space as you can based on what you’re doing. Like, get out of people’s bubble if you can avoid it. Also, be mindful of not just what you’re doing, but what other people are doing.

Speaker 2

Totally.

Dani:

If bro in front of you is doing lateral raises, you better give him a wide berth as you walk around him because you’re going to get whacked in the head. And that can be avoided if we just give each other a little bit of space.

Speaker 2

Pay attention to your surroundings, essentially as best as you can.

Dani:

I mean, yeah, you could sum a lot of these up as just, like, be courteous, but I’m weird in public spaces in general. I don’t want people in my space. The other day, when we were in line to go to the veg fest, the people that were standing behind us, I could, like, feel her breath on the back of my neck.

Speaker 2

That’s why I’m laughing, because this did not even register as a thought in my mind, and I’m hearing it

now for the first time, and I had no idea she was even pissed about it.

Dani:

Just. I don’t understand. We were outside. We’re outside. We’re gonna be in line for a half an hour. Like, you can take a baby step back.

Speaker 2

Yeah, that doesn’t bother me in the slightest, honestly. I think it’s just growing up in a city where people were always on top of one another that I’m so used to and desensitized to. And it’s almost a comfortable feeling for me personally. Whether I’m feeling extroverted or introverts doesn’t really matter. Like, I don’t care. People are around me, et cetera, et cetera. But we’ve. Obviously, we feel very differently about this.

Dani:

But, you know, I was thinking about, like, some of the ways people kind of get in each other’s space at the gym. One, like I just mentioned, just not paying attention and just kind of getting in other people’s way while they’re exercising. The other one that I don’t like is if you’re using one of those dual cable stations. One of the big cable stations.

Speaker 2

I was thinking about this one earlier.

Dani:

And someone just starts doing pull ups right behind you.

Speaker 2

What if you’re taking up both sides of the cable and it’s the only cable station in the gym, and you’re doing something that maybe you could have done with one cable? You think that’s rude?

Dani:

No, no. Cause they’re different exercises. Okay, so.

Speaker 2

But propping up in the middle to do pull ups while there are people. You’re saying this father’s.

Dani:

Yeah. You get really, really close to the person who’s on the cable machine, and they might not even know you’re there. So they, like, put their cables back, turn around, and walk directly into your junk, because they didn’t even know that you were there.

Like, just. I don’t mind if someone says, like, hey, I’m gonna do pull ups. Is that cool? Of course. Of course you can do pull ups because I know you’re there. But if you just sneak up behind me and start doing pull ups six inches away from me, not loving that.

Speaker 2

Not responsible for what I did. While you were doing pull ups, what about someone literally using the same exact station for seven different exercises? Like, they’re doing their entire routine on one of the inclined benches, and you’re waiting for an inclined bench for, like, 20 minutes.

Dani:

That happened to us recently in LA. Remember, we were desperately feelings about this. Waiting for a lat cool down station.

Speaker 2

I was so aggravated. I’m like, these kids have way too much time in their hands, and I don’t even know what they’re doing. It looked like they were just experimenting on equipment.

Dani:

There was one gal, I don’t know. I don’t know what her plan was, but she was at that lat pull down station for 40 minutes.

Speaker 2

What did she even do?

Dani:

Lat pull downs, man. Like, a lot of them.

Speaker 2

No. You know what else was crazy, too? The same thing. There were four lap pull down stations outside. That one was on the side next to the bathrooms at speakeasy fitness. Sorry for calling you out, speakeasy fitness, but here you are. And then in the middle there were four lap pull down stations. And on all four of them there were lifters changing the cable attachments and still continuing to do the same thing. Lap pull downs.

Dani:

I don’t mind. That doesn’t bother me if someone’s actually using it. I don’t know. That one doesn’t bother me too much. Unless it’s like the only one of that thing in the gym, like a squat rack.

Speaker 2

See me, if I was to do more than four, I would feel guilty and I would be cognizant of my surroundings. And if I were to do more than like, say, four sets with the same attachment. She’s ripping on me, you can tell. I personally would want to invite others, be, hey, you want to work in? Or maybe, you know, I don’t want to say. I would do something else. I’m not that selfless, but I would at least be aware.

Dani:

You take up a squat rack, do two reps, sit on the ground and eat gummy worms for seven minutes before you got back up to do another two reps. Back when he was training for powerlifting, this was like a normal day. He would take up the squat rack for 45 minutes, do twelve reps total, and eat an entire bag of candy.

Speaker 2

Mindset development and I need to recharge.

Dani:

And so I’m not buying anything, but.

Speaker 2

The paralyzing rests take a while and it was very sports specific.

Dani:

Yeah, and nobody in the gym gave a shit about how sports specific it was. They just wanted the squat rack.

Speaker 2

Brandon used to like walk around and try to. What he tried to do, he tried to distract me in the middle of my lifts and it did not seem to work for the most part, but whatever.

Dani:

Anyways, that doesn’t happen anymore.

Speaker 2

Exactly. That was a long time ago. I’ve learned my lessons.

Dani:

Another thing is in the cardio section. Would you walk into a movie theater that had like two people sitting in the movie theater and then sit directly next to the two people in the movie theater?

Speaker 2

Oh, gosh. The whole thing where like there’s an entire, there’s two rows of ten and someone decides to just come right next to you.

Dani:

There’s tons of machines and someone that you know or don’t, it doesn’t matter, they come right next to you. I will get off my machine and I will go to another machine and I would do the same damn thing in a movie theater, too. I would get up and move away. Infuriates me. If it’s full, you know, if it’s full and the only options are just.

It’s probably like, urinals. I mean, I’m not a guy. I don’t know. But would it be like, are urinals kind of like that? Like, if there’s an option, you don’t go right next to another guy. Right. I’m curious.

Speaker 2

Mostly, guys honestly don’t really give that much of a crap about where they’re setting up shop to take a piss. But technically, when you go in, you, like, don’t intentionally go next to the other person. You kind of try to leave one space. One space, right, but usually.

Dani:

Exactly. But if all you have is a space next to somebody, then it’s fine if you use it.

Speaker 2

I don’t even know if it’s necessarily true, actually, sometimes. Sorry. Yeah. Guys, you’re not.

Dani:

I can’t call him out because I don’t know if he’s telling the truth or not. But men chime in, let us know. Yeah, but, you know, if that’s all that’s left is to stand next to somebody on a cardio machine, then that’s fine. That doesn’t bother anybody, I don’t think.

Speaker 2

But it’s motivating them for some reason, making them feel more comfortable, but at the expense of making the other person.

Dani:

Feel uncomfortable, or they just didn’t even think about it at all, which is.

Speaker 2

Even worse or just as bad, I should say.

Dani:

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Dani:

All right. I only have a couple. No, I guess I have a bunch more about the actual weight room itself. People are trying to hype themselves up in the weight room most of the time. Like, trying to motivate themselves via, like, listening to music or, like I said, like, locking eyes with yourself in the mirror or whatever. But some people, I think, take it a little bit too far, trying to amp themselves up, like, erratic energy.

Speaker 2

Man, I love him, by the way. He was there today.

Dani:

He’s always there. I think he lives there. There’s this guy at our gym. I’ve seen him there since I was 19 years old. He. I don’t know. How old do you think he is?

Speaker 2

50, probably.

Dani:

Probably 50.

Speaker 2

He’s a really nice guy, by the way. I don’t know.

Dani:

I don’t know if he’s nice or not. I’ve never heard him speak a word.

Speaker 2

I have. When he starts talking, and you can start to get a little bit of his personality he’s actually a really sweet man. He’s a really nice person. But you would not know that, by the way that he’s ripping through the.

Dani:

Gym, dorming around the gym, flailing, screaming, yelling. He’s got, like, music playing, sometimes so loud you can hear it. And he’s just, like, trying to pipe himself up before every single lift that he has. Or he, like, finishes and he’s, like, puts it down and storms around. And it’s very. It’s a lot. He’s doing too much.

Speaker 2

Okay.

Dani:

So, I mean, if I was a new gym goer, that would probably freak me out a lot. Now I’m used to him. At this point, I don’t know his name. After almost 20 years, I’m still gonna call him erratic energy man. And still, sometimes I’m just like, that’s a lot, dude. You’re doing a lot. So, you know, I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t really know what to say about that. Do what you have to do to hype yourself up.

Speaker 2

What about I leaving your stuff all over the place? Like, if you have a gym bag and you have a whole bunch of gym gear, does that bother you?

Dani:

I haven’t. Like, in theory it bothers me. In theory, it’s rude. But it’s never been a problem for me. Like, nobody’s gear has ever gotten in my way except. Except what I think I’m gonna go to next.

Speaker 2

Okay.

Dani:

Just tripods.

Speaker 2

That doesn’t bother me at all.

Dani:

So we did talk about cell phones in the gym on the episode from ten years ago. But I think there’s a lot has changed in ten years. So I think that cell phones in general is something to talk about. Tripods in the gym, we literally left our gym. We quit our gym because they wouldn’t let us, like, film our sets.

Like, we couldn’t film our sets, which I think is fine to film your sets, especially if you’re trying to see your form. I think that’s fine. But it should be, like, discreetly. It should not. It should never. You filming your set should not be in the way of somebody else trying to work out, ever.

Speaker 2

And if it is, you have to move it in between whatever it is that you’re doing, because it’s not your filming studio.

Dani:

It’s not your goddamn filming studio. But we, you know, I forget when it was. It had to be, like, 2017 or 2018. We left our gym because they wouldn’t let us film our sets. And, you know, it was other reasons as well. And now, back at the same gym after Covid, there’s friggin tripods everywhere.

Speaker 2

At this same gym, I could literally put my phone in the owner’s hand and be like, hey, can you film my set? And he would totally do it.

Dani:

I mean, I guess they just lost that battle.

Speaker 2

But, yeah, things have definitely changed.

Dani:

But it’s. I don’t know. I get the sense that a lot of people are not filming their sets to check their form. They’re filming whatever they’re filming, sometimes their entire workouts for social media. And listen, there are gyms that exist where, like, that’s the purpose of that gym, is to go and film your stuff for social media. Like, that is what they want to happen there. But most gyms are not like that. But there

are still tripods everywhere, and I do not love it.

Speaker 2

Well, I want to be careful here. I don’t want to shame the idea of filming inside of the gym.

Dani:

Right. That’s what I’m saying.

Speaker 2

And I don’t even want to harshly criticize tripods, either. I think both have their value in place. There are limits, though, to the usage in the setup. And if the setup happens to be in someone’s way, be cognizant and move it temporarily.

Dani:

People, I’ve seen this. I’ve seen this on the Internet a lot. Someone will have a tripod set up. Like, we have a tripod set up right here filming their exercise, and somebody will walk through the path to do something, and the person working out is mad. Yeah.

Speaker 2

That’s ridiculous.

Dani:

What?

Speaker 2

That’s absolutely ridiculous. I fully expect whatever to be in the camera, and my camera filming is not the priority when it’s filming. It just so happens to be there in that space and capturing as much of whatever I needed to capture.

Dani:

I just. I don’t know, as you guys know from listening. Like, I’m not a big fan of, like, influencer culture in

general, actually. I hate it. And we have both, at different points, been referred to as influencers. And it makes, like. Makes my teeth itch every time someone says it because I can’t stand it. And I feel like a lot of what we’re seeing in the gym is that it is the influence of influencer culture and everybody trying to be an influencer.

And I don’t know, maybe I sound like an angry, like, old man yells at sky kind of situation, but I can’t stand it at all. Plus, I mean, I don’t care if I’m in the background of somebody else’s video that ends up on the Internet. But some people will care.

Speaker 2

See, and this is where I feel like that’s probably wrong, too, because in this day and age, every single person on this earth has been in someone else’s video many times over. I mean, there’s cameras everywhere. I’m sure there’s cameras everywhere, but there’s.

Dani:

Some places that are just a little bit more vulnerable than others. For example, the locker room. Okay, listen, I’ve taken a mirror selfie in the locker room, but I will only do it if there is nobody else in the locker room. And I do mean nobody in the locker room, because having your cell phone out in a locker room with the

camera open is, like, pretty messed up. People are changing, showering. They’re naked. I mean, feel like that should be kind of a rule, I suppose. I mean, it’s a locker room.

Speaker 2

There better not be anywhere around if you’re taking a picture in front of a mirror.

Dani:

Right. It’s just. But it happens, right? I see videos all the time from the locker room, from a lot of people. Most of the time. I think, again, because this feels like it should be common sense. Most of the time, there’s nobody else there, but sometimes there are other people there in the background in the locker room. And goddess, God, no.

Speaker 2

So use your better judgment. Is what the moral of this is.

Dani:

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Dani:

I don’t know. Phones in general, talking on the phone, like, loudly on speakerphone, that’s gonna be a hard no.

Speaker 2

I do that sometimes, but I do try to leave the floor when I’m talking on the phone.

Dani:

On speakerphone. No, that’s what I’m saying.

Speaker 2

Oh, no.

Dani:

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Who would do that?

Dani:

People do it all the time on speaker. They’ll facetime.

Speaker 2

I don’t even put my phone on loud, period. On the phone, on the. On the floor. Never. No. Like, my

phone is constantly quiet. I’m very particular about personal space and open spaces when it comes to playing things that I am only listening to or watching. I’m incredibly, incredibly mindful of that because I think is one of. In most scenarios, it’s very rude to someone else.

Dani:

I mean, I would say also, I don’t just feel this way about the gym. I feel this way about anywhere. Like having your phone on speakerphone in public, having a conversation, or blaring your music out of your cell phone, subjecting everybody else to your shitty music choices.

Speaker 2

Or whatever is awful.

Dani:

That’s just my two cent on that.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Dani:

Oh, man.

Speaker 2

You got more, huh?

Dani:

Oh, my God.

Speaker 2

Yeah, keep them coming.

Dani:

Oh, yeah. You know, what I don’t mind, and I know it gets a lot of criticism, is people on their phone in between sets. I mean, like, playing with their phone in between sets.

Speaker 2

Well, also, you’re recording your sets or whatever, right.

Dani:

And when you say recording, you mean, like, typing in what you did, correct. Right.

Speaker 2

Journaling.

Dani:

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Your workout.

Dani:

Yeah. But I mean, also, if you’re sitting on a piece of equipment and you have, like, a one to two minute rest period in between, like, who cares what you do if you’re sticking to your rest times? Like, I don’t care what you’re doing.

Speaker 2

If you’re not, though, and you’re taking five minutes between every sex you’re diddling.

Dani:

Around, but that’s not necessarily because of your phone. Like, so I don’t know. It’s not the holding your phone that’s the problem. It’s you not just taking the rest time you need. That’s the problem. You

know what I mean?

Speaker 2

Okay. I don’t know.

Dani:

Giacomo didn’t show up with a list, so that’s why I have so many. I’m not trying to dominate the conversation here, but I know that I am staring. Don’t stare. Don’t stare at people in the gym. That’s weird and uncomfortable for everybody.

Speaker 2

Wouldn’t define staring.

Dani:

I’m staring, and I don’t know how. How else to define staring. Like, just staring at them.

Speaker 2

Like, not glancing at someone. Someone’s not in your peripheral. Like, just straight up just staring. Ogling them, either.

Dani:

Ugh. The ogling is awful. That’s almost in its own category by itself. Staring could almost just be like, zoning out on somebody. Ogling is something else. It’s like looking somebody up and down no matter where they are in the gym. That is like. That is disgusting and so uncomfortable. Ugh. I don’t even want to go there. That. Yeah, don’t do that.

Men. Women. Just don’t do it. I get it. You might see somebody there that you think is attractive. Maybe you’re actually currently looking for a partner, a boyfriend, or a girlfriend. Like, just don’t stare in the gym. I feel like, especially for women, this is super, super uncomfortable. And women dress differently now going to the gym than they did even ten years ago, but certainly, like, 20 years ago.

And it’s not a reason to stare at them. Like, a lot of people are like, well, why? Why is she dressed like that if she doesn’t want people to look like, bro, it has nothing to do with you. Just. Just don’t do it. Like, I don’t know. But staring at people can be for other reasons. You can be staring at somebody because you’re really impressed with what they’re lifting. I still don’t even like that.

Speaker 2

I don’t know. I feel I have mixed feelings here. Because sometimes you’re inspired by somebody. Sometimes you’re trying to learn form by watching someone else’s form. Sometimes you’re someone is. Again, you’re, like, in between sets, like you said earlier. Like, you’re just facing right.

Dani:

You have to look somewhere.

Speaker 2

Zoning out or whatever.

Dani:

You have to look somewhere.

Speaker 2

You don’t trip over your own 2ft because you’re afraid of, like, opening your eyes either.

Dani:

But I get looking at somebody because you’re impressed with them. At least have the courtesy to use the mirror matrix where you’re not staring directly at them by looking at them. But maybe you can see what they’re doing in the mirrors. But remember, if you can see somebody in the mirror, they can also see you seeing them in the mirror. I think people forget that. I don’t know.

Just a lot of people don’t go to the gym because they are afraid of being looked at, of being stared at. And nobody likes to be stared at to the best of my knowledge. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I would say, don’t do that. Respect the headphones. If you see somebody with headphones on and they are not directly making eye contact with you, don’t try to pull.

Speaker 2

Them out of whatever it is they’re listening to.

Dani:

They don’t want to talk to you.

Speaker 2

More likely than not. Yeah.

Dani:

Yeah. I actually. I’ve always been a kind of don’t talk to me person at the gym, but also, I wear my glasses a lot, but it’s very uncomfortable to wear glasses at the gym. So sometimes I’ll take them off right before I go lift, and then I can’t see anybody. Like, I don’t know who’s who anymore.

I can see what I need to do right in front of me, but if it’s somebody I know walking by, I might not recognize them, which kind of makes me seem rude sometimes. But there’s a lot of people that’ll just come up to you mid set.

Speaker 2

Sometimes they’ll literally motion to you to take your headset off.

Dani:

Yeah. If you’ve ever motioned for somebody to take their headphones out, you are not my person. If you’ve ever motioned for somebody to.

Speaker 2

I think we need to change the title of this episode to don’t mess with Dani’s personal space.

Dani:

I mean, I don’t know what to say.

Speaker 2

It’s kind of a recurring theme going on here with some of these things.

Dani:

But I’m not unique in that way.

Speaker 2

No, but you, I mean, I might.

Dani:

Be especially introverted, but, like, I, like, 50% of people are, so.

Speaker 2

Yeah, but when you’re in a public space, there’s gotta be a little give, right?

Dani:

And there is. I’m there. I’m standing next to you doing something that is me compromising. Okay, don’t interrupt me in the middle of my set to ask me a question, or worse, correct my form.

Speaker 2

No, when was the last time that happened?

Dani:

Oh, ages ago. Like years ago. But I would say this goes for anybody, like, don’t correct someone’s form if they didn’t explicitly ask you for it.

Speaker 2

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dani:

There’s a lot of dudes that want to tell a lot of women how.

Speaker 2

They lift, how to move, how they.

Dani:

Could improve their lifts. And I have some key words for those guys that I will keep to myself because I have had men come up to me and try to correct my form, and they’re wrong. They’re categorically incorrect with what they’re saying. I remember doing a bicep curl. I was doing drag curls. If you don’t know what drag curls are, instead of curling up with your elbows tight to your side, you kind of drag the bar up towards your chest by bringing your elbows back.

So your elbow is still bending, but it’s moving back, if that gives you a visual. And I was doing them, and some guys like, oh, hey, really want to keep your elbows tight to your side while you’re doing those bicep curls. And I was like, they’re drag curls, but thank you, like, so much. But there’s somebody could be doing something that looks wrong and they have a perfectly valid reason for doing it.

Examples. Someone could be doing just the top half of a squat. Maybe they’re working on their top half of their squat. Maybe they struggle with the lockout at the top of a squat. That’s not wrong, that’s what they’re doing. Example that I’m currently doing. You’ve seen me do it. It’s really funny. I have had, like, golfer’s elbow forever now, and it’s mostly better, but I want to keep it that way. So one of the things I do is a preacher curl, but it is just the very bottom of a preacher

curl, so the very fully extended up, maybe, maybe six inches tops. And I’m doing it with a very lightweight and it is the silliest looking thing ever. I’m talking like five pounds or something, and I’m just like, e e just the very bottom of the lift. And I’m like this. I’m just waiting for somebody to come up to me and tell me how I’m doing it wrong, how wrong it is. But I’m just trying to strengthen that tendon. Where is the weakest? Just that part of the range.

Speaker 2

So.

Dani:

But even if somebody is just doing something wrong, not for a good reason, it is still not your place to go tell them. If they ask you, that’s different. But don’t be like, hey, can I give you a suggestion? I have never seen that end well.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Dani:

I look like I’m losing you here. No, I look like you’re falling asleep.

Speaker 2

No. I’m thinking about different ways of people, like lifting. And when you want to jump in and say something to them, but obviously you’re. You shouldn’t, because even if their lifts are cringe, even if they’re a little bit unsafe, it is kind of rude to mess with somebody in the middle of a lift. But sometimes, I don’t know, Dani, sometimes it’s really like, if someone’s lifting dangerously.

Dani:

Would you actually go up to somebody if they were lifting dangerously? I’m serious.

Speaker 2

I used to. I don’t anymore. I mean, way, way, way back in the day, I used to be all about that life.

Dani:

Maybe I would tell if somebody was really lifting dangerously. I would go tell one of the trainers that works there.

Speaker 2

Interesting.

Dani:

I understand. I’m a trainer, I’m a coach myself, but I’m not their trainer. I’m not their coach, and I don’t work there. It’s not my place.

Speaker 2

Right.

Dani:

So maybe I’d tell somebody that works there, like, hey, this person’s gonna hurt themselves. I don’t know.

Speaker 2

Fair enough.

Dani:

Yeah. I have quite a few more, but I will. Maybe we’ll wrap it up soon. I guess the last one I’ll say is like, wipe down your machines, wipe down your sweat, and wipe down the handles. People often will wipe down, like, the back of the chair or the seat where they were sitting, but they don’t wipe down the handles of things.

Speaker 2

You know what you’re making me think about now? All the attachments and how people just basically, well, one, they either leave them at the stations, and then you have such a collection of attachments at each station. So there’s a cable cross machine, and there’s literally like five attachments in front of each cable cross. One of which is attached to the machine.

Still nobody’s there. Then the other thing is where you put all attachments away. I would say more than 50% of the time, that area is completely chaos. And it doesn’t have to be, because there are actual places where things can be put away. And I see Jim’s trying to get smarter about those areas, and I see some Jim’s just giving up and not.

Dani:

Caring, just putting a milk crate there.

Speaker 2

And hoping for the best, whatever. But I do see a recurring theme of the actual attachments. People tend to leave those by the stations, not always. And again, I feel like we’re lucky with choice fitness. People seem to just respect the space, but I think they’re the exception to the rule.

I’ve seen other gyms like that, but I think the average gym, even the good ones, people won’t give a crap about the attachments, where they go or where they. Where they’re using them. Yeah, that’s kind of annoying.

Dani:

It’s super annoying, because whenever you’re trying to use a specific attachment, you basically just have to go on a hunt. Yeah, even at our gym, there are.

Speaker 2

Certain attachments now you have to go if someone else is using one of the cables, but they’re not using one of the four other attachments in front of them. Now you gotta go bother them in the middle of their set to grab it if you’re darting.

Dani:

Oh, are you using this? No. Let me just pull this out up from the floor in front of you.

Speaker 2

Or it’s like you’re looking at. Into, like, a dirty drawer and trying to find a messy draw and trying to find the thing. Cause everyone’s house has at least one messy drawer, right? I hope. If not, you’re.

Dani:

I hope you know you’re saying that word like a New Englander.

Speaker 2

Which one?

Dani:

Draw.

Speaker 2

How am I saying it?

Dani:

Draw. It’s drawer.

Speaker 2

The accent’s rubbing off on me. What could I say?

Dani:

Yeah, you just called it a draw, like, four times, which is how we would. That’s what we would call it here in.

Speaker 2

But it’s kind of like, you know how you have your mesh straw at home? Well, it shouldn’t be. It’s like that, but it’s like this is the main hub where everyone puts attachments away, and you have to look through all the attachments just to find what you’re looking for. That’s not cool.

Dani:

Yeah, but, yeah, handles. I was just saying, wipe down the handles. I don’t want to beat this one to death, because since COVID like, we get it. Wipe down your stuff. But people forget the handles, which is where most of your germs are.

Speaker 2

Plus, no one wants to be sitting on your sweat like your warm bacteria. Germy sweat.

Dani:

You know what is the grossest thing to me? And it happens just. It only happens after guys have used a machine.

Speaker 2

What’s that?

Dani:

Head sweat.

Speaker 2

Head sweat.

Dani:

Head sweat.

Speaker 2

Women don’t sweat from the head.

Dani:

I mean, if we do, our hair kind of covers it up.

Speaker 2

Oh, okay.

Dani:

They’ll sit up and head sweat. No, women. We have crotch angels, which is a whole thing. You know how you can make snow angels in the snow? It’s like that, but it’s when you stand up from the lat pull down machine. Wipe that down, too.

Speaker 2

Yeah. Probably a good idea.

Dani:

They are graphic sometimes. I think we should probably wrap this up here. Do you have anything else?

Speaker 2

No, I think we pretty much beat this one to death. And I’m sure there are more, but I think we got out some.

Dani:

Oh, there are more important ones. Those are the big ones.

Speaker 2

Thanks so much for tuning in to another episode of vegan proteins, muscles by Brussels radio. Please stay in touch with us at veganproteins and muscles by Brussels on all of the socials. Once again, my name is Giacomo.

Dani:

And I’m Dani, and we’ll talk to you soon.

Speaker 2

Me for granted again.