Gym and Fitness Pet Peeves!

-by Mindy Irish

Sometimes it's fun to write about things we may never talk about.  Everyone wants to say something about it, but many of us don't.  Do you have a Gym or Fitness pet peeve?  I do agree there are many different ways to go about a certain task, but there are some glaring wrong ways as well. 


As I've gotten more serious about my progress and journey, I notice I get easily annoyed over little things sometimes.  Don't get mad at me for writing this, but I figured we've all been bothered by something or some one's actions at one point in our journey!  So let's have fun and put it out there!


The Phone!
There are so many apps out there that add functionality to our workouts such as mapping courses, music play lists, charts, and workouts.  I use my phone to hold my list for my ab workout, so you may see me peering down at it while working out on the stretching mats.

But how do you talk and workout at the same time?  Seeing people chatting away always floors me as they are on a machine!  If you can talk, can you work harder?  Maybe!  I feel your workout is your time to focus and let that call hit the voicemail!  Don't worry.  You can call them back!



The Gym Talker!
I'm social.  I love people and I love to talk, too!  But when I'm in a routine and my childcare clock's ticking, I've got to get this workout done!  I CAN'T save it for home because I'm often fooling myself to think that I can get it done at home with kids, dogs, computers, and phones interrupting the plan!

So when I see the gym talkers making their way around, I often cut it short OR even tell them to hang on while I finish my set.  I don't wear headphones right now, but may have to get to that point to get a more serious "I'm working, can't talk now" vibe thing going on!  In all seriousness, if you get off track, lose focus and get talking about whatever, you forget while you were there in the first place!  Work out first, talk second!



Put Your Equipment Away!
Being a woman in the free weight area is fun, actually!  I like to get my weights out, organized, bench set up, water bottle nearby, chart and pen....use it, and then put it back.  On to the next body part.  It's a trend for some of the "big" guys to leave their "big" plates on the machine.  Your Mama does not work here!  You pulled it out, you put it away!  I even called a guy out one time as I saw him leave his stack fully loaded.  He acted like he was going to put it away, but we know that without me saying something, it was staying right there.  C'mon people!  We don't want to take our time to put your weights away.  Again, clock's ticking!



Your Spot In Class!
In school we all got used to our favorite seats on the bus or in class or the lunch room.  As adults, if you stand back and watch a class fill up, people bolt for "their" spot!  How dare someone take my spot! Don't you see my name on that hardwood floor?  We wish, right?  In all reality we get comfortable with a certain part in the room close to or away from the mirror...or maybe the instructor!  BUT, in all reality, we really should be more flexible and challenge ourselves to move around the room, meet new people, and get used to doing class "in a different spot"!

I'm sure our list could go on and on!  The reality is that life will be FULL of mishaps, distractions, and derails from our plans.  Whatever it may be, the objective becomes our ability to tune it out, get focused, and stay the course.  The better we can do that, the better our journey and bodies (and mindset!) will be!  Carry on Fit People, carry on!