This is a personal bug bear of mine, as I hear almost all of my clients moaning about ‘that guy (or girl)’ in the gym that is a complete tosser. If you don’t know who I am talking about, I have some bad news for you. You are that person!

The gym should be a friendly community of like minded individuals looking to better themselves. We are all working hard and have very similar goals, can we all just get along and be friends? Before we all starting hugging each other and bursting into song, I want to share a few tips to make sure you are not being a gym dickhead.

Get off your phone!

You go to the gym to train your muscles, get fitter, stronger and healthier. Sitting on the bench for 7 minutes between each set crunched over your phone isn’t helping that goal. I appreciate the need for music, but just change a song and then crack on.

Short, sharp, effective workouts are not only going to get you stronger but they will also get you fitter. Unless you are a professional powerlifter or strongman, there isn’t a need for a rest of more than 3 minutes. Stop scrolling through your social media hoping something good is going to happen.

The gym is a place for you to switch off, unwind and get rid of your daily worries. This is unlikely to happen with your phone 6 inches from your face whilst sat on a bench I need to use. Get in the gym, lift some weights/do some cardio and then leave.

Nobody wants to see your nipples

I am going to sound like my Dad here, but you should not be going out of the house like that! You don’t need to be training with you nipples hanging out or your leggings pulled up so high I can see what you had for breakfast. Even if you think you look the bee’s knees, you are making people feel uncomfortable.

I know the models in the latest Gymshark advert are training half naked, it doesn’t mean you have to. I am all for body confidence and being comfortable in our skin, but we don’t need to be training with a vest so large you may as well not be wearing one.

Clean the bench you sweaty mess

We all sweat and that is one of the main reasons we go to the gym. My job is to make peoples armpits wet in exchange for money. But please just clean up after yourself. There is always equipment provided if you have not brought your own, and it is common curtsey.

Nobody wants to lay down on a warm sticky bench if there is a perfect outline of your sweaty ballbag on it. We all just want to train in a nice clean friendly environment without sharing bodily fluids.

Respect the kit, it’s bloody expensive!

If you feel the need to throw the weights on the floor or the ‘modify’ the kit in any way, I have a newsflash for you. You are a dick! Gym kit is very very expensive and is not easily replaceable. Your £29.99 membership fee each month is not going to cover replacing the dumbbells every month, as that is going to cost thousands.

Until I set up my own gym, I had no idea how expensive gym kit is. Now I treat it like a delicate little flower just in case I have to take out a second mortgage to replace it. The better you can treat the kit, the longer it lasts and the happier everyone will be. You are not the only one paying to use it.

If you are lifting a very heavy weight or you think there may be a potential to drop the weights, either get a spotter or put some mats down. Smashing to weights on the floor and shouting “light weight baby!” is not an alternative.

You pay the same as everybody else, start acting like it

If you want to train on 8 pieces of equipment at once, buy a gym or train at a time where you are the only person in the gym. There is nothing more frustrating than going to use a piece of kit and find the contents of someone’s bag scattered over nearly all the kit. You cannot ‘hold’ the kit for your superset, drop set, giant set circuit extravaganza.

We are all paying to same to use this equipment, placing a protein shake on a bench 30 meters away form where you are working, doesn’t mean you are the only person that can use it.  Be courteous and jump in between each other’s sets. Who knows, you may even get along and start training together.

After that little rant I feel like I have a weight lifted off my shoulders…

…and breath.

I’m hoping you can use these tips to make the gym an enjoyable experience for everyone. Most of us have very similar goals, so it should be nice to share your time to help motivate and encourage each other.

If you struggle with your local gym dickhead, don’t worry, I have a solution. I have a purpose built personal training studio that is designed to provide you one on one, high quality instruction. You don’t need to train with Sweaty Steve or Nipples out Nigel, you can train in a comfortable space without the need to see anyone (expect my smiley face of course). Click here to fill out some details and I be in touch to have a chat.