We have an ironic phrase in the gym for those times when we have to speak to someone about their gym etiquette.  Normally our philosophy is just to leave everyone alone, but occasionally someone will do something which not only impedes OUR workout, but everyone else's as well.  That's when my workout partner or I will "call them out" and give them a friendly reminder of why they might need to behave differently.  Of course, normally they are not really happy to hear this, so we call it "making friends in the gym."

Case in point, Monday of this week.  Monday is chest day, of course, for about 90% of gym goers.  Don't ask me why we all have to do chest on Monday, but we all do.  So when we arrived at the free weight area after our warmup, we looked at the four bench presses to find them all occupied.  But one of the benches was only occupied by a cell phone on the bench, and some keys on the ground.  This is a sort of gym shorthand for "holding the bench" and so we started looking around for the owner of this phone.  Nowhere in sight.

Next we started our discussion of whether or not to move the phone and use the bench, since the person "holding" the bench was missing.  We stood around haranguing about this for a while and then a friend motioned that he was done with his bench and we moved over there.  However, we kept our eye on the "placeholder bench" just to see who the loser was who was not following gym rules.

Don't get me wrong, it's acceptable to hold a bench for a few moments.  A water bottle on a bench can mean "i'll be right back," or a towel could mean "i'm getting a quick drink of water." or even "I'm getting a different pair of dumbbells."  But we expect this person to return shortly.

Long story short, the guy who had his phone on the bench turned out to be wandering the gym between sets, doing other exercises.  In the 45 minutes (that's FORTY FIVE) minutes that John and I did flat bench, incline bench, decline bench, AND flies, this loser had his phone on the bench the entire time and only did maybe 3 or 4 sets during this entire interval.

At the 50 minute mark I had had enough.  He was standing talking to a friend, nowhere near his bench, so I walked over to let him know that on Monday, when people are standing around waiting to use the bench, he was not right to hold the bench that entire time.

His lame excuse was that he was supersetting with other exercises, which I also think is not good gym etiquette either, but even then he should have been done within 15 minutes tops.  He ultimately admitted I was right, apologized, and left the gym.  

I don't  like to be confrontational in the gym, but this kind of behaviour is unacceptable.  We all have to work together in the gym, sharing benches and weighs so we can all get the workout in that we need.  So if you're one of those guys who feels he has the right to hold a bench indefinitely for his own personal convenience, take a look in the mirror and give this another thought.  And be careful, because my scowling face could be right behind you in that mirror, looking over your shoulder.