My first gym rant: Am I an asshole?

[gordiano]

Just a preface before I blast off.  I'm a pretty quiet person, especially in public, especially in the gym.  I've been going to my current gym for about 4 years now and I've had a total of about 3 conversations in that time.  My wife goes there and I barely even talk to her when we are there at the same time (generally a butt pat and a smooch on my way out of the door).  In over 12 years of working out at different types of gyms (dungeons to 24 hour fitness centers), I think I've had two unpleasant encounters as I've had today.

Today is leg day.  As I get to the gym, I see one of the two leg presses has 6 plates on each side.  Is someone using these or were the weights left?  I decide to wait.  This gym is really big but there are not enough 45's in the general area were the leg presses are for two machines to be loaded up.

5 minutes goes by.  Nothing.  No one else in the gym is working legs today (big shock right?).

I do a warm up set with 4 plates a side, so I need to take two off of each. 


I do the set.


As I'm getting up, this guy starts putting the other two plates back on the side.  I've seen him before many times.  Decent build, goatee, bad tattoos on his arms.  I figure he was using the machine (taking long breaks or something, who knows).  He seems to keep to himself, much like me, so I load up the other two 45's for him on my side of the leg press. 


He does his set.  He then moves on to doing incline bench.  I guess he is doing some weird ass milos 8 exercise set or something.

I do my next set with the same weight he had on.  After 3 minutes or so he comes back does his next set and moves on.  I assume this is acceptable gym behavior as I've worked in with people many times before.  My next set has two more 45's on each side than the weight he is apparently using.  As I am just finishing my set and getting up I can see he is starting to load the other leg press.  As I said, there's not a lot of 45's in the area so he's walking a decent distance to get a 45.

He's saying something to me now.  I have noise cancelling head phones so I can't hear shit.  I take them out. 

"What was that?", I say.

"Thanks for taking my machine; I guess there's something wrong with this one", he says (or words to that effect)

"Hey, bro.  I waited for five minutes I didn't realize you were using it.  Once you did, I figured we were gonna just work on it together."

"yeah, thanks a lot.", he says and continues to mutter under his breath.  I can't remember exactly what.

I'm incredulous. "You don't have to act like an asshole about it.", I tell him.

"What did you call me?" The guy takes a step towards me with a 45 in his hand (he's still loading up the other machine.  Ironically, I'm done with the leg press and unloading the machine down to the weight he was using).

I repeat and take a step towards him as well, We're nose to nose now.

"You don't have to act like an ASSHOLE...If you didn't want me to work in with you then you should have said so after my first set. I apologize if I bothered your workout, but you were gone for an awfully long time..."

I'm not sure if the word "apologize" disarmed him or not, but he turns away from me, "ok, next time I'll but a nametag on it" (not sure what a name tag on a leg press would say.  Maybe, "hello my name is: leg press #1", but I digress)

"Ok, buddy", I sarcastically reply and proceed to unload every fucking 45 on the leg press, making sure he will have to load up that other one fully to do his epic circuit set.





So...who's the asshole here?  Was I wrong to do or say what I did?  I haven't been in a fight in over 9 years (18 or 19 years old), and I've been in enough to know I don't want to get in anymore.  Fights never go like they do in the movies.  There is rarely a "winner", usually both people get something they didn't want. But damn, this guy got my blood going...

Don't worry about it.....you're not the asshole. He is. If he's away doing god knows what for so long (to the point where you waited 5 minutes to see if someone was using the damn thing), he deserves to lose it. He's not the only person in the gym. These circuit trainer sons-of-bitches, are the most inconsiderate fucks out there. They just expect every member to cater to their mega-set workouts. 

[badlad]

Seriously...even if there was another leg press unused in the gym...who cares...you were in the right..you were gracious and when you realised he was using it you helped him put the wieghts on etc and take them off. All got to get along...you pay your membership to use all the equipment and all you have to be is repsectful of others and demand the same respect from them. If he has an attitude so be it...if he was having a bad day then that's his problem shouldn't be yours. I personally wouldn't have sworn at him but then again I've been in similar situations and like you I'm a pretty quiet guy who likes to get along with everyone but sometimes when you are too obliging people really take the piss. Had it happen to me the other day in the gym but as I'm getting old now I let it go...can't be bothered adding to shit where I train as my wife trains at my gym also. Lucky thing is I guess I'm a strapping 6 foot 4 inch 280 pounder so generally I can get away with a bit of 'what did you say?' and then I smile and generally it is just business as usual.

[badlad]

I should add that those 280 pounds are, before anyone flames me, around 25% fat so yeah, I'm a porky bastard and currently I can only bench about 160 pounds for 10 reps but then I have been only back at the gym for 1 month after three plus years completely off training but not off eating, drinking, smoking and debauchery...

[will938]

Maybe I'd just rather read my drivel than someone else's on this board for once...

Well said! perhaps the other guy didn't like the fact you were training heavier than him and had to remove weight in order that he may do his set

[wes]

A guy at my gym ties up 4-5 machines at one time then proceeds to talk between sets for 5-10 minutes...........I ALWAYs just take whatever machine or weight I need from him.

One time he said he was using a machine I took during one of his hour long chats.......I just looked at him and proceeded to train.

Fuck the deadwood in the gyms these days doing stupid shit that doesn`t even remotely resemble training!!!!!!!!!

Damn you Tank,now I`m ranting!! 

[oldtimer1]

I remember during my younger days at the gym that "working in" or sharing a machine was a given.  My wife workouts  at a former world gym called Oxygen.  It's 50% women or more and all of them have no concept of sharing a machine.  One girl was doing 5 to 6 sets of leg extensions. I asked if I could work in.  She said," No, you can use it when I'm finished."  I asked my wife about this and she said it appears to be the unwritten rule of the gym. People just monopolize machines by sitting on them for 20 minutes or walking around but leaving their towel on them to claim them. 

[DeketheCreep]

Where was Branch Warren when you needed him

[TechnoViking]

you guys are both assholes... you two should probably hang out together outside of the gym.

lol...