Top 10 People You Will Find In Every Gym
By: Brian Kim - September 3, 2006
All right. Time for a little variety on this long weekend. The following article will NOT make sense if you haven’t had the experience of habitually going to the gym to workout.
For those of you who do go, I can bet you’ve probably met a majority of these people. This list stemmed from my experiences and observations while attending various gyms throughout the past couple of years. On to the top 10 people you will find in every gym.
1. Mysterious Dumbell Litterer - this is the guy who seems to take pleasure in leaving all the dumbells he has used lying across the floor. You never know who he is because the gym is always littered with dumbells when you walk in.
2. Strong Old Guy - this is the guy who seems pretty harmless, until you see him load up the weights and proceed to bench 3 times your max. My hat goes off to you!
3. Mr. Advice - often seen lecturing newcomers on the importance of proper lifting and nutrition. (Yes, it can get a little annoying, but his heart is in the right place.)
4. The Vulture - this is the guy who’s too afraid to ask if he can lift between your sets, so he just kind of circles around you, eyeing you the whole time till you finish.
5. Chest n Bicep Teenagers - often seen only benching and curling. Apparently oblivious to the muscles of their lower body.
6. Aquaman - this guy owns the water fountain at the gym. Often seeng running to and from the fountain between sets, taking small sips in order to keep hydrated (ok, that’s me actually 
)
7. Social Butterfly - this person seems to only go to the gym to socialize. Often seen catching up with other gym members, but never seen actually picking up a weight. Ever.
8. Ab Obsessed Guy - often seen doing hundreds of crunches, sit ups, weighted crunches, and reverse sit ups, so he can lift up his shirt and gaze lovingly at his abs through the mirror between sets.
9. The Screamer - this person derives his strength from screaming at the top of his lungs for each and every rep, particularly the last one (it’s true, studies have shown people can achieve greater strength by projecting vocally)
10. The ”I’m Stronger Than You” Guy - always wants to prove that he can lift more than you by swooping in after you finish a set to load twice as much weight, only to find that he can’t push one rep.
+1: Sweatasaurus - I know some people have conditions where they sweat excessively, but sweatasaurus is unreal. He’s sweating like crazy before he even picks up the weights. What’s worse, he doesn’t even have the courtesy to towel off the benches after lifting.
Care to share your list?
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September 3rd, 2006 at
Great observations, Brian! Especially about the dumbbell litterer, the vulture, and the “I’m stronger than you” guys
September 3rd, 2006 at
i think most of us evole through the list at diffrent stages of our lives,
if i can make it to old strong guy, i’m happy!
September 3rd, 2006 at
Gleb,
They have those people in Ireland too?
Ming,
I hear you. Those old strong guys are very impressive!
September 3rd, 2006 at
Here is one that I think we will see more and more of…
The Bluetooth guy - keeps his bluetooth headset on while he works out so he can talk to his friend or significant other. Sometimes he’ll ask them to ‘hold on’ while he does a set, but other times he’ll just do his set while talking.
September 3rd, 2006 at
Frank,
Good thinking! Bluetooth guy is the upgrade to Cell Phone Guy, often seen displaying some of the same characteristics.
September 4th, 2006 at
OK…I admit it…I’m a Chest n Bicep Teenager (well…20 year old) What’s so special about the lower body anyway
September 4th, 2006 at
You’re missing out on a nice session of squats!
September 12th, 2006 at
Don’t forget Fashionista:
Wears the latest workout clothes, has the hippest sneakers, an iPod nano on an armband and a wristband pulse monitor. Spends five minutes on the treadmill only to complain about an aching knee.
We have plenty of these, male and female, here in NYC.
September 12th, 2006 at
Those Fashionistas never cease to amaze.
September 25th, 2006 at
Flamingo? That says it all right there.
We used to call it “riding the chicken”. Seriously, you need to work all the muscles surrounding a joint, or that joint will become destabilized. Look at how a powerlifter (bench, squat, deadlift) holds his hands at rest, rotated with the palms towards the rear (or worse). That’s muscle imbalance in the shoulder, an already unstable joint.
October 2nd, 2007 at
One that I think deserves honourable mention is the “Check out how much I’m lifting” guy, who drops his dumbells/weight stack with a loud clank at the end of the last rep so that everyone around him is aware just how heavy it was.
December 19th, 2007 at
I think I fall into the category of Chest n Bicep Teenagers, I have now seen the light… I’m gonna go do some squats.
December 20th, 2007 at
Swig,
Great addition. I know exactly the type of people you’re talking about.
Anthony,
I’m glad you’ve seen the light. You’ll hate doing squats in the beginning, but you’ll slowly learn to love them