(I wrote this a long time ago, but the other day seeing a bodybuilder sitting on the benches for 20 minutes wearing straps and staring at all the in use lat pulldown machines reminded me of this draft which I recall having initially wrote after offering the work in to a mean mugging bodybuilder chick. Enjoy.)
It baffles me how rare it is for people to work in with each other.
Whether it’s someone who’d rather stare at you and their wanted piece of equipment instead of speaking up, or the people who react hostilely and say no to the requests (do they own the gym?), the shit baffles me.
In reality you could fit at least a half dozen at any machine at the same time. Your rest periods generally allow for that many. Supersetting? They’re in and out while you’re at the other exerise. Even different attachments and settings are simple enough to work around.
Now squat racks can get tricky. Unrack height is a big deal. However I’ve worked in with some girl (actually 2 or 3 times, different chicks, multiple gyms) probably 4 inches shorter than me, one because I wanted to finish exercising and both racks were taken, and two I’m ok with low unrack heights. In fact I’m more comfortable with and used to the lower unracks.
Machines? I once waited about 5 minutes, saw the 2 only talking, asked to work in, NO, okay waited a few more minutes, one set in that time span, and during their next long rest period worked in. One didn’t give a shit, the other held a grudge for like 8 months and refused to do his last set with me around. The funny part is, my set easily fit into their rest periods see how 99% of the time the rest period allows for anyone wanting to to work in.
I’ll offer the work in, colloquially “just work in dude” when I catch the people mean mugging from a short distance when that machine (or all of that machine) is taken.
It will be a gym policy of mine and I’ll likely have it spray painted in giant letters on my gym walls “Just Work In”. I don’t care for the money enough to pander to shitheads and assholes.
I’d rather build either an uninviting ghetto gym or a place truly with a friendly atmosphere. The middle grounds of gyms are where the bullshit occurs. And true story: there’s nothing like your spotter making drug deals on his bluetooth as he spots you, occasionally baffling the other side of the line by yelling such things as “all you”. I’m dead serious about this too. I liked that gym. A dirty locker room, oddly stocked with tp, the floors sticky to the touch of your barefeet, a clientele that was (at least on the male end) 50% felons, plenty of weights and squat racks, terrible benches, and the cost $10 a month.
I’d trade most gyms for that one, though I’ve also lifted at better.
-J