Brighten Your Day With 12 Funny & Short Gym Stories
Sometimes we can learn from peoples ridiculous stories. Laugh, learn, etc. Without further ado, here are 12 comments I found on r/Fitness and what I think we can learn from them!
“They have started to let children into our gym and today a young boy aged around 12–13 used the chin/dip machine. He put his full weight onto the knee pad without holding himself up and just crashed to the floor; the sound was deafening. Luckily the only thing he hurt was his pride.”
Lesson: I would tell that kid “You were one cell phone video away from being viral. Safety is underrated in the gym — keep working hard.”
“Bc of the pandemic a bunch of kids in my area aren’t in school so the number of 12–15 y/o shitheads at the gym has skyrocketed, it’s driving me insane”
Lesson: We should be happy that more youth want to exercise. After all, weight lifting does seem super appealing to many teenagers. Just be friendly around them to remind them it’s a shared space. If they get out of hand, friendly communicate with the staff.
“Someone was planking in the squat rack. Planking.”
Lesson: I don’t actually think this is bad IF they are also using the squat rack for squats, deadlifts, good mornings, bench press, etc. If this is a shared space then it’s not appropriate to treat a squat rack like it’s a piece of cardio equiptment. Simply ask them how many sets they have left and they’ll probably realize they shouldn’t be there.
“Workout partner canceled. Gym is in their basement. Going for a walk :/”
Lesson: This would make for a funny sticker! Anyways, community is a really big part of peoples fitness journey. If I was the guy who cancelled I would let my friend workout in my basement anyways — it might even motivate me to join them at some point!
“Got covid. Didn’t go gym for 3 weeks. Went back and a guy older than me and way way more buffer than me, who I’ve never talked to really but spotted him once or twice asked me where I’ve been and made sure if everything was good. Marks for a good return”
Lesson:
“I go to the gym late in the In the night because it’s usually like 1 to 3 other people in the entire building. On occasion, there’s this old guy there who just does benchpress for several sets and he does a strange hype leading up to the lift. He’ll lap around the space and mutter under his mask and then start aggressively clapping his hands and screaming, then he’ll do a lift and repeat for an hour. Always interesting to see”
Lesson:
“Gyms are still open here, but saw a couple or friends (idk it was a guy and girl) put their bags down by 2 squat racks then proceeded to do a 20 minute warm up a few yards away on the track our gym has and meanwhile people are asking if they are on the racks and they say yes. If you aren’t ready to use a piece of equipment, dont “claim” it”
Lesson: In this event you should NOT let someone claim a squat rack if they’re not working in it. I would recommend saying “i’m going to do a couple sets in the squat rack while you’re gone. Let me know when you come back to it and i’ll get out of your way.” Should you get in peoples way at the gym? Not if you can help it. HOWEVER, you have just as much of a right to the equipment as any other member.
“I don’t have a squat rack. I work out outside and it’s pretty cold these days. I dropped the bar when I was done and the combination of the ground being frozen solid and the metal being cold made the bar snap. I am so bummed because I live rurally and it’s hard to find gear without having to drive hours to go get it. It seems to be some kind of cheesy cast metal with a chrome finish so I’ll try to weld it back together but I’m not sure I want to trust being under that thing anymore.”
Lesson: Don’t workout outside when it’s so cold! There are plenty of other places to train; gym, yoga studio, bedroom, living room, etc. outside can be great IF the weather is good. If you’re going to train outside during the cold, do something like running so you don’t ruin equiptment.
“Been half assing working out for years but I finally have been consistent for more than a few months. Feels like I cracked the code.
Literally all im doing is taking more protein, working out 5 times a week consistently, and focusing on form. Also finally doing leg day every single week.
“I’m in a mental state that makes this feel so easy and I’m getting so much results. Kicking myself for not putting in more effort in the past.”
Lesson: It doesn’t matter how good of a workout program you follow if the effort is poor. The saying ‘you get out what you put in’ is no exception when it comes to training.
“Some guy in my gym kept spotting me in the squat while I was squatting submaximal loads and kept “helping” the weights up. I told him to stop spotting me but since he was a foreigner and couldn’t understand me very well he nodded and spotted me even harder. So being the tough guy that I am, I now work out in the evening since he works out in the morning.”
Lesson: This one was the funniest to me. All you can do in this scenario is do your best to communicate with them. If that fails — mention it to the staff. Not as a way to try and get them in trouble, but one of the staff might be bilingual that would solve this hilarious miscommunication.
“Got props from some big guy at my gym after I hit some heavy deadlifts this morning , felt pretty good to get a compliment as I’ve been struggling with getting back into the gym after becoming a dad!”
Lesson: You never know what other people are really going through. Complimenting someone can take a few seconds, but the right compliment sticks with people for longer than you realize! Be positive my friends.
“Gyms here in England re opened recently after a month, was doing a push session on the first day and was on the bench press, had some guy come over and ask to jump in, I hate when people ask, but don’t like saying no, came across as quite cocky and arrogant at first, after a few sets he began to offer to spot me and was asking me what my max bench was etc before lockdown, he ended up pushing me for a new PR simply by saying “I’m here for you bro if you begin to plateau”, just shows you should never judge a book by its cover.”
Lesson: I was going to say the same thing at the end about judging a book by its cover. So instead i’ll say use this story as motivation for you to support/help out people at the gym that you see. Don’t be pushy — be helpful!
Which was your favourite?Let me know in the comments!