Little things make me shake my head..
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Little things make me shake my head..
| Sat, 03-19-2005 - 4:56pm |
I was at the gym and there was a lady there very clearly into her book. She was reading the thing while doing weights of all things. There she was holding it, reading while doing standing leg curls, then doing laying leg pressess. You could tell she was barely working it, and clearly more into her book. So then i say to myself, "why come to the gym?" I figure one of these days she will hurt herself or never see results because she is too busy reading and not focusing on the workout. I never understand these people. I could never read while doing weights or cardio. I am to busy pushing myself, breathing. I don't know maybe i'm getting irritated over nothing. I guess i just can't figure it out. These are the types of people who crowd machines because it takes them twice as long to do the sets. Anyhow, just ranting a bit, not sure why..but i feel better now.lol thanks for listening. Suzanne

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I agree, why bother at all? I'll read a magazine doing the elliptical, but it's only during my 20 minute warm up, and I love to read magazines, so it's fun. After the warmup I work way intensly to read. I wouldn't do that though if it were super busy and people were waiting though. Even during the warmup I am going pretty hard and sweating. Those that read and don't even sweat it's just a waste to me.
But weights? That's just odd. Half the enjoyment is just having some quite time to yourself to think!
What really surprises me is all these woman, usually about 40 years old or so, who hire trainers (my gym is pretty expensive, so it's not cheap!) and it's more of a chat session than anything. They are chatting away, and lifting hardly any weights. It looks fun, but don't you think you'd get frustrated not seeing results? They aren't even straining themselves. Just wipping a tiny weight around in the air.
If this is going to turn into a gym rat pet peeve thread, I've got some of my own to add. :)
Since I've been going to the gym on a much more regular basis, I've noticed a lot of things that make me go hmmm...(I have, btw, also seen a woman read while doing weights).
1. Girls that work out with their long hair flying loose all over the place. I don't know why this bothers me so, but it just feels like they're not really serious about their workout - kinda in line with the whole girls who wear makeup to the gym thing.
2. People that don't know how to run/walk on the elliptical. I've seen people bobbing up and down on the air and looking like they were on a trampoline, or people who do this weird jump thing, or people who hang on to the bars for dear life. Not really a pet
peeve but it does make me giggle.
3. Guys that make the most embarrassing grunting noises (kinda like bedroom sounds,
almost) while lifting weights.
4. Personal trainers (sorry if this offends any PT's here) that act like their clients
are better than the rest of us and so think that they have priority over any machines/
weights. One PT wouldn't let me use a machine because her client was going to use it
right after she was done with another machine - why can't their client wait like the
rest of us?
I tried reading on the elliptical once and got so motion-sick! So seeing all these women reading on the machines made me wonder about that too. Now i just listen to my iPod.
What you said about weights and underworking made me think. Now that my newness is wearing off at the gym and i am becoming more comfortable with the equipment, i am finding that it easy to "cheat" myself. This is especially easy in spinning class! The classes are packed, and i wonder how many of the participants are just going through the motions and taking it easy. My time is limited, so, if i cheat and slack off in spinning, i get frustrated at myself and feel like i wasted my time.
I am trying to find ways to force myself not to back down when the going gets tough.
fuchsia
i read on the elliptical and the treadmill when i'm walking. i don't slack off when i read on the treadmill, because it goes the speed i set it and i have to keep up, even if i'm reading. when i'm on the elliptical, though, i do go slower when i read than i'd otherwise go. that's ok, though, it's good to have workouts of varying intensities. it's not good to ALWAYS go full out in intensity. i do spinning, swimming, cardio kickboxing, running - those are all high intensity enough that
Walking is wonderful - actually my favorite exercise! The only reason i don't walk at the gym is that i walk *alot* in real life since i don't drive: i rely on public transportation and walk to and from work, 20-30 minutes per day. Yeah, i think there is something wrong with my proprioception or something that i get a sick tummy reading on the elliptical. I also can't read in the car or on the plane. Bleh.
fuchsia
I hate it when my hair flies around when I don't have a band-- I don't see how women do it regularly!
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