Keeping equipment occupied in the gym

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Reserving equipment in the gym by placing a towel on it. Acceptable or an unnecessary source of irritation?

Reserving equipment in the gym

I’m writing this article directly after one about aggression in the gym. In that one, I mainly ask why aggression seems to escalate so quickly in a gym. A question to which I could only guess possible answers. This article mainly focuses on a specific source of annoyance that can easily be prevented. In early 2014, I wrote an article about gym etiquette. A list of “do’s and don’ts” that, in my opinion, could prevent a lot of annoyances (and worse) in the gym. Number 1 “don’t” was unnecessarily occupying a piece of equipment. And not so much because you’re doing everything but training on that machine (that came later in the list). I meant occupying it while not even being near it. If you google “reserving equipment with a towel”, you’ll mainly find articles about people getting annoyed on vacation. Swimming pools surrounded by sun loungers with towels, but without bathers. That comparison had already been made in the article about gym etiquette. Let’s make sure the gym appears more frequently in search results from now on.

Clear house rules

I’m revisiting this point now because it remains a constant source of annoyance. Sometimes leading to heated discussions, other times escalating into an all-out fight with flying dumbbells. Occasionally ending in total confusion, like yesterday. My article about gym etiquette was, of course, quite pointless. In a gym, you encounter all layers of society. Including those who don’t care about social norms and others. When you let a group of people fill a space without significant supervision where they have to share equipment, it will eventually go wrong. “But that’s why we have house rules,” a gym owner might say at this point. Even the most laissez-faire gyms have house rules. For example, I picked the rules on the right from the website of the orange boxes with gym equipment.

What is “unnecessary”?

And yes, it’s really there. “It is not allowed to unnecessarily occupy machines”. That seems clear, but it’s not. What is “unnecessary”? Doing dumbbell exercises in the squat rack? And what is a normal rest period between two sets? Everyone will accept a minute or two. But what if you want to rest for ten minutes between sets? In practice, there probably won’t be much discussion about that. Unless you try to explain the theory of relativity to someone during that time. Or try to reach the next level of Candy Crush. However, what is definitely a recipe for annoyance is people doing supersets, giant sets, and the like. Performing different exercises in a sequence. This can result in one person occupying three different machines or spots. ‘Training-wise’ that can of course be explained much better than the explanation of the theory of relativity which, between set 2 and 3, has now expanded into the supersymmetry vs. multiverse discussion. Depending on the situation and perspective, occupying multiple machines can be unnecessary or a popular training method. Clarifying this can be useful.

“Occupying multiple machines is not allowed”

Personally, I have no problem if the above rule were to be added. I would gladly give up supersets and such combinations of exercises. Personally, I find those combos not worth the risk of irritation and its consequences. We all want to train in the limited time we have. So let’s especially prevent equipment from being occupied but not used. If you think differently, check out the pancake in blue in the video below. Pretending not to hear someone three times and then flipping out when your towel is removed. What a hero.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saXv15wJ6iQ

No rules without enforcement

But even with such clear rules, don’t expect the problem to be solved. Firstly, because nobody reads these rules. Rules without enforcement mean little. As the owner of your own gym, you’ll be inclined to enforce the rules you’ve set yourself. But what if you consider yourself a glorified cleaner under management that doesn’t give a damn about you or the visitors? For now, you’ll still have plenty of opportunity to laugh at such videos on YouTube, get annoyed by towels on lonely machines, or go nuts like an idiot on someone who removes your towel.