Odd things people do in health clubs/spas/gyms etc
Discussion
Although I like to do all cardio and resistance training using my own facilities, I recently joined the local spa to make use of the pool, sauna, steam room, etc.
It’s quite a nice establishment but here are a few observations from my three weeks of going there so far (it’s also a bit of a rant):
Pool users not showering before using the facilities. Often it’s potentially the worst offenders that engage in this practice i.e. extremely fat people. It’s f
king disgusting.
Massively fat women so ashamed of their bodies that they turn up at the pool in a swimsuit that covers their whole body apart from their face. FFS if you’re that bothered by your body image, fking do something about it (and that doesn’t mean just sitting in the Jacuzzi for two hours).
Moderately fat women so ashamed of their bodies that they turn up in a swim suit that isn’t actually a swim suit, it’s more like gym attire i.e. shorts and a vest.
Hot tub/Jacuzzi hoggers. By all means enjoy using the shared facilities but spending half an hour in the Jacuzzi is fking ridiculous. GTFO!
Guys shaving their nuts in the shower and then leaving all the hair in a clump on the floor. WTF.
People who can’t visually identify the difference between a sauna and a steam room.
Fat people hogging the sauna in the misguided belief that it’s going to really help them lose weight.
Guys turning up at the pool wearing only a pair of boxer briefs i.e. their underwear. FFS, I hope they’re clean! Surely a proper pair of swim shorts isn’t that pricey?
Other users of the facilities such as the pool trying to compete with you. E.g. I like to swim the entire length of the pool without coming up for air just for a bit of a challenge some times. A fellow swimmer spotted me doing this recently, tried to get in on the act too, couldn’t manage it and ended up just looking a bit of an idiot. Why bother?
Changing room loiterers. Not sure what these people are doing. They’ve got changed, they’ve done their hair etc and now they’re sort of hanging around the changing room for no apparent reason. GTFO!
Are there any other common behaviors such as these that I’ve missed?
It’s quite a nice establishment but here are a few observations from my three weeks of going there so far (it’s also a bit of a rant):
Pool users not showering before using the facilities. Often it’s potentially the worst offenders that engage in this practice i.e. extremely fat people. It’s f
king disgusting.Massively fat women so ashamed of their bodies that they turn up at the pool in a swimsuit that covers their whole body apart from their face. FFS if you’re that bothered by your body image, f
king do something about it (and that doesn’t mean just sitting in the Jacuzzi for two hours).Moderately fat women so ashamed of their bodies that they turn up in a swim suit that isn’t actually a swim suit, it’s more like gym attire i.e. shorts and a vest.
Hot tub/Jacuzzi hoggers. By all means enjoy using the shared facilities but spending half an hour in the Jacuzzi is f
king ridiculous. GTFO!Guys shaving their nuts in the shower and then leaving all the hair in a clump on the floor. WTF.
People who can’t visually identify the difference between a sauna and a steam room.
Fat people hogging the sauna in the misguided belief that it’s going to really help them lose weight.
Guys turning up at the pool wearing only a pair of boxer briefs i.e. their underwear. FFS, I hope they’re clean! Surely a proper pair of swim shorts isn’t that pricey?
Other users of the facilities such as the pool trying to compete with you. E.g. I like to swim the entire length of the pool without coming up for air just for a bit of a challenge some times. A fellow swimmer spotted me doing this recently, tried to get in on the act too, couldn’t manage it and ended up just looking a bit of an idiot. Why bother?
Changing room loiterers. Not sure what these people are doing. They’ve got changed, they’ve done their hair etc and now they’re sort of hanging around the changing room for no apparent reason. GTFO!
Are there any other common behaviors such as these that I’ve missed?
When I was at Uni I worked in a branch of a well known upmarket health club chain, and you would not believe the stuff that used to go on.
It was an absolute 'knocking shop' I believe would be the appropriate description.
The staff were at it with each other, the staff and the members were at it, the members were at it with each other. Affairs and sordid going on left right and centre. Quite incredible, but when you are a 21 year old male at Uni, probably the greatest thing ever.
It was like a £60 a month swingers club.
I was membership manager for the club and did duty manager shifts so I ended up dealing with all sorts of stuff.
One incident that sticks in my mind was the behaviour of a member whose name I still remember 10 years on, but won't repeat on a public forum.
He was a chap in his 50's who was quite a tall grey haired guy who had a 'joint gold' membership for him and his wife. They were both quite regular in the club probably 3 times a week or so. He used the gym and she did classes, and they both used the pool area.
The gym staff started getting complaints about him from other members, saying he was just standing staring at women on the equipment and then sometimes making an inappropriate remark to them.
I waited for him coming in one day at his usual time and had a quiet word and asked him to stop 'standing so close to women in the gym'. He looked a little embarrassed but said he wasn't sure what I meant... But I he knew.
Thought I had nipped that one in the bud, but oh no... this chap had bigger ideas.
He started hanging around the steam rooms and sauna, which both had clear glass doors that faced out onto the swimming pool and jacuzzi.
One day he waited until he was alone in the steam room but the pool area was busy, and in expert pervert fashion, he stood behind the steam room door, carefully wiped a patch of steam off the glass at crotch height, lowered his swimming trunks and stood there pressed against the glass.
Naturally the complaints flooded in from people quite amazed at what they had witnessed, but not before XXXX had already left the club for the evening.
I had had enough and wrote a letter to his home address telling him his membership was cancelled with immediate effect and he was banned from the club for life, for his 'behaviour'.
Unfortunately XXXX's wife opened the post, read the letter, asked him what it was all about, he then obviously claimed to her he didn't know anything about it, so she phoned the club and demanded to see the manager as she was angry at their 'gold' membership being cancelled for apparently no reason after all these years.
I informed the general manager, but he was such a wimp that he said I had to host the meeting and he would be present as an observer!
In they come the next day, I ask them into the office, his wife is angry about him being banned, he looks sheepish and says very little. She demands to know why we have banned him, so I just tell her. I tell her everything.
She says nothing but just starts crying and they both walk out in silence never to be seen again.
It was an absolute 'knocking shop' I believe would be the appropriate description.
The staff were at it with each other, the staff and the members were at it, the members were at it with each other. Affairs and sordid going on left right and centre. Quite incredible, but when you are a 21 year old male at Uni, probably the greatest thing ever.
It was like a £60 a month swingers club.
I was membership manager for the club and did duty manager shifts so I ended up dealing with all sorts of stuff.
One incident that sticks in my mind was the behaviour of a member whose name I still remember 10 years on, but won't repeat on a public forum.
He was a chap in his 50's who was quite a tall grey haired guy who had a 'joint gold' membership for him and his wife. They were both quite regular in the club probably 3 times a week or so. He used the gym and she did classes, and they both used the pool area.
The gym staff started getting complaints about him from other members, saying he was just standing staring at women on the equipment and then sometimes making an inappropriate remark to them.
I waited for him coming in one day at his usual time and had a quiet word and asked him to stop 'standing so close to women in the gym'. He looked a little embarrassed but said he wasn't sure what I meant... But I he knew.
Thought I had nipped that one in the bud, but oh no... this chap had bigger ideas.
He started hanging around the steam rooms and sauna, which both had clear glass doors that faced out onto the swimming pool and jacuzzi.
One day he waited until he was alone in the steam room but the pool area was busy, and in expert pervert fashion, he stood behind the steam room door, carefully wiped a patch of steam off the glass at crotch height, lowered his swimming trunks and stood there pressed against the glass.
Naturally the complaints flooded in from people quite amazed at what they had witnessed, but not before XXXX had already left the club for the evening.
I had had enough and wrote a letter to his home address telling him his membership was cancelled with immediate effect and he was banned from the club for life, for his 'behaviour'.
Unfortunately XXXX's wife opened the post, read the letter, asked him what it was all about, he then obviously claimed to her he didn't know anything about it, so she phoned the club and demanded to see the manager as she was angry at their 'gold' membership being cancelled for apparently no reason after all these years.
I informed the general manager, but he was such a wimp that he said I had to host the meeting and he would be present as an observer!
In they come the next day, I ask them into the office, his wife is angry about him being banned, he looks sheepish and says very little. She demands to know why we have banned him, so I just tell her. I tell her everything.
She says nothing but just starts crying and they both walk out in silence never to be seen again.
br d said:
There's a bloke I've seen a few times in the steam room who gets up and starts solo sparring in the middle, the full on "Oof oof" nonsense and dancing about.
Shadow boxers and people who throw weights down are the clear indicator that someone is a tt. There is a current bloke at my gym who manages to do both. He lifts girly weights too.
I feel like Dom from How Not To Live Your Life and start to imagine the 5 best ways to get rid of the t
t as soon as I see him.
ecs said:
Why? What if they live 5mins walk away from the place and would rather shower in the cleanliness of their own home?
I live 5 minutes walk from the gym and always shower before leaving. The hot water and soap is free, its cleaner in there (to my shame) and I am a horribly sweaty mess when I'm done working out, it's pure antisocial to leave in that state.I will however add to the list, people who dry in peculiar ways.. 'flossing..' and the most disturbing hairdryer usage imaginable.. do they actually do this s
t at home?!And not flushing. No excuse. Ever.
Edited by itannum990 on Monday 8th September 17:11
I love the grown men who both shower in their boxers and change underneath a towel; in case someone see's their willy!!
A friend who works at a gym was telling me about a guy who attended his gym who for some inexplicable reason put one of his fingers in between the plates of a wights machine and let the upper plates drop on it, he said his finger just disintegrated into a pile of blood and skin, he said the funiest thing about it was a few days later watching the CCTV of his skquimish (sp?) colleague rush to his aid and upon seeing what had happened do a complete about turn and rush off to be sick, they never found out why he put his finger there.
I hate the groups of late teen boys who hog a couple of machines, do crap weights and have an awful technique but spend the majority of their time chatting or on FB, drives me nuts.
A friend who works at a gym was telling me about a guy who attended his gym who for some inexplicable reason put one of his fingers in between the plates of a wights machine and let the upper plates drop on it, he said his finger just disintegrated into a pile of blood and skin, he said the funiest thing about it was a few days later watching the CCTV of his skquimish (sp?) colleague rush to his aid and upon seeing what had happened do a complete about turn and rush off to be sick, they never found out why he put his finger there.
I hate the groups of late teen boys who hog a couple of machines, do crap weights and have an awful technique but spend the majority of their time chatting or on FB, drives me nuts.
Perhaps not odd in the country in question but many years ago I went off on my first business trip to Germany.
Nice hotel with pool, sauna, etc. that I thought I make use of after a busy day of work. Swim was fine but then ventured into the unisex sauna only to realise that all the occupants were naked. To top it all they were staring at me like I was doing something odd by being in there in my swimming trunks and had also failed to put a towel on the seat which was another thing I hadn't realised was a must.
I sat quietly for a few minutes whilst looking at the floor then made my escape
Nice hotel with pool, sauna, etc. that I thought I make use of after a busy day of work. Swim was fine but then ventured into the unisex sauna only to realise that all the occupants were naked. To top it all they were staring at me like I was doing something odd by being in there in my swimming trunks and had also failed to put a towel on the seat which was another thing I hadn't realised was a must.
I sat quietly for a few minutes whilst looking at the floor then made my escape
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