I told a guy no on working in

[johntf]

An older, more muscular guy approached me yesterday to ask how many sets I have left. I responded 4 since I had 1 more of one way and then I would switch the angle of the machine for the other 3. He asked to work in and I said I was doing less than 1 minute breaks between sets and honestly in my mind I was thinking I just wasn’t comfortable sharing with him. He proceeded to get mad, state that I was literally just sitting on the machine instead of actually using it and then left the gym completely. I was a little scared that I would find him waiting in the parking lot to yell at me or something. I feel like I was an asshole for telling him no to working in but I was on the machine for only 10 minutes in total and probably about 5 more after he got mad at me.

Edit: I used it for less than 10 minutes in the entirety, including the like minute interaction of this man getting upset with me.

 

[spart0n]

@johntf It’s polite to allow people to work in, but sometimes not practical.

 

[2304ld]

@spart0n I’m a bodybuilder and when I work out aim TRAINING. I take 30 seconds between Super sets, so my sets are doubled.

When I’ve worked out with my husband I lose my pump, get frustrated and move to a free machine.

I’ve only ever had to say no to someone one time and boooyyyy were they pissed!

 

[mountainpine]

@johntf I said No once but I was super setting and there were 3 other cable machines with rope attachments available. In my mind there was no need to work in if there were other open options. If there weren’t any available options, I totally would have.

 

[ashmarie]

@johntf I’ve been in the gym regularly for 22 years. Since I was 13 and signed up for my little towns YMCA, and lived and worked all over the country. From company fitness centers to hotel fitness centers and regular weightlifting gyms, I use them all.

I have never, in 22 years, in any kind of gym packed or not, never seen someone work in.

It’s not a thing outside of Reddit. Normal people who need to use a piece of equip just hang back and wait.

 

[lakshmiraman]

@ashmarie What? I don't agree with this assessment at all. It's not happening on every piece of equipment and every set, but it is a regular and normal occurrence.

 

[deepcoder]

@ashmarie Uh I work in all the time. Let people — men and women — work in when asked. From the YMCA to an iron head gym, working in is a thing.

It’s generally considered polite to let someone work in. There are rare exceptions, like in this case. He should’ve been fine with her answer in general Jim protocol. I think he was just having a bad day.

But yeah, working in is totally a thing

 

[luigi289]

@ashmarie People at my gym work in all the time. Seems weird that you haven't seen it.

 

[dawn16]

@ashmarie I used to go to a very small gym where equipment was very limited and a lot of it had more than one function. Working in wasn’t totally uncommon if you’re taking at least 2 minute breaks

 

[wamiti]

@ashmarie I used to lift 6-7 days a week and I had people working in a lot. I also live in a crowded metro area with not enough gyms to service everyone so chances are our gyms are more packed (ie overenrolled) than a lot of areas. I personally don’t mind for certain things like machines as long as they are respectful of not taking forever with their sets. On things like bench, squat, leg press or anything that requires plates and rearranging of plates, I definitely find it annoying and would also say no. Even for machines, if I’m almost done I’ll ask them to wait out my 2 sets.

All that being said, I’ve never asked to work in with anyone but my husband. I find it ruins my workout rhythm and is ineffective in my workout and don’t want to inconvenience others.

 

[wpjo]

@ashmarie I've been going for two years, and I've had someone work in once. He was doing 20 minute circcles of supersets, I guess he was using the machine I hoped on before me but it had been 15 minutes since.

 

[ashmarie]

@wpjo I mean this working in stuff is fiction that Reddit made people think is normal I think.

 

[spart0n]

@ashmarie Just because you’ve never experienced it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. My Crunch even has signs on popular equipment encouraging people to allow others to work in. It’s polite to do so.

 

[gnomes]

@johntf New to the gym myself--I had let someone work in with me last week foe the first time. He said he only wanted to 1 set. I said sure. He leaves with his sweat all over the chair. I thought to myself never again.

He was very polite otherwise, tbf.

It sounds like the guy in ur story had a time crunch and needed to be on the machine ur using and may have been waiting a while. It's not your fault. But it explains why he was so pissy. Again, not your fault.

 

[scarletrozes]

@johntf Working in rarely makes sense. It works for pull up bars and occasionally machines if you’re going to be extremely long. It’s tough with a weighted bar exercise because it’s unlikely that you’ll need the same amount of plates. He should have just done something else or waited. I wait for things and rearrange the order of my exercises all of the time because it’s easier than working in.

 

[jolyn]

@johntf Some gyms have rules about letting people in. If it’s a very popular machine like leg extension, and uses a pin and not plate loading then yes the polite thing would be to just let people work in. Unless he was leering at you or doing something super weird, the right thing would have been to share (like kindergarten). He shouldn’t have thrown a hissy fit I guess,( also like kindergarten ), but I’m not sure what the culture of your gym is. At mine you would have been told off very fast by several people, at bougie gyms not so much. Guys work in with each other all the time.

 

[snorthrup1]

@jolyn Lol nah she doesn’t owe him anything. He asked & she answered he needs to learn how to hear the word no.

 

[jolyn]

@snorthrup1 Did you miss the part where I explained that some gyms have rules about letting people work in? It’s not that hard to share. Reddit loves the “you don’t owe anyone anything “ I don’t get it. Sharing is a thing and different gyms with different cultures is also a thing. Just because you don’t “have to” doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Yes working in is a bit awkward but it’s also just doing something nice for someone else and sometimes it’s nice not to have to wait “about less than 10 minutes” to do your last set so you can go home. OP didn’t explain what made her uncomfortable. If it was “hey sweet cheeks mind if I work in” then yeah tell him to fuck off. But that’s not clear here.

 

[micha]

@johntf It’s one thing if someone’s casually on their phone for 3 mins in between each set. When that’s the case I expect them to let me work in. If someone is clearly hustling I’ll wait. Yes, that’s gatekeeping I know.

Most gyms I’ve been to will say it’s expected to let people work in and share equipment.

 

[inez1]

@johntf Why are so many men in this women’s workout subreddit chiming in just to scold this woman about this? Pretty gross to come to this women’s space just to get bossed around by these guys. It never fucking ends with this shit.