I told a guy no on working in
- Thread starter johntf
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- female fitness
bevinluvwithjesus
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@bevinluvwithjesus At my gym there's only one of each so if I can't use one there isn't another I can go to. I'm assuming that's the case.
bevinluvwithjesus
New member
@bevinluvwithjesus At my gym there is. Well it has two sides and a row bench thing. If he'd just seen someone start at the other side or they were actively using it maybe he preferred to ask OP who'd been on a while and was resting.
@seeker504 You’re so right. At my gym there’s two bench press, squat rack, etc. I’ve noticed every time someone has asked me ‘how many sets I have left’ (aka a polite ‘hurry up) they only ask me and not the man using the other one. It really pisses me off.
godrocks12
New member
@seeker504 Actually dudes work in all the time, especially in a small gym with limited equipment. If it can still be said that there still exists a “gym culture”, sharing limited equipment is a part of it. You’d be in the minority with that attitude in my gym.
@godrocks12 Anytime someone starts with “well, actually”, you know they’ve missed the point, or just want to insult you. Or maybe both. 
Men aren’t so condescending to other men that they try to take away a weight that another man is actively using, while arguing that it’s too heavy for him. Or suggest that two 10-lb dumbbells are just as good as the 20-lb one the first guy has and the second one wants.
A man would never walk up to another man using a machine he wants and insist that he stop and let him do his workout because he’s in a hurry and that the first man isn’t using it correctly. He’s welcome to stay and watch the guy use it correctly, though.
Things like that and worse have happened to me and other women, though!
But, hey, thanks for trying to dismiss my experience!
Men aren’t so condescending to other men that they try to take away a weight that another man is actively using, while arguing that it’s too heavy for him. Or suggest that two 10-lb dumbbells are just as good as the 20-lb one the first guy has and the second one wants.
A man would never walk up to another man using a machine he wants and insist that he stop and let him do his workout because he’s in a hurry and that the first man isn’t using it correctly. He’s welcome to stay and watch the guy use it correctly, though.
Things like that and worse have happened to me and other women, though!
But, hey, thanks for trying to dismiss my experience!
@seeker504 Working in is a normal thing to ask when the gym is busy, regardless of gender?
@shane19 It definitely is a normal thing to ask, but I have experienced men always asking me first. And if there are for example 3 benches all the same and I'm on one, they ask me how long I have left and I tell them. They don't ask the men, only me. This has happened a lot of times. It's very annoying and I don't quite understand why but it does happen.
@deangelo There are a lot of reasons. 1) Men think women will take less time because they can lift less. 2) They are less intimidated by us because we lower the weight rather than raise it. 3) A lot of women already feel not accepted in that space so they will quickly move over or leave 4) Women are less sweaty and less smelly than men. These are the reasons why women don’t like it when a man comes and want to work in. A woman approaching to work in might also be rejected but I bet they will have a higher chance of another woman saying yes.
margaretjankowski
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@margaretjankowski I guess I worded that badly. It was less than ten minutes including the time when he got mad at me and for all 6 sets I did.
baptistbiblebeliever
New member
@baptistbiblebeliever Eh, I disagree. 10-15m on a machine is good enough working time for 4-5 sets. If someone is in a hurry, then sure, I'll let them work in. But if I'm not wasting time on the machine, then I'm using it and that's that.
If a machine is taken and I can't work in/don't want to ask, I just use an alternative movement. It's not the end of the world if you change up your exercise for one session, especially if it's not SBD. It's usually more beneficial to have a few alternatives in the bag for any situation. New gym doesn't have your equipment? Change up.
I generally don't like people working in because I never know what kind of person I'll end up with and it well can fuck up my own routine.
If a machine is taken and I can't work in/don't want to ask, I just use an alternative movement. It's not the end of the world if you change up your exercise for one session, especially if it's not SBD. It's usually more beneficial to have a few alternatives in the bag for any situation. New gym doesn't have your equipment? Change up.
I generally don't like people working in because I never know what kind of person I'll end up with and it well can fuck up my own routine.
@txlenna Well I guess I'm particularly salty about it today because I went yesterday and the back to school rush meant there were basically no alternatives at all. The cable machine is always hogged by a group of teenage boys for ages anyway, and every single machine was in use, the free weight section was really busy and I'm not super confident with them anyway. I probably need to learn more but when I'm already in a rush and there's no space and half the weights are being used it's not the best time. I'll have to go at a quieter time and learn my way around better.
@baptistbiblebeliever I clarified. I was only on the machine for maybe 10 minutes including the time of this interaction.