Hello, I have some questions about gym etiquette and supplies. I have been working out with some dumbbells at home, but I’m getting too strong for them. My apartment has a small gym, but it’s only for one person and there are a lot of people who want to use it.
- What do I need to bring, outside of a water bottle?
- How can I remain safe from covid?
- What do I do while I’m resting after a set? Do I just stay at the machine/bench until I start my next set, or do I move and let someone else use it?
- How do I protect my nipples during cardio? Do I go for a bandage or would sports clothing make more sense?
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Just re-rack your weights, don’t hog the equipment, and wipe it down after you use it. If you do that then you’re doing better than most people.
You can stay as long as you need to finish your set. If you feel like you need an excessively long rest, you can re-rack your weights, wipe it down, and come back to it later.
I actually set timers for my rest time so I can find the best time to keep intensity up and not hit the next set too early.
Do I just stay at the machine/bench until I start my next set, or do I move and let someone else use it?
If it’s not busy people are usually fine to wait. They might ask how many sets you have left. Give them an answer and they’ll probably be fine with it. If they’re not fine with it they might ask to “work in” meaning they’ll use the equipment while you’re resting and vice versa. It might not always be possible depending on what the equipment is and what you’re doing and what they want to do. If you are doing more sets of a different movement with the same equipment afterward (like say you’re hogging the power rack a bit) consider letting them do their sets and you go do something else for a while until they are done.
What do I need to bring, outside of a water bottle?
Appropriate footwear maybe. I always get nervous seeing people do squats in those ultra foamy hoka shoes.
Totally agree on the shoes. I know it’s super gym nerdy but running shoes like those are so fucking horrible for big static movements. I like walking/running in squishy shoes but big flat stable clown shoes are what you need in the gym.
I’m curious about this because I fall into this camp. My general purpose exercise shoes are a pair of Brooks running shoes, but I have high arches and running shoes are the most comfortable for me usually. I don’t have any issues having a firmly planted and squared up squat form in them as far as I’ve noticed. I’m heading to leg day now though and I can pay a bit more attention though.
I can see it being an issue if you’re using a pair of New Balance or Sketchers walking shoes with those massive blocky heels, but running shoes should be lightweight, have good support, and be as low impact on your form as possible, no?
Real running shoes are designed well for the purpose they serve. They provide support and stability for a dynamic movement on naturally uneven surfaces. Your foot flexes, rolls, pivots, and generally moves around a ton when you’re running, so running shoes need to be able to handle that. If they were rigid like hockey skates you would straight up die if you tried to run around anywhere. You also want to sort of minimize contact with the ground with running shoes. You don’t need to be able to dig in and generate as much force as possible so you can get rid of some of the contact points and make each stride a little bit easier.
With squats, deadlifts, and even Olympic lifts to a significant extent, there is no real dynamism in your feet. Their job is to be structural piers that fully support the load and allow the rest of your body to do the dynamic motion. Shoes that are meant to let you flex and wobble and bounce are working against that principle. Now you’re spending extra energy on maintaining balance rather than driving the maximum force you can produce directly into the ground.
Lifting shoes have a singular pad on the bottom and minimal tread to make as much frictional contact with the ground as possible, kind of like racing slicks. They’re usually pretty rigid and uncomfortable to walk around in but when you plant them on the ground they feel great. There are also lifting shoes that have a raised heel to let you sit deeper into a squat and they’re pretty sick.
Realistically, none of this matters for like 99% of people and I’ve never been serious enough for it to actually matter for me either but it doesn’t stop me from being a nerd about it.
Realistically, none of this matters for like 99% of people and I’ve never been serious enough for it to actually matter for me either but it doesn’t stop me from being a nerd about it.
I appreciate the write! It’s also something that probably won’t be an impactful thing for myself either, but it’s always good to keep these things in mind. Small adjustments can make a big difference sometimes. I’m more of an endurance athlete and distance runner and my system has mostly been that after 3-4 months when my main pair of trainers is a bit too worn I transition them to being general purpose low-impact athletic shoes until it’s time to fully retire them. Shoes are expensive!
I get that the flexibility on running shoes is definitely a detracting factor, but I guess in my mind that feels like a form issue rather than a shoe issue if that’s truly causing problems. That could be ignorance and I fully admit that I don’t lift super heavy though (like I’m not going over 1.5x bodyweight for anything generally and I’ve got a small physical build already).
I wear a 3M Aura respirator at the gym
Been going for the better part of a year, I can breathe fine doing a full hour of cardio
I don’t know how a gym for one person works, you might have your own micro-culture around it. You might benefit from your own towel. If they don’t have disinfecting wipes there you could bring your own to be better at keeping it clean.
When it comes to resting between sets, I’m a believer in sitting on the equipment you’re using. I value minimizing the cognitive load when I’m out in public. I like it when it’s simple to look over and realize the equipment is taken so I can do something else. If that can’t be done I’d ask how many sets or if I could work in (on a machine where switching weights is really easy). If I’m not sitting, I’d at least be in arms reach if it keeping myself limber, considering my form, or getting a good song going. I reminisce on… unsavory fitness forums where we’d talk about whether you can bring your DS for playing video games between sets, anime/manga, or having pompous literature.
Depends on the cardio and your needs, I suppose. There’s no right answer to it. I think of nipple tape when I think of really high mileage running. But if sportsware isn’t doing the trick then nipple tape would be the next step for me.
reminisce on… unsavory fitness forums where we’d talk about whether you can bring your DS for playing video games between sets, anime/manga, or having pompous literature.
how many days are in a week…
I don’t know how a gym for one person works, you might have your own micro-culture around it.
It’s one of those at home cable machine, some free weights, a single bench, and a few treadmills, so I’m over exaggerating a little while I say one person, but very few. I’m actually planning on going to a nearby, larger gym.
I use micropore tape to prevent nipple chaffing when running. 2 strips in an x pattern if you sweat heavily.
