Being a Good Citizen at the Gym
By Melissa Busse
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aaaa006 marks the 50th anniversary of the President's Council on Physical Fitness. I spent one marvelous year teaching elementary school physical education. Some time in the fall of that year, while eating dinner at a friend's house, he asked what we were up to in PE that week. After explaining the trials of accounting for 600 kids and their Presidential Physical Fitness Test scores, he shared this observation:
aaaa"I always wondered how the shuttle-run fit into the mission of national fitness and doing something for your country. I mean what were they thinking? 'OK, kids. Here's the scenario. A truck laden with chalkboard erasers has crashed on the border between the U.S. and Mexico. Your task, as an American, is to run back and forth retrieving as many of them as possible, thus securing trade and the marketplace. Your President needs you.'"

      
aaaaRegardless of whether your current exercise regime is for the nobler good of the country or for personal benefits, chances are it involves interacting with other people. Governments and laws are created to help communities interact with each other in a fair and equitable way. Gyms are no different. If we're all going to occupy the same space and progress in our fitness goals, we're going to have to play nicely with others. We must be good citizens of the gym community.
aaaaTo illustrate, I will vent a real-life experience of mine while at the gym. It demonstrates how NOT to win friends and influence people while working out. I will refrain from divulging the demographic of the party involved. I will just refer to him/her as "X".
aaaaOn a national holiday (doesn't this make the upcoming offense even worse?), I decided to spend the middle of the day at the gym at my apartment complex. After setting my keys down and refilling my water bottle, I turned the TV on to TLC and boarded the elliptical machine. Only four minutes later "X" entered the gym just
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in time for the program I was watching to end, and "A Baby Story" to begin. There was only one TV. I let "X" know the channel could be changed, because the show I was watching ended. "X" thanked me, suggested a compromise, and changed the channel to Sports Center. (Aside: If this is a compromise, what the heck was "X" really wanting to watch?) "X" then informed me he/she came to use the elliptical machine and wanted to know how much longer I had on it. I told "X" that I just started and had about 20 minutes remaining. "X" then sat on the floor and watched me for 20 minutes, seemingly oblivious to the myriad other machines surrounding us. I stoically continued through the next 20 minutes with ESPN in front of me and a spectator beside me. Great workout, eh?
aaaaHaving now seen what NOT to do, here are a couple of pointers that will make your gym, in whatever corner of the globe you happen to be, a better community:

1. Leave equipment clean. If sterilizers are provided, use them when you are finished with a piece of equipment. If you sweat, wipe it up. Heck, you could even tote your own small box of bleach wipes.

2. Bring only necessities with you and keep them in a safe but out-of-the-way location in the room. No one wants to have to leap over your giant gym bag and boom box to get to the stretching mat.

3. Put mobile equipment away when you're done with it.

4. Smile and greet others in the room. This doesn't obligate you to a lengthy conversation while you both huff and puff on the treadmill. However, it doesn't hurt every now and then to have a decent discussion with a new friend.

5. Particularly with cardio machines, if someone else is waiting, keep to a 30-minute max.

6. If there is a shared TV situation, communicate and compromise on programming.

7. Plan your workout before you get there, so you can move efficiently to different stations. However, be flexible and open to alternatives if one or more of them is in use.

8. Be aware of safety measures and mindful of how to contact medical attention if an emergency occurs.

aaaaIf everyone did these everyday, we'd have Gym Utopia in no time at all. If we applied the same principles to our everyday life, we might even help make our neighborhood, city, state and country just a little better than we found them. We'd truly be better citizens.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If are looking for ways to link your activity to a national cause, check out this website and program from the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. You can even earn patches and ribbons for your efforts, just like the good ol' days!