How to Deal with Crowded Gyms
Feb 28th, 2008 by Mehdi Tags: Strength Training, Weight Lifting
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Crowded Gyms. Image credit: Crossfit.
One of the best ways to avoid missing workouts is to go to the gym first thing after work. Leave for work with your gym bag. When your work day ends, eat your pre-workout nutrition and go straight to the gym.
Most work 9 to 5 and apply this trick. That’s why gyms are crowded between 5-7pm. So you end up losing time waiting for the Squat Rack to be free. Worse, you’re forced to drop exercises. Here’s how to deal with crowded gyms.
Make Them Hurry up. A lot of gym go-ers don’t have a plan. They spend more time resting between sets & looking around than working out. They’re wasting their time & yours.
“How many sets do you have left?” Euphemism for hurry up. The guy without a plan will answer: “1 or 2 more sets & I’m done”. Let him finish his workout, do some dynamic stretching, prepare your weights.
Workout in Between. But some will answer “4-5 sets left” or “just started”. You can’t wait that long. Answer: “I’ll do my sets in between as I’m short on time”. Be confident but friendly. They have to rest between sets anyway.
Even if it’s 2-3 guys doing different exercises than you. Say it. It’s good for your confidence. Make their life easier by (un)loading the barbell. Ignore remarks. As long as you get what you want, it doesn’t matter what they say.
Avoid Monday’s. “Monday is National Bench Day, Tuesday is National Bench Day Part II” - Guni, Forum member.
Monday & Tuesday are also the busiest days at the gym because of the feeling of guilt after a weekend eating junk food. If your schedule allows it, work out on We/Fr/Su or Tu/Th/Sa or Su/Tu/Th.
Use The Gym during Less Crowded Hours. You can leave towels, water bottles or alternate with your training partner. But people will complain if you do giant sets, using 4 pieces of equipment in a crowded gym.
Do those things when the gym is less crowded. Wake up earlier, workout in the afternoon or weekends. Gyms are calm between 5-6am, 1-3pm & 8-10pm.
Build a Home Gym. You’re motivated & have space? Build a home gym. No more driving to the gym & back, no more waiting, no more remarks. Best investment ever if you’re serious about your training.
I want to hear your tips on how to deal with crowded gyms. Share them in the comments below.
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Its simple, to beat the crowds you have to go at times when everyone else doesn’t want to go. So my workout is an early morning routine. Get to the gym as soon as it opens so I am always the first one on the squat rack. This routine forces me to go to bed at an earlier time, plus I have to eat a very light meal before my workout, like a banana and shake. Personally I think morning workouts are the best, I feel energized for the rest of the day and I’m free all evening with the family.
I like what Johnnyo had to say. I do the same get up and go 1st thing then the day has a better start. Everyone and their brother wants to go to the gym after work. It turns into more of a social hour then a workout. What takes most people hour and half or 2 hours takes me 45 mins when the gym is empty. Get in and get it done! Don’t spread this rumor to much or Johnnyo and I will find ourselves waiting for the racks in the morning as well.
P.S. Great job on this site. I read it daily or as often as you post.
Thanks and keep up the great work.
I invested in a Home gym. I didn’t want to have to deal with crowded gyms.
I think another tip would be to join a gym within a short walking distance of home. My gym is a 3 minute walk, so first off, my total time spent is small, and I can easily squeeze in workouts where I have time. Secondly, like this I can easily go home first, and wait for the rush hour to pass before I decide to go. And not to mention that if you only have time in the evenings to workout, leaving your home at 8pm to workout seems like a huge step when you have to travel a large distance to get to the gym. So with a gym so near by, its a mindless effort taking the short walk, and its certainly unforgiveable to miss a workout!
If you can’t avoid the gym, what I might consider would be flipping your workout schedule around. Although it might not be entirely true, I’m willing to bet that most people follow a workout program usually starting with chest workout on day 1, meaning the benches will mostly be crowded on the first 2 days of the week. Swapping your workout order might help you avoid this. I’m sure this varies per gym, and it surely won’t always be the case. But you can at least scope out what exercises are busy on which days, and if there is a trend workout around it.
The gym by my house is the only one in a very crowded area of sacramento. I usually hit the gym at 10 pm, not very crowded but there is still a good number of people in there. I usually cant fall asleep till 1 am afterwards though which is hard because I have to get up for work at 7am. But I have to make it happen in order to work out.
Ask to work in, and more importantly offer for them to work in. People will remember you and offer for you to work in when you need to. Its all about rapport.
If they are assholes, then just “hurry them up” as efficiently as possible.
Friendly gym all in all, only draw back is their “no chalk” policy!
Ask if you can work in. They will have to accept in order to save themselves the embarasment of refusing. If it is a person that is serious about their workouts they will be more than happy to comply with the request, because most likely they have been in the same situation before.
johnnyo has it right-go early, or late. I get to my gym by 5:30 AM, get in my workout, shower and shave, and get to my office by around 7 most mornings. It gets me up and out, I’ve got my workout done in case I get tied up later, it encourages healthy morning eating, and if I get carried away, I can fit in a cardio session later in the day. It also encourages me to go to bed earlier, so I don’t stay up at night messing around.
My gym has two power racks, and there’s usually not much competition for them in the morning.
It helps to scout out your gym at wildly different times. Don’t just assume it’s crowded some times and not others, go check it out. My gym is most crowded 6pm-7pm, but stays very crowded until closing at 11pm. In contrast, I am almost always the only person there at 10:30am.
I do the same as Scott — getting to the gym between 5:15 and 5:30. Its only 3 days a week, and I’m in/out of the gym as fast as I can get my workout done. Plus, no one else is asking me how many sets I have left or if they can work in between my sets.
My tip is to be a gym regular. When I first started a year ago I didn’t know what I was doing, nobody else knew me, and I didn’t have any ‘cred’. But now that I have my plan, I see what the other guys are doing and we all kind of know where we’re going next. I’m not the new guy anymore and that helps. I used to see 3-4 cars parked out front and just say “screw it” and come back later. But 5:30pm is my gym time, that’s when I go, crowded or not. But really, on the 5×5 it’s been more simple anyway. I need the squat rack and the bench press, two pieces of equipment, and there’s not many of them that use the rack anyway. I don’t have to wait for the right dumbells, or someone on the cables or smith machine.
I have the hability to go at 10:30 am, there is not many people and the area where the bench, squat rack and plates are is almost always empty (people here are more into treadmills, rowing, etc.).
I’d recommend others to try go to gym at lunch time, that might give them the chance of having the gym empty.
Good liftings averyone!
Thankfully my gym is close to my office. In addition, my job is very accommodating about my workout sessions. As long as I put my time in and get my work and projects out, no one has ever said a thing.
I usually go around 2:30 - 3:00 and can get in a good workout. Plus I stay a little later and leave at 6:00. I miss the traffic going home and only get home 15 minutes later than if I had left at 5:00. Saves gas and frustration.
I goto my university gym as early in the morning as possible - normally as soon as it opens. Most times its relatively quiet but it does seem on a Monday that there are more people and now I realise its a weekend guilt-workout!
My gym only has one power rack and the other day there was a guy “using” it for supersets - in actuality only for dismounting the BB for lunges followed deadlifts and then (sometimes) some dumbbell shoulder presses - I guess I should of had more backbone and reminded him politely that its a public gym hence using 2 barbells (out of three available) and the power rack isn’t really being very thoughtful of others. Instead I just waited half an hour…
I definitely agree about what the article says about Mondays, forget it! I train Tue/Thu/Sat and typically go around 8-9:00 AM on Tuesdays and Thursdays since I’m off from work those days, and usually go after work around 3:00 PM on Saturdays.
Luckily most people are getting ready to go out and party on Saturdays so I don’t have much of a problem there
After reading this article though I’m considering the idea of investing in a home gym and maybe waking up early on Saturdays now…
I actually make an effort to go when it is crowded. That is when the big guys are there and they are good for a chat to get tips, hints and a spotting partner.
RT from RMO
Find a gym full of guys that just do bicep curls, and girls that just run on the treadmills, that way you wont have to compete with anyone else for time in the cage.
The constant comments on squats being bad for your knees and deadlifts bad for your back will only serve as motivation.
I concur with Rugger. Even when the gym is crowded 90% are standing around starring into the mirrors or talking @ the water cooler.
Most guys who use the rack or platform are willing to share the space.
I give credit to anybody who squats or power cleans over cable cross overs.
Great website/ emails. Along with Starting Strength you can’t go wrong if you follow the basic concepts.
I started going to the gym at 5AM and 6AM on most days.
I went to the gym at peak hours, around 5-6PM and it was a mad house. I definitely do not want to deal with waiting for the machines.
However, there are down sides to early in the morning. There are many elderly people that come out early in the morning. They seem to congregate and take up all of the machines. So, it’s a double edged sword.
I dealt with crowding, obnoxious gym rats and filth by ditching my gym membership and building a cheap-o home gym. One squat rack, one 300 lb barbell set, one exercise bench and a pair of heavy-duty sawhorses have added up to c. $500 dollars, which is about what I would have spent in a year. Even in a relatively small studio apartment, I have the space to workout how I want, when I want. I’ll never go back.
This is great advice Mehdi. “Stressing” people by asking how many sets they have left or similar is a great way to deal with crowded gyms.
Problem with my gym is most of the time they are doing barbell curls in a squat rack or some other exercise it wasn’t intended for that they could do somewhere else, on top of that they don’t want to move.
I’ve done what one person mentioned before, flipping my schedule around and doing friday on monday, etc, and that works, but only with certain splits, doesn’t help as much with a full body split.
The great thing is I work at the gym, and now my boss let’s me stay after work when we’re closed to get my workout in. That’s the best thing for me, it’s great, no one there, so you can try out some crazy crap, plus no waiting for anything. Also it’s the only reason he works out right now.
I was lucky enough to find a gym that doesn’t have too many people, and it’s near my workplace too. It only has 1 power rack and 2 olympic bars, but almost nobody uses it. Even the bigger guys always gravitate towards the smith machine so lucky me. I superset with 2 bars on alternate workouts and I almost never run into trouble doing this
There was 1-2 times however when there weren’t even plates to go around(only 8 20kg plates!) so I had to wait a while.
Of course, at big globogyms this would be a problem.
There are a lot of bicep curlers in my gym so I get to monopolise the barbell rack without too much trouble. The problem comes when I need to use some floorspace for lets say Turkish getups; There are often a group of girls having a meeting on all the mats at once and today one young lad was giving his girlfriend a rubdown.
In the land of the sheep, confidence is king. I smile and ask them politely if they will be long (while laying my towel next to the mat…). Look like you know what you’re doing that’s what I say.
I always go at 7:30pm, most of the posers go at 5:00 to 7:00 to look at chicks and pose in front of the mirror. Most of these morons are on steroids and cheat to get their muscle gains, pisses me off because most steroid users have crappy form and spend most of their time looking around to see if anybody notices them. Anyway, cardio in the morning, weights at 7:30pm, and I never have any trouble getting on the squat rack or power rack cause the painful workouts are for the truly dedicated, not the fags doing steroids and doing curls and bench press every time they go to the gym.
So I should encourage others to hurry up, work out incorrectly and push them and their weights around, just so long as I get what I want?
Nice.
I do multi sport events, so most of my training is done between 4-6am. As a triathlete,I believe in lifting to get stronger and better for my sport. Not many women in the gym do Olympic lifts,true squats or heavy deadlifts-earlier is better if you want to do this. A lot of people come to the gym to meet people and not to train. These types will not likely be looking to hook up at 4 or 5am, so as a woman, I can avoid that crap. The other way is through a good home gym. I use unconventional strength training tools that are great when I an’t make it to the gym. Sand bags 40lbs and up,weighted vests,kettle bells, a chin up bar and old fashioned push ups work just fine for me. I can do all of this in a small space in my upstairs loft when everyone’s asleep downstairs.
This might seem like a no-brainer, but it pays to know the complete workout area of the gym your frequent. More often than not people crowd around the same machine, but there is probably the same machine located somewhere else too. Also, don’t be afraid to get down and do a set of push-ups (on appropriate days) or some stretching as you wait. More often than not you will have the effect of speeding up the casual lifter so you can get in and get her done!
Personally, I like the crowds if everyone is training hard and there is electricity in the air and beautiful women training. Of course this is all made better if I have successfully staked out a squat rack. If not, I bring in a kettlebell and that automatically clears some room, especially in front of me. It also helps if I have a crazed look on my face while I swing the KB! At the end of the day, it still has to be fun!
@Neil - That may be true of some(many) steroid users but there is nothing wrong with legit use in combination with a proper strength or power training program + lots of hard work. I can see why people would get annoyed at users that use the chemical as a *substitute* for effort though…
I work out at the YMCA and sometimes barbell curlers take up residence in the power rack. Sometimes I can work in and sometimes I wait. Once I told a guy(politely I think but I may have sounded like an asshole) that the rack was intended for squats and such. He flipped out a bit, cursed at me and intentionally took up much more time doing curls than he planned to.(he told me as much) After that I am quite cautious.
IME the best way to clear some space is heavy deadlifts - they make a loud noise and turn my face blood red. This seems to ward weak people away.
On more than one occasion I have attempted to “shame” barbell curlers camping out at “my” squat rack, but generally they don’t stick around for long, except if there are 3 of them. I like the “deadlift gambit” though. Heavy weights do scare most people off. I told one guy, “curls are for girls” but he had a funny comeback and said “curls GET the girls”. We also have a squat safety cage and on the overhead pullup bar, there are the black straps to slide your arms into to do leg raises. Most people in the gym think that is the purpose of the rack since very few people actually use it for what it is made for. It is comical, actually.
The gym I go to has a couple benches a power rack and a large contraption with pull up/chin up bars with dipping bars as well so I am set. Most of the people at my gym …only… hit the punching bags or run on the soccer field or skip and such.
Getting in early/first gets me that power rack so when the inevitable weight lifter comes in they can be after me, does not work always though…
BTW Great website Mehdi you have got me off isolated exercises at home and in the gym where I now belong lol.
This is exactly what i stopped going to the gym. I always went to the gym at times when it was the least crowded and i still found myself having to wait for machines, so i would hate to think how bad it is when it is totally crowded and when you have to stand around waiting for someone to get off a machine it totally ruins your workout (it does with me anyway). The thing that really bothers me about this (in addition to having my workouts ruined) is that I AM PAYING to stand around and wait for a machine and when you are paying for a service and this is what happens it totally turns me off. So i invested in a home gym and haven’t looked back. The benefits are so much better (for me at least), i can workout and not have to stand around waiting for others to get off machines, i don’t have to drive to the gym (save money on fuel) and after 1-2 years you actually save money, although this does depend on much much you want to invest into your own gym. With me though i certainly have saved money since investing in my own gym.
Peace