In Kuwait, the gym is more than just a place you go to get fit: it is a lifestyle. It is a spa retreat; it is your recreation time. Oh yeah, and somewhere in there I supposed you are supposed to workout. In between the traffic to get there, and at the various machines, hangs the balance of your entire health: what is a person to do? So, here they are, your top 5 irks and worries about the place that is the most lovable hate-able, occasionally loath-able and simultaneously fulfilling of them all – your local gym!
#5 The Cost – Nobody minds paying for their gym membership when they are successful in their fitness goals; there is practically no price you wouldn’t pay to guarantee that you look and feel great. But when it comes time to renew that annual contract and you are sitting on your couch eating Cheetos from your overweight, bloated bellybutton, it is hard to justify spending money on anything other than potential lipo and a crane to pull you up off the couch. Ahhhh, but the promise! So you renew, because you just know: this is your year. 6-pack abs are just around the corner….and you love that feeling when you do.
#4 The Fashion/Image – Your Gym-age – These days, keeping up with all the styles of workout clothes can be exhausting: when did the tattered shirt, headband and cutoff shorts go out of style? Oops, my bad! Girls go in make-up; some guys go with gel in their hair. Seriously, if your pre-workout routine is the same one you use to go out on a Thursday night, you may be guilty of this. Also, as a general rule if you want to go – need to go – but don’t feel fit enough, skinny enough or color coordinated enough, to even get to the gym that will actually allow you to become same, well then you are in the Gym-age worm hole: that bizarre intersection where the gym and image meld into one – oh, the irony!
#3 Music – Everybody loves their choice of music. Nobody likes yours. So turn it down buddy. We get it. You’re into it, congrats. Turn it down! Our only solace in this regard is that you are making yourself go deaf every moment you continue, so in a few years time, when we see you at the gym, all pumped and yoked and music still blaring, I will promise to whisper to you a secret so low that you cannot hear what is said! #win.
#2 “I see naked people” – in the changing room. Speaks for itself. Please people, do us all a favor, and cover up.
#1 Lack of gym etiquette – Whether you are not wiping machines down, staying on the cardio machines too long, leaving equipment out, or just having your latest little Algonquin table meeting of the minds around the machine that you are currently not using (while keeping others from being able to), nothing irks more than the lack of etiquette at the gym. It must be so hard to think proper-smart with all that blood rushing away from your brain and into your swollen muscles – we get it! Should you be the one with the lack of etiquette though, you no doubt love it, as you are just you, in a you world where the time is always you-thirty! From the hate of the grunting crowd, to the love, when it is you yelling out for that last rep – perhaps the real love/hate here is just how self aware we are of what we are doing. Ouch!
FREE BONUS: Co-ed gyms – For some of us it is great being around all of the different people…except sometimes just that one creepy guy ruins everything! Here is a hint: if you look around at the gym, and you can’t find him…IT IS YOU!
Love/Hate is brought to you by self-loathing gym rats, mid-deadlift, post-sauna, pre-post-pizza celebration! See you there! Next month look out more Love/Hate: Social Media.
