Old school

[graybass]

I've been lifting for 50 years. Still in great shape, own a personal training company.
WTF does everyone have to have earbuds or headphones on the weight floor. I think it's dangerous, what happens when I drop a plate off the bar and you can't hear me say "Look out!" and it crushes your foot, tough tittie!
Saw a couple walk in put in their ear buds, tune in their music and proceed to work out without saying a word to each other. That's working out together?
I'm sick and tired of trying to ask some asshole if they are using the piece of equipment I want but they can't hear me. Fucking rude! When I started out one of the most valuable ways to learn was to listen to what the old vets were saying around the bench, squat, whatever. The gym was like a family we always talked about training. Not anymore.
Also WTF is with you deadlifters???? Why is it ok to literally throw the bar at the floor with hundreds of pounds on it. Back in the day if you did that (dropped the weight) the old vets would gather around and say "don't break the weights. you can ruin the roller bearings in the bar." Also it's disrespecting the gym. Oh I know some 150lb douche bag posted dropping the bar on "you tube" so it must be ok.
When I train my clients it's a nonstop flow of info critiquing their form. Can't learn shit if you can't hear. It's like wearing buds while riding a bike outside. That way you can't hear the car that's about to kill you. Good God.
Personal music is fine on cardio. Don't care if you blow your brains out doing cardio.
Please stop hurting the bars!

 

[Gizmo]

Sounds like it is time for a home gym you old grouch. I like listening to my music. I do get tired though of people taking 10 minute breaks between sets to be on their phone.

 

[rAJJIN]

I’m old and I am a headphone guy.
Over the ears noise blocking please do t talk to me kind.
I’ve learned over the years to be careful who you talk to or make friends with. Overly nice one time and there is 15 minutes everytime
You see this sob pr I’m forced to be an asshole.

Don’t get me wrong there are still a few old timers around and like minded people
I’ll visit with but not any or everyone.
I’ll be kind but not to the point of making friends

 

[Brock456]

I've been lifting for 50 years. Still in great shape, own a personal training company.
WTF does everyone have to have earbuds or headphones on the weight floor. I think it's dangerous, what happens when I drop a plate off the bar and you can't hear me say "Look out!" and it crushes your foot, tough tittie!
Saw a couple walk in put in their ear buds, tune in their music and proceed to work out without saying a word to each other. That's working out together?
I'm sick and tired of trying to ask some asshole if they are using the piece of equipment I want but they can't hear me. Fucking rude! When I started out one of the most valuable ways to learn was to listen to what the old vets were saying around the bench, squat, whatever. The gym was like a family we always talked about training. Not anymore.
Also WTF is with you deadlifters???? Why is it ok to literally throw the bar at the floor with hundreds of pounds on it. Back in the day if you did that (dropped the weight) the old vets would gather around and say "don't break the weights. you can ruin the roller bearings in the bar." Also it's disrespecting the gym. Oh I know some 150lb douche bag posted dropping the bar on "you tube" so it must be ok.
When I train my clients it's a nonstop flow of info critiquing their form. Can't learn shit if you can't hear. It's like wearing buds while riding a bike outside. That way you can't hear the car that's about to kill you. Good God.
Personal music is fine on cardio. Don't care if you blow your brains out doing cardio.
Please stop hurting the bars!

No disrespect but one of my best gym purchases was recently noise cancelling head phones. I can’t hear anything and I’m completely zoned out and focused on my lift.

If you don’t have headphones in, people are more likely to talk to you, some just go there for the conversation, not to lift.

I don’t mind a little chat in between sets, but some guys will talk your ear off for 15 min and ruin the whole flow of your workout going

 

[LisaKeith97]

I’m old and I wear over the ear headphones so I can ignore people as much as I want. I deadlift as well. My lifting background is more PL than a BB and in my gym they have wooden platforms built so people don’t have to worry about how hard they drop weights. I sought out a gym where it was encouraged as you can’t go heavy if you’re going worry about dropping a bar hard.

Ever seen how aggressive athletes are with the weights in CrossFit? I can understand not wanting dumbbells dropped but worrying about a couple feet drop of the bar deadlifting? Sorry I think you’re maybe over thinking this.

 

[buck]

I could care less what people listen to as long as long as they keep it to themselves. But i have only been lifting about 49 years. I watch and listen to people all the time as i find them very entertaining. Once i grab the bar i don't notice a thing around me for the most part and just focus on what i am doing. I guess that is old school earbuds. Now the guys that have been bringing in their music and blasting it around the gym i find inconsiderate. As well as lately the people unloading their leg press by stacking the plates on mine while i am doing a set. So i get to carry my plates father to the weight trees. When i am unloading. But then i just start laughing at them at hope they ask why, which they don't as they avoid eye contact. The influx of people not getting ready for summer by sitting on a piece of equipment for 5-10 minutes between light weight sub optimal reps ranges can be a little annoying. But they are an inspiration of what not to be in life.

 

[qbkilla]

I agree I think it looks silly I'm not walking around with ear phones or a plug in my ear anywhere or at the gym.

At the same time rajjin made a good point it could help keeping people from trying to socialize with you. All it takes is one person to think you owe them some conversation at the gym to make a nightmare because they will seek you out every time you cross paths to chit chat.

 

[Rumpwrangler]

Kinda agree on throwing the bar at the floor. But I can usually tell the difference in a quick and clanky deadlift descent vs someone looking for attention with the noise .

But headphones are a MUST! I like listening to pods or sports talk. I’m not trying to hear whatever the gym feels like playing. I’m there to train. Not socialize. And I prefer learning something through my earbuds while doing so instead of listening to gym clutter.

 

[Durro]

I’m old and I am a headphone guy.
Over the ears noise blocking please do t talk to me kind.
I’ve learned over the years to be careful who you talk to or make friends with. Overly nice one time and there is 15 minutes everytime
You see this sob pr I’m forced to be an asshole.

Don’t get me wrong there are still a few old timers around and like minded people
I’ll visit with but not any or everyone.
I’ll be kind but not to the point of making friends

Exactly as I am. I am aware of my surroundings and I don’t have time to talk to everybody. Once you talk to someone they expect that every time they see you. So when I meet someone or they approach me somewhere I tell them “ you see that I don’t socialize much because I’m here to workout and get out” hint hint! Nowadays the gyms are turning into social events. The other day someone interrupted me during a set and asked if he could jump in just for some quick sets to warm up! No gym etiquette!

 

[Reload]

You're not alone Graybass. When I'm in the gym I'm there for a purpose. Get in, get out! Waiting for people sitting on a piece of equipment while they text or take pics of themselves between sets drives me f-ing nuts. I've complained about this in the past. Problem is it's a newer generation who need instant gratification through technology. I've got two kids (12/16 yr old girls) that if I took their phones away from them they simply wouldn't know what the fuck to do with themselves?! Digital natives I believe is the term.
When it comes to music, I try my best to tune out the crap coming through the speakers at my gym. I'm the Death Core guy most people just don't understand...but I save that for the drive to/from the gym. You can thank guys like Pete Rubish for these kind of antics you describe. Strong MFer but really?!

 

[qbkilla]

Kinda agree on throwing the bar at the floor. But I can usually tell the difference in a quick and clanky deadlift descent vs someone looking for attention with the noise .

But headphones are a MUST! I like listening to pods or sports talk. I’m not trying to hear whatever the gym feels like playing. I’m there to train. Not socialize. And I prefer learning something through my earbuds while doing so instead of listening to gym clutter.

A brief conversation is like opening a can of worms, they expect a hello or conversation every time they see you in there. Some people are very skilled at drawing you in or keeping the conversation going when it's obvious you want nothing to do with it

This is also an issue at work. I even had a land lord once who thought living on separate floors and bumping into eachother occasionally meant I wanted to hear about their kids, recent colonoscopy, talk about my diet, talk about my job etc lol

 

[knucklehed]

I wear earbuds, if for no other reason than to ignore people that I don't want to talk to.
I can do 500 pound deads for reps and I touch the weights quietly to the floor, because I can. Pussies have to drop the weights because they aren't strong enough to set them down like a real man.

 

[cage99]

Headphones all the way…. If I wanted someone’s opinion on my workouts I’d hire a coach. I’m just there to do my work and then get back to the everyday grind.

Cage

 

[graybass]

Yall missed the point. Not hearing anything on the weight floor is dangerous. I did not say anything about socializing on the floor either.
For me time is money, my clients pay me a lot of money to train them. I know how to end a conversation without being rude. I have no time to stand around and chat.
I tell people this is fun for them, but it is my workplace. I know how to keep the chatty Cathy's away without risking my health being deaf on the floor.
That said I train clients at a real hardcore gym. Most members are NPC or IBBF. Tons of Pro's stop by when in town. So, when a Mr. Olympia contender is here, I want to hear his tips.
Not socializing, learning.

 

[graybass]

Headphones all the way…. If I wanted someone’s opinion on my workouts I’d hire a coach. I’m just there to do my work and then get back to the everyday grind.

Cage

Again missed the point. I don't need headphones to be focused. I certainly don't need anyone's opinion, where did I say that?
Just saying when I was a kid I learned proper form by listening to the Vets.

 

[cage99]

Again missed the point. I don't need headphones to be focused. I certainly don't need anyone's opinion, where did I say that?
Just saying when I was a kid I learned proper form by listening to the Vets.

Well for starters I’m alone in my gym while I workout. Only one that bothers me is my lil pug Beaux who wants some scratches between my sets… Everyone’s different, but I like having music blaring instead of heading steel clanging nonstop.

Cage

 

[MR. BMJ]

I have to listen to my own music while I lift, the gym music puts me to sleep. If they played good music, i'd probably not wear them much, or on certain days, though I like them because they keep conversations minimal, or else i'd be in there way longer.

 

[jeroendebleser]

Listening to music I like helps me zone in on my workout better so I'm all for it.

Not to mention with the noise cancelling I don't have to hear other men (nor myself) grunt and moan.

It's a win win situation really.

Also, I have to wonder what you're doing when you're dropping plates of a barbell nearby other people Seems a bit... unnecessary, no?

 

[LK3]

Again missed the point. I don't need headphones to be focused. I certainly don't need anyone's opinion, where did I say that?
Just saying when I was a kid I learned proper form by listening to the Vets.

i think here is the real difference. when the older of us were growing up going to a commercial gym as a teen was a big and intimidating thing. there were less of them, usually some sort of meat head was the owner or manger in some way so there was a modicum of respect for the place itself and it was ok to be stern or agressive with ppl who did dumb shit.

if you think about it probably it has to do with corpritization.
if i loojk back i can see it more clearly with resturaunts and bars but i think this applies to gyms too.

before 2000 ish you get get pretty heavy handed with ppl and it wasnt such a big thing. then you started to get more lawsuites and bs after some sort of incident. around this time too there seemed to be a big shift from business being run kinda shadey like with lots of cash and hands and shit like that to cards, computers, metered supplies, etc.

gym stuff kinda went that way too.
now you have a bunch of spoiled kids running around who have never had to worry or have no knowlede of what its like to have someone sit you down proper for being an asshole.

im all for headphones, music is great as is limiting idiotic talk and social hour. its cell phones that really have no place on the gym floor. one cranky old man to another. lol

 

[Nike22]

Greybass, I hear ya brother... as I get older I find myself having more and more of those "GET OFF MY LAWN!!" moments.

I do understand what you mean by headphones being dangerous and rude but... you also said that you lift at a rather hard core gym.
A lot of us don't have access to that type of facility and really the decision to use headphones for most is probably just to try to tune out the bad manners that most customers have at your average Golds or 24hr or Planet Fat Ass or whatever.

Really, it comes down to manners. Anyone who spent time in the gym in the 80's or 90's understands not to slam your weights, re-rack when you're done, look for people trying to work in on machinery when it's busy and all that. Unfortunately, most current gym customers weren't even born until the 90's...

But, man let me tell you... you'd last about 90 seconds at a gym here in Japan, mother fuckers coming up to squeeze my bicep MID-CURL! What in the actual FUCK!?! I just said fuck it and started buying home equipment and now train in peace at home.