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Man divides internet after being warned for ’making too much noise’ at the gym

Man divides internet after being warned for ’making too much noise’ at the gym
Gym girl has no idea how to act in regular pants!
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A man has divided opinion and attracted controversy after posting about his experiences at a commercial gym online.

The unnamed fitness enthusiast posted on the popular Am I the A**hole Reddit thread and explained how he’d been warned for being ‘too noisy’ while lifting weights.

The post led to a debate about gym etiquette in the comments section, with most taking issue his actions.

It read: “I (26M) came back to my suburban hometown for the holidays and signed up for a gym membership at the local Planet Fitness to tide me over while I was away from home. I've been going to the gym for ~5 years now and think I'm familiar with typical gym etiquette, but maybe I'm off..?”

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He added: “Today, I was doing chest flys on the cable machine at a fairly heavy weight for me. At the end of the set - as usual - I'd stop, let go of one side near the pulley, and then aimed to let go of the other somewhat near the other pulley (as the other pulley would pull me after letting go of one side). Given this was the cable machine, it made a decent amount of noise at the end of every set when I let go (but I wasn't making noise in between reps and it's not like I was letting go from full extension).

“After two sets, a person (30-35M) came up to me and admittedly asked me politely to make less noise. Fair enough. EDIT: For clarity, this person was another gym goer - not an employee.”

Was he in the wrong for this?iStock

The man went on to say: “Afterward, I tried to more gently let go of the cables near the pulleys (maybe 4-6 inches on both sides). This still made a bit of noise, but no more than any other machine might make.

“The guy came back and said something along the lines of: ‘I already asked you to stop nicely. This is dangerous and also might crack the weights. I'm not going to ask you again.’ There was a bit of back and forth but I said ‘I am putting it down lightly. I'm not going to gently place / touch down the weights. Letting it go near touching is already more than a person typically does.’ He also said his safety worry was that the noise might distract people lifting weights, but who doesn't expect noise in the gym..?”

He finished by writing: “First time this has happened to me. Normally I have my headphones in so I've never thought about this either when I use the machine or others do. AITA (or in the wrong)?”

Most of the comments on the post were negative, with many criticising his etiquette.

“YTA - If you need to slam your weights down instead of placing gently, they're too heavy for you,” one wrote.

Another added: “YYA. Put your weights down quietly it is common courtesy. Otherwise use lighter weights.”

Others were slightly more supportive, with one saying: “A lot of dudes at my gym drop massive weights from about 1/2 metre from the ground or more, and it makes so much noise and shakes the gym. But a bunch of dead lifters online say that’s the correct way to do it?”

One more wrote: “People working out drop weights, it happens all the time, [YOU’RE] WORKING OUT. If you want quiet go to a library. 4-6 inches isn’t cracking a weight. Op you may want to stay away from planet fitness, look into a locally owned gym for a short term pass.”

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