Small town Gym, slightly overhelpful staff, what to do?

Hi Folks,

Probably a bit petty of me to moan about this but any suggestions would be great as I just can't work out the best thing to say.

heres the deal, I have just moved to a very small town and joined the gym here, the staff are great, very helpful and very friendly on the whole. I guess that they dont get too many new members that they really don't know well, I am from London and have ALWAYS enjoyed anonymity but here thats just not going to happen.

There are 3 or 4 female instructors/trainers and 2 of them are always coming up to me when i am having a quick breather sit down or sometimes even when i am busy lifting, they nicely ask, "are you ok", or "how are you enjoying the gym so far", now i know they mean well and i really do not have the heart to tell them to shut the fuck up and leave me alone when I am lifting.

So can anyone please suggest a good thing to say to them so that i can be left alone but not offensive because they do not deserve it.

I do not go to a gym to meet people or hook up with anyone, I dont want to socialise with anyone there, I simply go to lift 3 - 4 days a week. I am always polite and respectful but this really bothers me, I dont want to bad vibe them.

What would you all say given the above set of circumstances???

Wear headphones.....

Do you wear headphones and listen to music when you lift?

I find that usually means....leave me alone.

The headphones are a great suggestion - it gives them the message without seeming rude. I'm not sure how small a town it is, but....people in small towns tend to like to be neighborly, as you've experienced. Your post made me remember going to a gym in a tiny town in Arkansas - I was at a UFO conference doing research for a paper at a nearby resort, and this small town had a gym in a sort of house with poor circulation, really old machines and weights.
The staff, which consisted of two older high school boys...were really cool about leaving me alone, after checking on me once. They also offered to spot me, but I had opted out of free weight work. I don't know how your facilities are, but...sometimes I think tiny gyms like that are a bit self-conscious about their equipment, so they make up for it by pouring themselves into trying to make people really feel welcome there.

To be honest, that was one of the nicest times I ever had at a gym - even though my workout was difficult, and the second floor was terribly hot, the guys decided to make my visit a comp...and I ended up buying a tee shirt. I was real impressed to see they had put pics of their heavy lifters along one wall - made me feel like they really tried to make it a supportive environment. I sent them an email when I got back to school thanking them....

I think you are perfectly right about being used to and wanting to focus on your workout - and you are perceptive to sense this can be a bit delicate at a new place. If you don't like headphones, maybe you can just engage them briefly in polite conversation before you start, and work in the message that you are on a limited schedule so you need to do a pretty intense session.

I'm real glad to see how sensitive you are about that issue - after my own visit to that gym in a small town, I realized how much we don't realize how devoted to offering workout opportunities people are in those locations, even if they have limited resources.

Good luck to you....

Find a T shirt that says LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE

Or maybe one of these
http://www.tshirthell.com/shirts/tshirt.php?sku=a44

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/tshirts/dieting.html

just tell them to "beat it". I find that phrase supprisingy useful in many situations.

Find a T shirt that says LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE

just tell them to "beat it". I find that phrase supprisingy useful in many situations.




....er...yeah...those things could work too..

Headphones don't work. I've tried that myself in the past and when someone wants to say something to you, they WILL! And nothing is more annoying then when they are trying to get your attention while your listening to music and gearing up for your next set then some dumb blond standing slightly to your left waving her arms in the air with a stupid smile. Grrrrrrr ok just gave myself a flashback.
Brother, you need to just be a bit short a few times with your responses. She/he says: are you having a good workout? You give a quick look say, "yea" then look away as though you have just been aggitated by their interruption. It works everytime.

hey, thanks for great replies.......all comments taken on board, I dont really like headphones but will think on your comments (all) and do someting positive about it,

once again thanks

ice,,, good luck, if you don't do what I advised, they will never leave you alone even if you pretend to be deaf. Some of those happy gym workers would actually go and take sign language if they thought you were deaf.

lol...firestorm, I agree

hahaha I know that was pretty funny but damn it's just about true. I'm sure they would still be in your face mouthing shit to you if you were pretending to be deaf.

Be nice and polite but firm...Say "I don't talk during my sets, but I'll be happy to talk to you after my workout. If you wouldn't mind telling the other trainers as well, I would appreciate it."

It does the trick. If they continue to interupt you, they're rude and stupid and there is no help for them.

thks guys, you know, if i were a personal trainer or gym instructor I would sure as all hell respect a persons workout space, especially since i would fully understand what it is like to be the customer/lifter......some people are dumb, dumbness can really annoy me, hmmm this gets me to thinking about throwing a rear kick after each squat should they be standing close behind me watching..........that'l shut anything on 2 legs up....