Similarly to our previous article How Do You Know If You Are Wasting Your Time Working-out? In this article we will get into the nit-and-gritty of how some gym-goers waste other people’s time as well as their own.

There are a few “types” of gym-goers that waste other people’s time; what we like to call Show-off-Chuck, or just “Chuck,” and Perfume Danny, or just “Danny.” These two types really summarizes the types out there.

Don’t be Chuck

So, Chuck shows up to the gym highly motivated, which is good, nothing wrong with that at all. But, he shows up with a massive gym bag filled with gear he’d never use, wearing elbow pads for no understandable reason, and jumps on all the machines doing a super duper ultra super set, doing the most odd and non-sensical workouts, with a super high intensity that interrupts everyone else. In reality though, the gear isn’t even needed, and the workouts aren’t even beneficial. He shows up thinking, in his mind, that he is going to big super healthy, super fit, super strong; but in reality he won’t. His crazy high intensity but no future results will just cause him to burn out. He won’t get results simply because he is less concerned about form, progressive overload, fast/slow twitch activation, hypertrophy, and more concerned about the feeling, the emotion, the drive and fire of lifting heavy weight like Hercules.

How does he waste other people’s time? Well, for starters he comes blazing into the gym and is immediately sweating all over the machines. He is doing multiple super sets with takes up a lot of space at the gym and uses several workout machines simultaneously. This dude may not even be playing on his phone, but he is still taking up extra space that is limiting everyone else’s gym usage.

Eventually, he will fade and stop coming to the gym once the emotionalism and feeling of “lifting heavy weight like Hercules” passes. By that time, everyone missed out on those machine usage and space during Chuck’s short lived fitness rampage.

All Chuck had to do was ask, “Why am I doing this particular workout, is it effective, and HOW do I do it most efficiently?” Once he answers that for EACH and every workout, he won’t be a gym Chuck but will transform into a fitness freak with results. THEN he will also stop wasting everyone else’s time taking up all the space, unnecessarily.

The enthusiasm and energy is great, just misdirected and misused because of ignorance.

Don’t be Danny

Now, Danny shows up to the gym motivated by other reasons and not primarily for fitness progress and results. No, Danny goes to the gym because his gym crush is there. He shows up drenched in cologne. He may even wear his favorited gold chains. His hair is all did up. He “flexes,” just not his muscles. He works out only to look like he is working out. He will sit at machines, play on his phone, and wait for an opportunity to look like a gym-bro every time his crush looks over at him. Between his sets, he may even walk over to his crush and chit chat.

He shows up to the gym, “uses” equipment, taking up space, but never gets results fast enough to keep him coming back to the gym long term. Eventually, something will happen with him and his gym-crush and he will stop going to the gym. Or, still some Dannies may even resort to hard supplement usage and HRT to get the results he promised his gym crush that he couldn’t get when going the gym.

Just another “pretty-boy” tool faking like he wants to get in shape, probably tells his gym crush his unrealistic, unattainable goals, but in reality, he’s just wasting everyone else’s time trying to hook up with his gym-crush. At some point, a Chad gym-shark needs to walk over to that weakling playboy and ask him how many more sets he has.

Don’t be “That Dude with Excuses”

A third type of person that wastes everyone’s time is “That Dude with Excuses.” This dude may have some desire to improve their health and fitness, they may even read some about how and do some minor research. They might even ask questions and appear to be receptive of your advise and feedback. But, they are so full of excuses they find any and every reason as to why they can’t be consistent and reliable with their goals.

These people typically have all the tools they need to transform themselves, except the will-power to overrule their own selves. When things get “complicated” or “difficult” or “out of the ordinary” or “out of their comfort zone” that’s when, like clockwork they have a sudden endless supply of issues that, in their mind, justify themselves; excuses.

They may even start going to the gym, and try to start applying what they have researched and all the advise and tips they had been given. They may even start getting subtle results. But, eventually, life happens and or motivations and motives change. And when life and or self motives get in the way with the workout routine, excuses are invented and are justified.

They just wasted the time of everyone who tried to help them. All the advice, thoughts, research other people did for them; wasted. The machines used that other people could have been using, wasted. All because of a crumbling of will and justification of excuses.

We won’t go too much deeper on this one; check out our previous article: The Weak Excuses List For Those Who Fail to Be Honest With Themselves about Their Health and Fitness

The Difference

Chuck and Danny are at the gym, using equipment, burning extra calories, that’s a good thing right? Yes, as a good as walking out of your house to check your mail, pick up your news paper, and wave high to your neighbor. That’s it. Except, the later, you aren’t interfering with your neighbors day. The former, at the gym, Chuck and Danny would be directly interfering with their fellow gym goer.

While Chuck is rigorously risking self injury by lifting too heavy and improperly and Danny is just sitting on a machine waiting for his crush to finish her workout so he can link up with her on her next machine; they are both uselessly hogging up the space/machine that other real fitness people are waiting to use.

How to avoid being a Chuck and Danny

To avoid being a Chuck, just do actual research. Determine your goals and identify specific short term realistic results you want to obtain by a specific time. Do your research on how to achieve those specific short term realistic results. Research the most effective and efficient workouts for those results. Start a simple workout plan and then test it. Collect data and tweak what isn’t working.

To avoid being a Danny, just have your priorities straight before even stepping foot in the gym. If you’re not there to workout, first and foremost, do you and everyone else a favor, and go home. If you are there to “impress” your gym-crush, you won’t. In fact, all the real dudes there that have achieved real results, will just make you look worse over time. They keep changing, getting results, while, you don’t. Your gym-crush will notice that too after a while. Results over your gym-crush. Also, lay off the douche-bag cologne at the damn gym.

If you are not serious about improving your health and fitness and getting results, then don’t hog up the machines from other people who are serious.