Gym Time, Your Time

There are a lot of people that do little annoying things in various situations. We know a lot of them. People talk in movies. People change lanes without signalling. Those are annoying but there is one behaviour that has reached epidemic proportions. It's worse than the woman who stretches her quads out after every arm exercise. Yes, you read that correctly. A leg stretch after an arm exercise. In fact I never see her do any leg exercises but that's a different story for a different day.

There is an epidemic of people texting at the gym.

Before I go any further, I feel the need to state that I understand there are some people who need to be on call for their employment and need to have their phone with them while they work out. That's fine, I get it. There are times I need to have my work BlackBerry on me. It's part of life with a job with a lot of responsibility. It even provides some freedom as the alternative would be stuck at home or in the office. However, if something is mission critical, the phone will ring. It won't be a text.

Here's the thing, You go to the gym for yourself. You go to feel better and to look better. So, why don't you take that time as your escape from the outside world. You can focus on you and leave the rest of the world behind. You won't leave them forever, just long enough to do something for yourself.

I'm sure you are thinking why should I care if people are texting while they are at the gym. It is a good point to raise. People who text constantly will do a set of ten reps then sit on the equipment and text for five minutes. They get in the way. They are walking around glued to the screen of their phone.

I am pro-smartphone. I don't hide how much I like the devices but there is a limit. You don't need to read everything on Twitter or have another meaningless conversation about something you won't even remember in a couple of days. Go ahead and use your smartphone but don't forget to look up occasionally and engage in the environment around you. One of the best places to do that is at the gym. I wouldn't be lying if I said the view can be pretty good as well.