6 types of guys you’ll find at the gym

Gyms welcome all sorts of people, here are some of the types that stick out like a sore thumb…

The Summer Body Guy

It’s summer time. So you know what that means, gyms are all set for a new influx of guys christening their new summer memberships. The main driver of the summer boom is the desire to show their shirtless beach shots over the upcoming holidays – which is all good considering last year’s summer didn’t really count. Although, just wait until September rolls around and suddenly more than half of these will be ‘too busy’ to work out.

The Resolution Guy

Also known as the ‘New Year’s Resolution guy’ – these well-meaning dudes have all the right intentions but little staying power. Fueled by self-improvement they come in with full dedication to the routine for the first couple of weeks, which quite rapidly starts dropping off when they remember why they stopped going to the gym last time. There tends to be a lot of cross over with Summer Body guys, but this time they mean it. They really mean it.

The Ridiculously Complex Exercises Guy

You know that guy who is hanging upside down on the monkey bars doing bicep curls because he thinks the increased blood flow to his upper body due to gravity will improve his performance? Yeah, well no one likes that guy. That same guy will also likely be curling dumbbells while using the leg extension machine thinking that they’re killing two birds with one stone by training their biceps and quads at the same time. There’s a reason why you always see the big guys in the gym focusing on single straightforward exercises and it’s because they give you results. Squatting for example works multiple muscles but they are all used in the squat motion so each muscle receives an appropriate amount of time under tension which is how your muscles grow. Combo exercises such as lunges with bicep curls will not allow enough time for either muscle to be under tension long enough.

The Won’t Stop Talking Guy

Have you ever been in that situation where you see the same guy every day at the gym, you acknowledge each other with a slight head nod, only for him to invite himself over to talk nonstop about his day while you slowly try to turn away and get back to your workout? Yeah, we’ve been there too. We can’t give him the excuse “I’m in a rush today” because what excuse do we give tomorrow when we see him again? It’s healthy to socialise at the gym because it helps break the boring repetitive nature of working out but sometimes when we’ve had our pre-workout or are simply pumped up, ready to go, we just want to get in, work out, and leave.

The Super Into His Music guy

There are three things you need before going to gym: a good night’s sleep, a proper meal, but most importantly: a gym playlist. How can anyone work out in the gym with just the sound of clanging weights and grunting? However, there are some guys who are so into their music that they cup their hands over their ears and bob their head DJ-style because suddenly the slow consistent reps have now got a bit of swing added to them that’s perfectly in time with the bass drop. Or else they’re playing ‘Eye of The Tiger’ on air guitar or mouth the lyrics between their sets, pretending they’re training like Rocky Balboa.

The Phone Obsessed Guy

Phones are remarkable things, and in the gym they can be super useful either to showcase correct exercise technique, measure your vitals, or even to film your sets so you can see if you’re doing it right. What is not super useful is guys that sit there hogging the benches while they scroll their Insta feed, watch some Reels and chuckle at memes with their buddy. Although, we believe Plato once said, “if you didn’t ’gram did you really even go to the gym, bro?”