General

I need help finding an exercise program to obtain my fitness goals. Help.

Try the programpicker website. It has collected all the standard information we have in this FAQ, reduced the number of questions to a bare minimum, and recommends the best program for you to meet your fitness goals. If you then ask another fittiter what program to do, and they say something different, that fittiter is probably wrong.

I want to get toned, how do I do that?

People often ask this question without understanding what muscle tone actually means. Muscle tone is the amount of tension a muscle maintains when it’s at rest. It is a neurological phenomenon, and if one wanted to increase muscle tone, the most efficient way to do it would be to lift heavy weights for low repetitions, increasing neuromuscular efficiency.

However, many people use the term “toned” to refer to a person with visible muscle definition. In this sense, there are no special “toning” exercises for your muscles. Fitness advice for women is often guilty of purporting to have the “secret” to a toned body. For men, the question is often ‘how do I get ripped?’

The answer, in fact, is extremely simple: build up muscle mass and lower your body fat.

Fat people may have huge muscles, but they will never be “toned” unless the fat is removed to reveal the muscle underneath.

Skinny people have an easier time getting “toned”, as any muscle they put on is not covered by fat. However, it is often harder for a skinny person to add muscle.

Number 1 myth: Higher reps (over 15) will get you “toned.” This is completely untrue. Higher reps help with muscle endurance, which may be useful for some sports. However, if your goal is to get “toned,” you should be focusing on increasing muscle size. The larger the muscle, the easier it will be to see. Do not worry about getting bulky. It’s not easy to put on muscle, and it is very doubtful that you’ll accidentally put on too much. Even if you do, it’s not hard to shrink down to your desired size.

Tips on how to put on muscle are addressed in more detail elsewhere, but generally you should focus on compound lifts in the 8-12 rep range.

Diet: To get more “toned” you will need to have a low body fat percentage. Too much fat and you will look flabby, bloated, or bulky, no matter how big your muscles are. Fat cannot be “spot reduced” on the body, thus preventing you from toning just one body part. A healthy diet is necessary to lower your overall body fat, making your muscles more visible.

A note to women: Often I hear about women who are averse to heavy weights as they don’t want to “bulk up” or “look like a dude”. The fact of the matter is most women will never get as bulky as guys because they lack sufficient testosterone. The female professional athletes you see with large, “toned” arms got that way through of a much more vigorous workout routine than you will ever attempt. A woman’s lifting routine should not be that different from a man’s. This is how women who lift weights like a normal human being look.

Just remember the simple formula: increased muscle size + lower body fat = “toned” body.

Will doing 1000 sit-ups give me a six pack, I’m 5’8 and weigh 250 lbs

Short answer no, long answer no definitely not. Your abs are muscles same as your calves, quads, deltoids etc. The way that you build muscle is by stressing it then resting, muscles grow when rested not when being stressed. Over-taxing the muscle will lead to muscle wastage and possible injury. Also, everybody on earth currently has an eight pack, it’s just hiding behind a layer of fat. If you’re fat then no matter how many crunches or how big your abs get if the fat on top of it is concealing them you’ll still look fat. For men body fat of about 10% is normally considered to be the cut off point to have your abdominals show, for women it’s about 18-20%. Doing sit-ups will not target fat burning on your stomach. Your body takes care of fat burning itself internally so it decides where to lose fat from (i.e. men typically find lower abdominal region of fat hardest to lose). To get that killer six/eight pack you need to get to about 10% body fat.

Unless you are a muscular 250 pounds, no. You may grow muscle, but it will be covered in a layer of fat. You must have both muscle and low body fat.

I’d like to isolate a specific muscle using barbells/olympic bars/body weight/a cable. What exercise can I do?

Check out this click map (for males) or this one (for females); click on a muscle, it will take you a list of appropriate exercises, with full descriptions on form.

I am a female, if I start lifting weights will I get huge?

Maybe, if you take heaping amounts of steroids, eat 8,000 calories a day, and proceed to lift for at least 5 years. Otherwise, no. Weightlifting will not make the average woman bulky. You may however find yourself with a nicer butt, shapelier legs, less body fat, a higher metabolism, strength, confidence, and a positive outlook. Proceed with caution. Don’t believe us? How many of your skinny male friends do you think have tried to get muscled up? And how successful were they? Do you think they — motivated as they were — would fail while trying extremely hard, while you would accidentally succeed? No, that would not occur. This is because it is dedicated, long term effort to become muscularly huge.

Also look at this article for information on how women should train. The Female Fitness Bible is also a good read.

This blog is full of examples of women who lift weights and aren’t huge. This video shows you a female olympic weightlifter. As you can see, she doesn’t appear ‘bulky’, but is still extremely strong.

I have a bad injury, please help me train around it.

Joint Injuries

Joint injuries require lots of extra help. Joint mobility work is necessary and should be done every morning. This typically involves joint circles (except for the hinge joints: elbow, fingers, knees, etc. Never ”circle” hinge joints). The best recommendation I’ve seen is to do a number of joint circles equal to your age, both clockwise and counterclockwise. If you have a popping or creaking joint, double this number. If it is painful, move slower and triple the number.

It may also help to put light pressure on the joints and work them out. For instance, doing standing pushups against a wall is a great way to help a shoulder injury. Doing “squats” while lying on your back will help a knee injury. The key is to move them, and put stress on them, but not a lot. Your body will respond to stress by making things stronger.

Muscular Injuries

RICE - Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Additionally, non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are helpful to reduce pain and swelling.

As for applying ice, there are many recommended ways to do this, I will provide one: apply ice for 10 minutes, then no ice for 20 minutes, and repeat as often as possible. Ice causes a vasoconstriction. When you remove the ice the vasodilation brings fresh nutrient dense blood into the injury site to speed recovery. This is similar to contrast bathing.

Note that if an injury and pain persist for longer than a few days, you should see a doctor. Do not trust some random internet FAQ to heal you.

Is strength training harmful?

Yes. With additional strength and muscle mass, you will become irresistible to the opposite sex, which which will raise your risk of STDs, and cause you to lose sleep and productivity, due to the numerous additional opportunities for casual sexual activity.

You may also lose friends, who enjoyed having the “fat guy” or the “scrawny dork” around to make them look better by comparison.

But seriously, while there is a risk of injury with any physical activity, the potential for harm in an inherently controlled environment like a gym or weight room is substantially less than many “safer” sports, such as cycling (collisions with pedestrians and automobiles), soccer (near ubiquitous ACL tears, especially for women), or even tennis (tennis elbow).

The most frequent causes of injury in strength training are a) using too much weight, or b) not using proper form.

(This is why you see those horrible youtube powerlifting / weightlifting injuries. Competitors are trying to lift the MAXIMUM amount of weight, and are willing to accept the risk of injury. This is FAR different than lifting in the gym, where you are trying to lift a substantial amount of weight in a safe and sustainable manner.)

The response to this is NOT to use the weight machines, which appear safer, but actually can create muscle imbalances due to involving fewer muscle groups and moving along fixed pathways that may not align with your body’s geometry, but to learn to do the exercises properly with free weights, beginning with just your bodyweight or an empty bar, and gradually adding weight in 5 or 10lb increments until you find the appropriate weight for your ability.

Make sure to lift with your muscles, and not with your joints. If your muscles are sore, that is a good thing. If you are feeling joint pain, figure out which muscles are weak or imbalanced, then focus on strengthening them for a week or two, before returning to the exercise. (E.g. if you’re having shoulder pain when bench pressing, check your form, then make sure your anterior deltoids and rotator cuff muscles are sufficiently strong, before continuing to bench press.)

There are numerous benefits to strength training. In addition to gaining muscle mass and strength, your body’s resting metabolism will increase, your hormone production will increase, making you feel more confident, your skeletal system will become stronger, making you more resistant to osteoporosis, etc., etc., etc.

I have muscle soreness two days after my last workout. Should I workout again today?

It sounds like you’re experiencing Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). You should workout again today, and you’ll notice that this decreases in intensity over the next couple of weeks.

If I don’t feel Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) the day after, am I working hard enough?

Yes. You were probably feeling DOMS because you recently started your workouts. Over time, DOMS goes away.

What type of shoes should I wear for _?

Running

Consider barefoot/minimalist running. These types of footwear have become quite popular in recent years. However, if you prefer “regular” running shoes your best bet is to go to a running store and get fitted for some shoes. They can analyze your feet and your gait and will recommend shoes just for you.

Weight Lifting

Flat soled shoes (Vans, Airwalks, Converse, etc) or minimalist footwear such as Vibram Five Fingers, Feelmax shoes, or even water shoes. Barefoot is also ok, but be careful not to smash your toes. If you’re going to be squatting a lot or doing the olympic lifts, dedicated weightlifting shoes with a raised heel can help your form. exrx article on weightlifting shoes

Martial Arts / Yoga

None. Barefoot or in socks is best. You want to train ankle and toe mobility and support here too.

How do I get the rotten milk smell out of my protein shake bottle?

Put a mixture of 50% vinegar and 50% water in it and let it sit overnight. Wash it afterwards and it should smell like plastic again.

Which should I do first, cardio or weights?

Since fatigue from cardio first can result in poor lifting form, the general consensus is to lift first. Read more about it in this thread.

My posture is all crappy. How do I fix it?

Note: Click the links in the text below for solutions to each of the problems presented

Lower cross syndrome is a posture issue generally caused by sitting all the time. The erector spinae (lower back spinal muscles) and hip flexors tend to be tight, and the glutes and abdominals tend to be weak. This typically results in an anterior pelvic tilt - causing one’s butt and gut to stick out.

Similarly, some people can end up with a posterior pelvic tilt. People with a posterior tilt tend to look as if their lower back and butt are completely flat.

Upper cross syndrome is another posture issue caused by sitting while hunching forward (at a computer, over books, etc). The pectorals and the upper back/next tend to be tight, while the scapular muscles (shoulder blades) and neck flexors tend to be weak. This tends to manifest with a hunchback “computer guy” posture.

Weights

How do I get started lifting weights?

Starting Strength is an excellent beginner weight lifting program. It is tailor-made for someone new to lifting who wants to get stronger and build a solid base of muscle. The program will work for men or women. If you can, purchase the book Starting Strength. It goes into great detail about how to perform the basic compound lifts that make up the program. If you can’t get the book, check out the Wikia page and the official site. Both of those sites are great resources and the Wikia page has some excellent videoson how to perform the lifts.

Can I do Starting Strength if I only have access to dumbbells or machines?

No. If you try to change the prescribed program then you are no longer doing the program. Using dumbbells or machines will produce an approximation of these two programs but it will not be a perfect replication. The major reasons that dumbbells won’t work is because the programs require that the weight used on lifts be increased in 5 pound and, in many cases, 2.5 pound increments, which is not usually possible with dumbbells. Dumbbells will also not be heavy enough to use for squats and deadlifts once you’re past the very early stages of training. Lastly, as you progress to using heavier weights, the dumbbells will become more and more difficult to get into position.

Dumbbell programs are not recommended for beginners. See this section for details.

I don’t like these programs so far. Anything else?

Sure. There’s tons of ways to get fit. As a beginner, a program like Starting Strength is going to be ridiculously more efficient than anything else. But if it’s not for you, then you’ll probably peter out quickly. Here is a beginner full-body hypertrophy program that is pretty decent. If you HAVE actually looked at Starting Strength, you’ll notice that this program is amazingly similar, but with different sets and reps – that’s because these types of programs WORK.

If it’s still not for you, the same site has a Upper/Lower split routine that is pretty decent and straight-forward. Beyond this, though, you’re on your own

If you must choose another program, choose one from this list or this list and do it. The best program is one that you follow properly and consistently.

How do I increase my _?:

Bench Press

Learn to bench. Purchase Starting Strength and learn to bench correctly. You may also check out Stronglifts’ article on benching, or view ( WARNING NSFW LANGUAGE ) Dave Tate’s lecture on benching. You should be adding weight every session. If you cannot, you will take some weight off, and move back up. If these methods fail, check to see you are getting enough rest, getting enough food, putting enough intensity into your workout, recheck your form, and then consider assistant exercises. Push ups and dips work similar sets of muscles.

Overhead Press

Learn to overhead press. Purchase Starting Strength and learn to bench correctly. You may also check out Stronglifts’ article

Squat

See this post.

Deadlift

See this post.

Chinups/Pullups

See this post.

If you need to increase your grip strength see this thread or this thread.

How do I go from skinny to strong with weight lifting?

A lot of people have had good experiences with the Starting Strength weight lifting program and the drinking a gallon of homo/whole milk a day (GOMAD Diet). Be advised that GOMAD is only necessary if you’re having a lot of trouble gaining any weight. 1/4 GOMAD or 1/2 GOMAD may be advisable depending on how many calories you need.

Starting Strength Wiki

GOMAD Diet

How often should I lift weights to get the best results?

Depends on your goals. Most beginners have great results doing some 5*5 (5 sets of 5 repetitions) programs, 3 times a week.

How many reps/sets do I do to make the most of my workout?

Depending on your goals, the following rep ranges can be used as general guidelines.

• Doing 1-3 reps focuses on power. (Heavy weight, little enough reps for a fast contraction)
• Doing 4-7 reps is best for increasing strength. (Speed slows, but heavy weight is still used)
• Doing 8-12 reps is best for increasing size. (Moderate weight and higher reps gives a great amount of overall volume and time under tension)
• Doing over 12 is best for endurance. (Lots of reps, but to get this many reps a lighter weight is used)

I’ve just started a program and after a few sessions, the weight doesn’t feel hard to lift. Why?

This is because you are still a novice to strength training and the weights you are lifting are still very light. When the weights get heavier, they will feel much tougher and you will start to feel more soreness (DOMS) in the coming days. Do not increase the weight prematurely and do not add more reps to your sets.

However, it is not out of the question to take this time to add more sets to work on your technique, especially if there is a squatting, deadlifting or Olympic lift (like power cleans) in your chosen program, as long as the extra sets do not impede on your overall progress.

How do I perform the bench press without a spotter?

As a beginner, you have a couple of options:

• Perform your bench press sets inside a power rack with the pins set just around your chest level.
• Do not put the collars on the bar. If you get pinned under the bar, tilt to one side and let the weights drop off.
• Bring the bar down to your hips and get out from underneath the bar.
• Be conservative with your reps. If you pushed out a rep and it was very tough to lock out, rack the bar and call the set “done”. Chances are you didn’t do that last, tough rep with perfect technique, so any more reps will have no benefit. This is referred to as “technical failure”.

I have one or two dumbbells and I don’t want to join a gym, can you help me design a program?

Honestly, the dumbbells will probably be a waste of your time, because either they’ll be too heavy, which will keep you from being able to exercise with proper form, or, more likely, they’ll be too light to cause any reasonable level of muscle growth. If you’re determined not to join a gym (despite the fact that many are less than $20/month and will give you access to a full range of commercial grade fitness equipment), your best bet is to put the dumbbells in a closet or a corner where you won’t stub your toe on them and do bodyweight exercises. (See the next question for full details.)

Bodyweight / Calisthenics

What if I don’t want to / can’t / would rather not use weights?

Bodyweight exercises are another option for you. Some people even prefer them. A basic program like SimpleFit is a great place to start. Burpees are an amazing cardio and conditioning exercise - watch Mike Rowe demonstrate. A good resource for different bodyweight skills and tutorials to learn said skills can be found at Beast Skills.

As you progress, and are able to do a decent amount of reps, you will stop progressing in strength and will progress in endurance and stamina. This is fine, but if you want to keep increasing strength, you need harder exercises. At this point, buy and follow a routine like Convict Conditioning, Naked Warrior, or Never Gymless.

What do I do if I can’t do one pullup?

Negatives and assisted pullups are the answer here. A negative pullup involves grabbing the bar, jumping so you chin comes close to the bar, and squeezing everything to let yourself down as slow as possible. Assisted pullups require a chair. Stand on the chair so you chin is near the bar, and pull with all your might. Use both your legs and arms to do the pullup. This works best if you’re not standing directly under the bar, but slightly beyond it so your body angles underneath the bar.

But bodyweight skills are easy! I can do 100 pushups and situps no problem

Pushups, pullups, and things like this are considered basic skills. The following list of progressions should get harder and harder, but they are by no means a workout progression. Check out some of the plans listed in the resources at the end of this page.

• Pushups -> Close Grip / Triangle Pushups -> One Armed Pushups
• Bodyweight Squats -> High Step Ups -> Pistols -> Jumping Pistols
• Pullups -> Uneven Pullups -> One Armed Pullups
• Situps -> Lying Straight Leg Raises -> Hanging Straight Leg Raises
• Pushups -> Pike Pushups -> Handstand Pushups

But you can’t get stronger with bodyweight skills!

This is simply not true. While bodyweight skills definitely have an upper limit, unlike weight lifting which is limited only by how many plates will fit on the bar, leverage can be varied quite a bit, increasing the difficulty of these skills. There are many stories of people who don’t weight train lifting very large amounts their first time out, due to body weight skills. Here is a video of Ross Enamait deadlifting 455lbs (at 170lb body weight) with no deadlift skills and a primarily bodyweight-only training routine.

What are some recommended Bodyweight only programs?

For most of these programs, you WILL need a pullup bar at the very least.

• SimpleFit is a very easy program to get into, and is very hard to master. Good for general fitness goals.
• Naked Warrior is a very good program which teaches you how to master the one-armed pushup and the one-legged squat. It also covers many of Pavel’s typical techniques, such as maintaining full-body tension, proper breathing, irradiation, and many more. Good for general fitness goals for an intermediate or advance athlete.
• Convict Conditioning is a great routine with a concrete progression structure focusing on 6 “master” exercises: one-armed pushup, one-legged squat, one-armed chinup/pullup, hanging straight-leg raises, one-armed handstand pushup, and a stand-to-stand back bridge. Good for increasing strength and training to achieve any of these master steps, even from beginner level.
• RMAX International has an entire line of workout plans which are bodyweight only. TACFIT is an all-in-one plan that is very good. FlowFit covers one specific routine made for freedom of movement and conditioning. BodyFlow covers what RMAX calls “biomechanical exercise” or “tactical gymnastics” – a combination of strength, flexibility, and tumbling work.
• Building the Gymnastic Body covers gymnastic style training with a fitness slant. Slightly more equipment is required for advanced levels, such as gymnastic rings or parallel bars.
• You Are Your Own Gym is a fairly comprehensive program that lots of practitioners seem to love. At the very least, it’s a good dictionary of exercises.
• Some more ideas can be read through in this thread.

Cardio

What is “conditioning”?

Conditioning, or Aerobic Conditioning, is training your cardiovascular system pump blood, and thus oxygen, throughout your body better. Conditioning and cardio are generally synonyms, though conditioning is a more accurate term.

If I want to be more conditioned, do I need to run?

Not at all. Running and sprinting are very good ways to condition yourself, but there are many other options. Jump rope (for time) is a classic example. Burpees are also a good choice for conditioning: try doing the maximum number of reps in a given time period, like 10 minutes.

How do I start running?

Try the Couch to 5km Program (here is the chart), and check out the running subreddit.

Why does running hurt my knees?

You run wrong. Hyper-padded shoes reduce nerve feedback to fool you into heel striking (contacting the ground on the heel with a straight leg). The human leg is amazing. If you jump, you can land nearly soundlessly by bending at 4 different locations: toes, ankle, knee, and hip. All the force is spread out and absorbed by the muscles not the joints. You want this same feeling while running. Run on the balls of your feet, with shorter strides. Yes, it may be slower while your body adjusts, but it will save you all the knee damage. Consider barefoot running, or shoes with less padding.

I want to up my running mileage.

To increase mileage read How to Add Running Mileage Safely to allow your body to get used to the increased load. Never try to lose weight while training for an event, especially half and full marathons.

Why does my skin get itchy when I run?

It’s called “exercise-induced urticaria”, a milder form of a very serious condition called “exercise induced anaphylaxis”. Histamine is a vasodilator, and your vessels dilate to increase blood flow during exercise. If you get too much, too fast, it gets itchy- just like during an allergic reaction. You can take loratidine (Claritin)/cetirizine (Zyrtec) for it before you exercise to decrease the intensity. Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) also works, but can be sedating. If it’s severe enough, you can combine 2 classes – as benadryl/loratidine/cetirizine are H1 blockers combined with some heartburn meds like – Cimetidine (Tagamet)/famotidine (Pepsid)- cause they are H2 blockers. You’ll live, but it’s annoying. It’s more likely to show up with more drastic temperature differences (I.E. Running in colder weather from a warm house, or leaving a cool house to run in very hot weather).

Swimming and Cardio

Swimming is highly effective cardio exercise BUT generally only effective for experienced swimmers. For new swimmers, poor technique means uncontrolled breathing and gasping, leading people to believe that they are exercising much harder than they really are, when in fact they are only suffering lack of oxygen. The most important initial step in swimming is to get stroke analysis as a basis for improving the stroke.

What can you tell me about the value of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) or Tabata?

Check out this recent academic article reviewing definitions of HIIT and its benefits. If you are interested in starting a HIIT sprinting program, here is a website which describes a novice program. Some good threads can be found here and here and here.

Flexibility / Mobility

What is flexibility? How is it related to mobility?

In general, flexibility is the ability to move your body into an extended position or range of motion – the splits are a good example. Mobility, however, is better thought of as “flexibility in motion” – high kicks, for example, are related to the splits flexibility, but are not the same, as a person who can do the splits may not be able to kick high

Both flexibility and mobility are very very similar. So similar, in fact, that the terms are generally used interchangeably. Just try to think of it this way: flexibility work tends to involve static stretches, and mobility work tends to involve movement through a full range of motion.

I am very inflexible, what sort of stretches should I do?

A lot of flexibility issues have nothing to do with muscle length (which stretching would fix), but are more related to body alignment – pelvic tilt, foot flexion, etc. Working on mobility and increasing range of motion can typically fix a lot of flexibility issues and should be a person’s initial focus.

Example: An average modern person who sits all the time (at work, in a car, and at home), is likely to think they have tight hamstrings that need stretching. This is generally not the case. Sitting too much causes issues with pelvic tilt. Being that the hamstrings are attached to the pelvis, tilting the pelvis causes the hamstrings to become taut. So, in the case of your average person above, fixing the pelvic tilt is going to be a superior solution to stretching the hamstrings. troublesome has two very good writeups onposterior and anterior pelvic tilt that are definitely worth reading. A google spreadsheet of the troublesome’s stretches and mobility exercises and be found here

Suggested upper body mobility work: Band or bar dislocates, scapular wall slides, scapular pushups, YTWL drills, large arm circles

Suggested lower body mobility work: Full squat holds, cossak squats, walking in a squat position, front and side leg swings (do not kick!), “Hula Hoop” hip circles

When should I do mobility work?

Mobility work generally involves dynamic movement. As such, it lends itself very well to a basic warmup. Most people recommend doing dynamic mobility work for the muscles and joints you plan to use in a workout as part of the warmup.

When should I stretch?

Assuming you have already addressed posture and body alignment issues, and are working on mobility, stretching can be a nice addition to your arsenal. Just remember that stretching alone won’t fix most flexibility issues as they tend to be related to body alignment. Static stretching is typically done after a workout, when muscles are fatigued – this means the muscles that fire as part of the stretch reflex won’t be as strong and you will be able to stretch a little bit more. Static stretching before a workout, contrary to popular belief, does not help prevent injury and can actually cause a slight decrease in strength for a period of time.

What sort of stretches should I do?

“Stretching” is quite a broad term. There are a few types of stretching, these can be split up into dynamic stretches and static stretches. Static stretches can be further split up into static active flexibility, static passive flexibility and isometric stretches.

• Static active involves holding a stretched position using your muscles, eg holding a side kick in the air on your own.
• Static passive flexibility (relaxed stretches) are done with your muscles in a relaxed state, these are what most people think of as stretching.
• Isometric stretching involves reaching a stretched position, contracting the muscles and holding that position for a period of time after which increasing the stretch and reapplying the tension
• Dynamic stretching involves stretching a muscle with controlled, dynamic movements rather than reaching a stretched position and holding the stretch

Designing a stretching routine is as difficult as designing a workout routine, and should not be attempted by beginners. The following sources are recommended for full routines:

• Martial Arts Planet guide
• Tricks Tutorials guide
• Brad Appleton’s Stretching ebook
• AGT Program Stretching
• Sport Stretch (book)
• Stretching Scientifically (book)

Gym Etiquette

I’ve never been to a gym before. What should I remember to do?

• Re-rack your weights when you’re finished. Help keep the gym clean. Also, some people have trouble lifting the heavier weights.
• Wipe down machines when you’re done
• Talking (or grunting) at a reasonable volume is fine. Avoid occupying equipment while you’re chatting, though.
• Don’t use more than one piece of equipment at a time unless you are sure nobody else needs them.
• If you’re resting between sets and someone is waiting, offer to let them work in. This means alternating your sets and theirs in order to share the equipment. Don’t be afraid to ask (politely!) if you’re in the opposite position.
• Try not to stare at others in the gym – it can distract them and make them uncomfortable. If you’re watching somebody’s form, don’t do it for too long.
• More here, and this thread
• Don’t offer unsolicited advice, unless somebody is close to hurting themselves. You can also let a staff member know if you don’t want to approach them yourself and the danger is not imminent.
• If you notice that somebody looks like they need a spot immediately (the bar has stopped moving in a place where it’s not supposed to), stand by ready to help, if they call out for help then please do so. Grabbing onto the bar without their knowledge as it may startle them, distract them, or they possibly could have gotten that rep but were at a sticking point. Some people also prefer to abandon a failed rep on their hips (when it comes to a bench press) rather than have a spot.

I don’t have a spotter, can I ask somebody?

PLEASE DO! Most people around will be happy to help. Be a good citizen, and if somebody asks you, give them a spot.

What should I wear?

Wear closed-toed shoes for safety. Other than that, just remember that workout clothes shouldn’t interfere with your exercises. Excessively bagging clothing will get in your way, excessively tight may constrict your motion as well. Wear something comfortable which doesn’t get in your way. Lots of people wear skimpy clothing to the gym, this may bother you but remember that they are probably just dressing for comfort.

I’d like to compliment somebody on their progress/form/effort. Should I?

There are various opinions on this. Some people will appreciate it. Other people don’t like knowing that anyone is paying attention to them. I wish there were a simple answer to this, but there isn’t.

There’s a bully at my gym. Help!

Do you have a guy or a girl who just won’t leave you to workout in peace? Try some of these methods of dealing with your “bully” before you consider going to jail for assault with a 5-pound dumbbell.

Ignore Try ignoring them. Maybe that weirdo is just having an off day. If you can shut them out mentally and still get a great workout, do it.

Confront You’ve tried waiting for him or her to go away, but they just won’t leave you alone. You’re absolutely sure an intentional gauntlet has been thrown, and now it’s time to accept.

• Don’t overreact. Anger is a common response to things that a person does not understand (why is this happening? what are you doing?). When you explode in a raging maelstrom of doom and destruction at your provoker, they’ve won. Plus, you might get kicked out of your gym.
• Address the person away from other people, and, again, keep your cool. By approaching them amongst other people, it will be much harder for him/her to back down from their tough crap act.
• Remember, SIZE MEANS NOTHING. The ripped, vain look is usually only there for one reason: intimidation. Once you aren’t intimidated, they lose all their power over you.
• Maybe this person is a dick because their life sucks. Maybe you could make it better by being the nice person. You might even find a good drinking buddy out of it. This comment suggests the “nice guy” approach. (Always good to start with this one.)http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/kxfba/advice_gym_bully/c2o1zyx
• Good response to mean looks can be found here.http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/kxfba/advice_gym_bully/c2o0gkd
• Does a humorous remark suit you better? Try this. http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/kxfba/advice_gym_bully/c2o0i7w

A Higher Power If none of those have worked and you’re at the end of your rope, consider talking with the manager about it.

• PASSIVE FOLKS BEWARE - If you are skipping down to this step because it sounds easier, a fair warning to you. Rarely does a business have a strict “no tolerance” policy, so if your bully learns that you tried to get him/her kicked out of the gym, you could find yourself in a much worse (possibly irreparable) situation.

Switch Gyms Sometimes, it’s better to just move on. Consider looking into another gym that you would enjoy going to.

For more comments and advice, feel free to look through this thread. http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/kxfba/advice_gym_bully/