12 Annoying Gym Guys You Don't Want to Be

Every gym has a group of guys you do your best to avoid. For whatever reasons, these guys have the ability to frustrate everyone around them without ever noticing that they are a distraction.

Related: 64 Ways to Tell if You're a Gym Idiot

Avoiding eye contact and pretending you can't hear them over your headphones is not enough to circumvent their hindrances. Do your best to avoid turning into one of these troublemakers.

12 Annoying Gym Guys

#1 - The Wannabe Iron Scholar

No one likes a know-it-all, especially when they don't know it all.

The wannabe iron scholar thrives on sharing his perceived knowledge with everyone in the gym at every opportunity, without regard to anyone else?s personal goals or training programs. His explanations often contradict his own previous statements and he?ll try to show you a YouTube video in the middle of your session to back up his point.

He tells experienced lifters what he feels they are doing wrong and overcomplicates explaining exercises to new trainees without ever being asked. When personal trainers are explaining exercises to inexperienced clients he will interrupt with numerous variations to show how advanced he is.

#2 - Incorrect Form Guy

Proper form is essential to maximize results. Incorrect form guy insists on altering every exercise in existence, and feels the need to make sure everyone in the gym knows why he performs the exercises differently.

He improved and perfected the Arnold Press without winning a single Sandow. His pull-ups and deadlifts use the proper bars but he performs them in a horrifying manner because he believes he gets better results.

#3 - The Noisemaker

Grunting and making noises are often unavoidable when pushing yourself in the gym, and that is completely understandable. We are all going to let out some type of sound as we push ourselves to new levels of success in the gym.

The noisemaker sounds like he is maxing out on every repetition so you know he is working hard. It doesn't matter what the exercise is or how much weight is being used, his volume increases whenever someone gets close to him or when a pretty girl glances in his general direction.

don't feel like you need to be quiet when you are working out but there is no need to moan or grunt with every rep

#4 - Mr. Hard-Knock-Life

Mr. Hard-Knock-Life has it rough and he loves to tell everyone in the gym about it. His day job is more demanding than everyone else?s as he gets up before everyone, works longer than everyone does, and harder than everyone else? without even knowing what everyone else?s job is.

He still manages to get to the gym even though his family life is extremely complicated. Every time someone discusses a struggle or hardship he has a competing story to go with each situation to explain why his life is harder than his or her life.

#5 - The Fake Nutritional Expert

There are no shortages of ?nutritional experts? that tell people how many calories they should eat, when they should eat, and what must be avoided. These ?experts? proudly proclaim how many calories they consume each day but they are often easily frustrated and flustered when you inquire about their macros.

Ask them to show their math, if your expert cant tell you how many grams of fat, carbohydrates or protein they eat to reach those calories then they are misrepresenting themselves.

#6 - The Supplement Master

Every gym has a self-described supplement master who constantly suggests and incorrectly describes the benefits of various supplements. The supplement master doesn't believe in clinical studies, research papers or science because he watches YouTube and reads articles.

This makes him think creatine and amino acids provide the same results as steroids. He believes every supplement is magic if you take them like he suggests. don't even get him started on what raises testosterone levels.

#7 - The Mirror Inspector

Everyone in the gym looks at himself or herself in the mirror. That's natural and acceptable. The mirror inspector NEEDS the mirrors. Every exercise must be performed in front of a mirror, as he impresses himself with every movement.

The inspector walks around the gym watching himself flex as he passes each mirror. Placing yourself between the inspector and the mirror instantly causes frustration as he quickly moves to the left or right to ensure his muscles are still visible.

#8 - The Fashion Expert

The fashion expert tells everyone which shirts/shoes/shorts are the best and tells you how much you should have paid for everything you have. In his opinion, clothes and gear are just as important as form and consistency.

He constantly tells you why his equipment is better than yours and often fishes for compliments about his gear.

#9 - The Closet Steroid Abuser

I don't care if you take steroids or not, do whatever you want but please don't insult everyone?s intelligence in the gym. The closet steroid abuser repeatedly accuses other people of being on steroids and has an endless list of reasons to justify his accusations.

He?ll tell you certain people train too hard or are too strong to not be using steroids, but he?ll also let it slip out that he did a cycle or two if you get trapped in a private conversation with him. don't be surprised if he asks you for steroids in the locker room if no one is around.

#10 - The Fake Injury to Avoid Squats

Squats are hard but effective. Their results are indisputable but many people simply refuse to perform them.

Please don't be the guy that lies about having an injury that prevents you from squatting and then perform exercises that contradict your statements. don't squat if you don't want to, that's your problem but you can probably squat if you can do overhead squats, clean and jerks and power cleans.

Doing lightweight squats when you think people aren?t watching also gets around the gym real quick so just tough it out and start loading heavy weights on the bar and squat.

#11 - The Lurker

I understand that guys are going to look at pretty girls in the gym, that's unavoidable. Girls check out guys as well but in a different manner. Looking is one thing, lurking and studying is different.

The lurker believes he is sneaky but everyone in the gym sees right through him. He uses the mirrors to avoid direct ?eye-to butt? contact in an attempt to hide his actions while bumping into others so he doesn't lose his view. The lurker also knows which exercises or machines to utilize in order to place himself behind his target during squats and every dead lifting variation.

Please call these guys out and publicly shame them or your gym will eventually have only male trainees.

#12 - Mr. Only Guy To Take His Shirt Off While Training

don't take your shirt off in the gym and start strutting around like a gorilla in a zoo, making circles in the gym to flex and admire yourself in every mirror. It is obvious these people have huge insecurity issues and direct confrontation usually yields multiple excuses that are all pathetic justifications in their attempt to show off.

Mr. Only Guy To Take His Shirt Off In The Gym will almost always be most of the guys on this list. A great response is to take a picture and post it on Instagram as you tag your gym so everyone can laugh about it. The Instagram post wont stop him from doing it in the future but hopefully he will see everyone laughing at him in the background.

These guys will continue to populate the gyms, as most are oblivious to their actions and how they change the atmosphere of the gym. Do your best to avoid these distractions and don't be afraid to call them out on their actions. Tune them out and stay focused on your session.