asbestosman wrote: I think this year I'm also going to add kayak to my list of activities. If I'm gonna sweat, I'd rather do so outdoors in the fresh air instead of next to some sweaty stranger indoors while I pay a monthly fee for that privilege. I guess that's just me though.
Oh, you are so right. It is sort of gross. The entire atmosphere is nasty. But, I do the weights and I just don't want them in my home. Yet, I do prefer outdoor activities to a gym. I try to pretend I'm not there when I'm doing cardio. The entire vibe of gyms is just intensely creepy to me.
There's always the sweaty dude that I unintentionally catch with my eyes at the most inopportune time -- and GOD FORBID I HAPPEN TO LOOK AT HIM AS HE IS LOOKING AT ME! ACK! There's always a few that stare at all the bosoms and bottoms. There's always the one that wants to talk to me even 'though I avert my eyes repeatedly when he stops talking and I can stare again at my book. There's always the Mommies that come in swarms that take over a couple of machines and linger. There's always the few that are attention whores that you can't help but look at -- even though you hate to give them the satisfaction. And then, of course, there are the changing rooms.
And BYU students are complaining about videos?
Who needs videos when you can observe a smorgasbord of human behavior in their quest for perfection crammed into a sweaty, high intensity, frantic atmosphere?
Sethbag wrote:This whole protest is infantile. As someone else said, BYU has its over very nice gym facilities for any of its students who can't stand to be in a building where live women in exercise clothes are doing aerobics.
Heh, good point. In fact, the only time I used a gym was when I was a student at BYU because then it was free (well, free after tuition anyhow).
Why use a gym. I've got the whole world and my bicycle for free.
You got a bike for free? How?
There's this nifty little device that was invented some time ago.
Nowdays, they call them "bolt cutters".
So you're the reason I went through 5 bikes on my Mission.
It's possible. Green, 3-speed, Schwinn? Neon-Blue Trike with the black flame stickers?
:P
I'm still tempted to put a card, secured by a clothes pin, in my spokes.
Sethbag wrote:Or maybe "back in the day" guys grew up with communal showers in gym at school, served in the military with communal showers, and simply never gave it a second thought. You know, naked guys taking showers in a gym never used to be a problem. What's changed?
Personally, I'm not offended by naked old man butt at the gym. I don't even pay attention. It's not a big deal. It's a locker room, there's gonna be some naked people in there doing what people do in locker rooms. Have we raised a generation of total wusses or something?
Yeah but when I'm sitting down putting on my shoes and they walk up to talk to me it's a little to "open" for my comfort.
GoodK wrote:This is why I think religion has no place in society. The live and let live method just doesn't work. Here is a great example of how Mormons just can't leave us alone.
I'd be interested in whether you've read The End of Faith by Sam Harris. He forcefully argues a number of similar points.
Moniker wrote:The only people that walk about unabashadly in the female locker room is 70-90+ year old women. I suppose with age you just don't care anymore?? Like I said, I try not to look at anyone. I've become quite skilled at navigating about with eyes glued to the floor.
Same on the men's side. Old people. But we also have morbidly obese people on the men's side. In fact that episode I wrote about on my blog actually was worse than 2girls1cup.
As to the opening posts...OMG! What a bunch of little crybabies. Is there not a YMCA or an alternative to Gold's Gym? Can't they come out with YMMA or something? Jeez. Of all the things to bitch about they bitch about this? Get a damn Ipod and a book and don't watch the TV. I never watch TV at the gym....cause you know...I'm working out!
Well, I don't mind if they're changing. But they just stand about usually. They'll sit down, legs spraddled, talking. It's just odd?
Phaedrus Ut wrote:Yeah but when I'm sitting down putting on my shoes and they walk up to talk to me it's a little to "open" for my comfort.
Phaedrus
You get naked old men walking up to you while your sitting on a bench in the locker room? I can't say I've had that happen, but if it ever does, good advice would be "look them in the eye". In the locker rooms I've been in, people tend to stick to the business of getting a shower and getting dressed, not approaching each other for conversation while in the buff.
Mormonism ceased being a compelling topic for me when I finally came to terms with its transformation from a personality cult into a combination of a real estate company, a SuperPac, and Westboro Baptist Church. - Kishkumen
Moniker wrote:There's always a few that stare at all the bosoms and bottoms.
I can't help it...I'm like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. My vision is based on movement.
"Whatever appears to be against the Book of Mormon is going to be overturned at some time in the future. So we can be pretty open minded."-charity 3/7/07
GoodK wrote:This is why I think religion has no place in society. The live and let live method just doesn't work. Here is a great example of how Mormons just can't leave us alone.
I'd be interested in whether you've read The End of Faith by Sam Harris. He forcefully argues a number of similar points.
Don
Of course I have. Wonderful book. I have also met with Sam on more than one occasion.
GoodK wrote:This is why I think religion has no place in society. The live and let live method just doesn't work. Here is a great example of how Mormons just can't leave us alone.
By the same token you can argue that politics has no place in society.
Umm... I don't really see the connection. I'd love for you to give an example, either in theory or practice, that helps clarify this statement.
The Democrats won't leave Republican businesses alone. They always to regulate, tax, and prevent wars we're waging against people we've never met. Why can't they just leave us alone?
The Republicans won't leave Democrats alone. They always want to cut taxes going to critical things, maintain a bloated military, and keep gay marriages off the lawbooks. Why can't they leave us alone?
Everyone wants to shove their standards and ideals on everyone else.
Interesting... I think republicans and democrats are products of the system the United States has chosen to govern its society, rather than something that just happens to exist in society and tries to change the people around it.. I also think as citizens, we have given our consent to not be left alone in this sense.
asbestosman wrote:I think this year I'm also going to add kayak to my list of activities. If I'm gonna sweat, I'd rather do so outdoors in the fresh air instead of next to some sweaty stranger indoors while I pay a monthly fee for that privilege. I guess that's just me though.
I envy you. Its not much of an option here in Brooklyn. Oh, sure I could run in the park and (sort of) kayak down the Gowanus Canal (something I'll be doing soon, but its not like you could build up a sweat doing it!). Trouble is, my knees are too shot for much running and the humidity makes it hard to even go outside in the summer. So the gym it is.
But if I lived somewhere west, I'd be outside as much as possible.
Plus I like the atmosphere of my local Y. Its very community oriented with people from all backgrounds and of all ages. Oh sure there's those provocative mothers with their kids in the "Mommy and Me" yoga classes....hussies!
And everybody wanders around half clothed in the locker and steam rooms: young and old. Its nice. Its humanity.
From the Ernest L. Wilkinson Diaries: "ELW dreams he's spattered w/ grease. Hundreds steal his greasy pants."