It’s the time of the year again where it’s always raining outside and you can’t run without getting yourself soaked to the toes. Otherwise, sometimes it’s pretty fun to run indoor on the treadmill if you’re feeling lazy. However, on my recent trip to the gym to run using the treadmill, something happened which made my blood boil. Hence, I decided to come up with this post - The 7 Obey or Die Treadmill Rules.
- Sitting On The Treadmill - THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO ME. It happened on one of those days where all the treadmills are taken all except one. However, there was someone sitting on the treadmill itself, presumably taking a break from her run. Therefore, I approached and asked her politely if I can use the treadmill. To my surprise, she said that she is still using it. To make sure I have not heard wrongly, I said ‘Excuse Me’ and she replied the same thing without any remorse. Luckily, the person on the next treadmill left after only 10 more minutes. Soonafter, the lady returned to her treadmill but she was on walking speed throughout. You can never guess what happened next, after roughly 20 minutes of walking, the lady is on her break again and sat down promptly on the treadmill. This is infuriating and one of the worst etiquettes I have seen in the gym ever. Period.
- Stop Staring At My Speed - Yes, you, that’s right. I do know whenever you are staring at my speed all right. Thanks to my fly-like eyes or whatever reasons, I can sense whenever someone takes a peek at how I am doing. Just go at your own pace and stop feeling insecure about others’ speed.
- Keep The Volume Down - This is also something else that I have experienced first hand as well. Having the mobile phone blasting music while running on the treadmill. I mean, c'mon, do you really want people to listen to music as well? Why can’t you just put on a pair of earpiece like everyone else does? And for runners who have earpiece on, please do not sing. Leave the singing to the showers and karaoke. There are also runners who like to talk on the phone while running. Thank you very much but I do not want to know how your cousin’s sister’s son peed his pants in school earlier that morning.
- Hoarding The Treadmills - This is something that I do not get as well. I see lots of people who hoard the treadmills for an hour or so whenever they run. I understand if there are empty treadmills so you can train however you like. However, often times people continue to hoard when there are limited treadmills in smaller gyms. Is it so hard to stick a quick 30 minutes run so that more people can enjoy the facilities? Save your longer runs for off-peak hours and days.
- Body Odor - This is serious and not meant as a joke. There are people who suffer from bad body odor and this is terrible when we are lined up together on the treadmills. People who are running will have to breathe in the body odor for 20-30 minutes which is unbearable if the smell is too strong. For people who suffer from body odor, please get a towel to wipe off your sweat from time to time. Stronger deodorants and antiperspirants can also help greatly to mask the smell significantly.
- Prepare A Towel - This is especially true for heavy sweaters. Nobody likes to use a treadmill right after you with it soaking wet with all your germs, diseases and body fluids. And this applies to other gym equipments as well, if only everyone does the same thing, gyms can be a wonderful place to workout and have fun.
- Farts - Farting is natural but please try to avoid it if possible when running on the treadmills in an enclosed area like the gym. You may be lucky if everyone is wearing earpieces so they can’t locate the exact culprit, however, they CAN still smell it. Even if you are one who has mastered the art of the ‘silent killer’ fart, please spare a thought for the other runners there.
Above are my 7 obey or die treadmill rules, please do not take them too seriously because this is just a fun list to do. Running is supposed to be fun and this is just something to get a few chuckles out of my readers.
Do you have any of your personal obey or die treadmill rules to share? Or do you have any funny treadmill stories to share with the readers here, please feel free to leave a comment below.
