Most gyms have the standard rules posted on the wall, but the real laws of gym etiquette are the unwritten ones.
Breaking these won’t get you arrested, but it might get you the stink eye from the large powerlifter in the corner. And nobody wants that.
Here are 30 unwritten rules of the gym, categorized to help you survive on the iron floor.
Table of Contents
Hygiene Gym Etiquette
1. Wipe It Down
Nobody wants to lie in a puddle of your back sweat. If you leave a silhouette of your back on the bench like a crime scene, you’ve failed.
Spray the paper towel, then wipe the bench, handles, or whatever you touched. Don’t spray the machine directly (it can gum up the cables).
2. Don’t Smell
A gym should smell like iron and effort, not onions and regret. You don’t have to take a shower before your workouts, but wash up and put on some deodorant if you’re stinky.
And that goes for your training clothes as well. Don’t put sweaty gym wear back in your trunk and reuse it without washing or at least rinsing it. It quickly starts to smell like last month’s cheese.
3. But Go Easy on the Cologne/Perfume
One spray max. Or zero.
Heavy scents don’t mix well with sweat. You’ll choke out the person on the treadmill next to you.
Your cologne could mean nausea for everyone else, so go easy on the scents.
4. Keep Your Footwear On
Unless you are deadlifting and need a flat surface (and have socks on), keep your sneakers or lifting shoes laced up.
Nobody wants to see or smell your socks (or even worse, your bare feet) while you’re doing leg extensions.
Also, dropping a 45-lb plate on your bare big toe is a visual none of us need to see.
5. Stay Home if You’re Sick
Sharing gains is good. Sharing influenza is not.
If you are sick, stay home if it’s more than a runny nose. The weights will be there when you get back. And so will your gains. You don’t wither away from a few days out of the gym.
- Sniffles? Go light, wipe down your equipment twice, and keep to yourself. Even if you feel OK, think about every other person in your gym who doesn’t want your plague.
- Fever or chest cold? Stay in bed. Take it easy. Eat chicken soup.1
- Contagious? Don’t be Patient Zero.
Do I really need to explain why squatting with an upset stomach is a bad idea?
If you’ve been sick for more than a few days, you might not want to jump straight back into your regular workout routine.
We have a Reboot Workout After Being Sick, free in the StrengthLog app, specifically for this occasion (but I hope you won’t need to use it).
6. The Chalk Cloud
Chalk is the nectar of the grip gods (it really does improve your grip if your hands are sweaty).2 But it is also the bane of every commercial gym manager’s existence.
Use it if you need it and your gym allows (if everything is purple and chrome and there’s a “Lunk Alarm,” chalk is likely contraband), but keep your hands in the bucket/pouch when you apply it.
Clapping your hands to create a majestic cloud of intimidation is a major no-no, unless you are about to lift a world record or you own the gym.
And when you’re done, don’t leave the bar looking like it was dusted with powdered sugar.
Or, you can use liquid chalk if you want to be a polite member of gym society (and avoid the manager’s death stare). It is the superior choice for the general commercial gym.
7. The Hairdryer Is for Head Hair Only
Do not lift your leg up to the counter in the locker room to dry your nether regions. Use a towel.
I’ve seen this happen several times, and once was more than enough. Don’t be that guy (or gal).
Equipment and Territory Gym Etiquette
8. Re-Rack Your Weights
Perhaps the #1 rule (and likely not just an unwritten one).
If you are strong enough to lift it, you are strong enough to put it back.
So, put the plates back where they belong, matching weights together.
When I trained in a dungeon gym in the late ’80s, they had welded a pair of 110-lb plates to the leg press as a new baseline, because if you weren’t strong enough to warm up with those, there were other gyms down the street. Not really recommended practice.
9. Don’t Curl in the Squat Rack
Doing biceps curls in the squat rack is the gym equivalent of microwaving fish in the office breakroom. Technically, you can do it, but everyone will give you the side-eye for it.
There are usually only two or three squat racks in a standard commercial gym. Unless you are curling 300 lb (in which case, do whatever you want, you are the captain now), let those who are doing leg day get first dibs on them.
10. Don’t Hoard Equipment
Don’t claim a bench, a set of dumbbells, and a cable machine all at once during peak hours.
You aren’t Smaug sitting on a pile of gold. Supersets are fine, but be reasonable if the gym is packed.
11. Unload Your Bar
Is there anything more annoying than when you’re about to start your warm-up, and the only free barbell is loaded with 200 pounds?
Strip the bar when you’re done. This ties in with rule 8.
The same goes for the Smith machine. Just because the bar is attached to the machine doesn’t mean the plates are.
The next person might not even be able to lift your 45s. Be considerate.
12. Put the Dumbbells Back (In the Right Spot)
Leaving dumbbells on the floor is a great way to break an ankle (or trip someone else). Pretend that the gym floor is lava and keep it clear.
But it’s not enough to get them onto the rack. If the sticker on the rack says 30 lb, and you are holding a 30-lb dumbbell: ding-ding! You’ve found a match.
And one more thing: don’t grab the 20s, 25s, and 30s and build a little fort around your bench. Use one pair, put them back, grab the next so everyone can play.
13. Step Away From the Dumbbell Rack
Official gym etiquette dictates that once you have selected your dumbbells, you should take at least 3 to 5 feet (about 1 to 1.5 meters) back from the rack before you start heaving them (actually, I made those numbers up, but they sound about right).
If you are standing two inches from the rack doing lateral raises, you are physically blocking about 15 other pairs of dumbbells.
And while you are pumping up your delts, the person behind you waiting for the 25s is staring at the back of your head, calculating how quickly they can sneak in without getting bonked on the conk. That’s super annoying for everyone, including yourself.
14. Don’t Drop the Dumbbells
Unless you are in a hardcore powerlifting gym or a CrossFit box, dropping dumbbells destroys the focus of everyone around you (and scares the cardio bunnies). And breaks the weights if you do it often enough.
Also, when you drop them, they tend to bounce. A 65-lb dumbbell bouncing sideways into your neighbor’s ankle is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
One exception: if you feel your elbow giving out or the weight is slipping towards your face, let gravity take over and drop the dumbbells. Gym etiquette never trumps safety.
15. Don’t Hog Equipment You’re Not Using
If you are using the bench for an exercise, that bench is yours until you finish your sets.
However, if you’re using a free bench as a sofa because your legs are tired between sets of biceps curls, and someone needs that bench to actually lift, you’re blocking their workout. Or worse, they think the bench is taken and have to change their entire workout.
But if it’s 2 AM or the gym is a ghost town, sit wherever you want. No harm, no foul.
16. Return the Attachments
A tie-in with rules 8 and 12. When you’re done with your lat pulldowns, remove the handle and return it to the handle rack.
Not the same potential hazard as leaving dumbbells all over the gym floor, but almost as annoying. You trigger a gym-wide scavenger hunt that nobody signed up for.
Social Dynamics and Awareness Gym Etiquette
17. No Unsolicited Advice
Unless someone is in immediate danger of snapping their spine, keep your coaching cues to yourself.
Yes, you probably mean well, but it can come across as condescending.
Besides, maybe they are doing a sport-specific variation you haven’t seen before. Or maybe they are rehabbing an injury and have to move that way. Focus on your own reps.
18. Working in Between Sets
Working in (using the same piece of equipment while the other person rests) saves time and builds camaraderie. A hallmark of a civilized gym society!
It’s perfectly acceptable gym etiquette to ask someone if you can jump in between their sets. Except when it isn’t. There are exceptions.
🟢 It’s a pin-loaded machine or a dumbbell exercise. Anything where it’s easy and fast to change weights.
🟡 It’s a plate-loaded machine, like the leg press. Still acceptable, but only if you lift roughly the same weights. If they are leg pressing 800 lb and you are using 200 lb, stripping the plates back and forth will take longer than the actual workout.
🔴 They are in the middle of a heavy squat or deadlift session or psyching themselves up for a PR. Just wait.
It works the other way around, too. If the gym is packed and you’re doing half a dozen sets with long rests, and see someone eyeing your equipment enviously, feel free to ask if they want to work in.
19. Headphones = Do Not Disturb
If someone has big over-ear headphones on, they don’t want to discuss the weather or your new cutting diet.
It’s the universal symbol for “I am training. Unless the building is on fire, leave me be.”
You may breach the force field only for asking if they are using a piece of equipment (point at the equipment, raise eyebrows), imminent injury, or the actual fire alarm.
And if you are the one wearing headphones: just because you can’t hear the gym doesn’t mean the gym disappears. Don’t drift into people’s walking paths or bump into someone squatting.
20. Don’t Talk to Someone Mid-Set
Talking to someone mid-rep is the fastest way to make an enemy for life, but it can also be downright dangerous.
The only sounds that should leave your mouth are words of encouragement (“Light weight!”) if you’re actively spotting them or a “Watch out!” if you spot a rogue medicine ball flying toward their head.
21. Don’t Stare
It’s rude everywhere else in life; it’s rude in the gym, too.
Even if you’re just staring at their impeccable technique, it will come across as creepy.
However, sometimes it can happen by accident when you’re resting between sets, exhausted, staring blankly into the middle distance. Suddenly, you snap out of it and realize you have been staring directly at a stranger for 45 seconds. Just look away. Don’t try to save it by nodding or smiling; that just makes it look intentional.
I do think it’s OK to watch someone deadlifting a small car or doing some other feat of strength that demands attention, though.
22. Limit Your Grunting
Some noise on a heavy lift is normal and improves performance. Several studies show that grunting (and even swearing aloud) can boost strength and power.3 4
I strongly disagree with gyms that put the ban hammer on even the smallest “ugh,” but screaming like a banshee is seeking attention. You can spot those guys (it’s almost always a guy) who look around the room immediately after screaming to see who was watching.
My personal rule says: If you are squatting 500+ lb, you can scream. If you are doing triceps kickbacks with 15 lb, silence is golden.
But respect your gym rules (and the people around you). If you’re in a powerlifting or strongman gym, grunt away. It’s part of the culture.
23. Spotting Someone
Asking someone to spot you on a lift is perfectly acceptable gym etiquette. In my almost four decades in the gym, 99% of people are flattered to be asked.
But you cannot just lie down and bench press and hope they can read your mind. You must give them instructions, like “Don’t touch the bar unless I stop moving,” or 99% of those 99% will grab the bar too early.
They should also look physically capable of helping you lift the weight if you fail. It’s not a good idea to ask someone half your size to spot your 400 lb bench press.
24. Mirror Etiquette
If someone is lifting and facing the mirror, they are likely using their reflection for balance and cues (or checking out their pump). All valid reasons.
If you stand between a lifter and their reflection, you are now an obstacle. Within reason: they can’t stand 30 feet away from the mirror and not expect someone to want to use the empty space.
You are allowed to walk past someone mid-set. You don’t have to wait for them to finish all 15 reps. Just don’t walk in front of them and stop to check your phone.
25. Keep the Nudity Brief
Change clothes, shower, towel off.
The locker room is not a lounge. No one wants to have a conversation with you while you are air-drying one leg up on the bench. No, wait, that was rule #7. You broke two in one workout!
26. Bag on the Floor
The gym floor is prime real estate. When you drop a giant duffel bag next to your machine, you have effectively annexed a neighborhood.
Besides, gyms are filled with enough heavy objects moving around. If you add a strap-laden obstacle course to the floor and someone backs up with 80-pound dumbbells and trips over your bag, that’s a catastrophe in the making.
Gyms build entire rooms with metal boxes for this purpose. Use them.
Exception: If you work out in a powerlifting/strongman/CrossFit gym, bags are often acceptable. These guys carry a comical amount of gear: at least one lifting belt, knee sleeves, wrist wraps, lifting shoes, chalk, smelling salts, bands, and three different types of snacks (powerlifters).
So, in a hardcore lifting gym, carrying a bag is normal because you need your toolbox. However, even there, try to shove it under a bench or into a corner.
27. It’s a Gym, Not Your Movie Studio
If you are filming yourself (which is fine), make sure your tripod’s not blocking a walkway, and don’t get angry if someone walks into the frame.
It’s a public gym, after all, not a movie set. Other people’s rights to move about trumps your training videos or Instagram shots.
And try to set things up so you’re the only one in view. If someone walks into the frame, that’s on them, but don’t make them the star of your show.
28. Personal Space
If someone is pacing back and forth, muttering to themselves before a heavy deadlift, give them at least five feet of space.
If someone is doing cleans or snatches, stay at least 6–8 feet away in all directions. Olympic lifters have to drop the bar or jump backward on a regular basis. If you stand too close, you’re part of the accident report.
And don’t set up your mat six inches from someone else in an empty room. It’s kinda weird!
Related: don’t stretch in traffic. The walkway between the machines is for moving about the gym, not for your downward dog.
29. If You Break It, Tell Someone
Accidents happen, equipment breaks.
But don’t just walk away from a jammed cable machine. Tell the staff so the next person doesn’t have to. Or, even worse, doesn’t notice and gets hurt.
30. Don’t Sit on Equipment Just to Doomscroll
If you’re training hard or heavy (or both) and need long rests between sets, that’s fine. You might even boost your strength gains that way.5
And I very much disagree with people who adamantly claim that you must leave your phone in the locker room. Spending time on the phone between sets does not take more time than staring into space.
But there is a big difference between allowing your body to recover from a near-death squat attempt and forgetting you are in a public gym because a social media algorithm has you in a chokehold.
Changing the song, setting a timer, replying to an urgent text, or tracking your lifts in StrengthLog between sets is fine. But if you need to doomscroll, do it on the stretching mats.
Final Rep
And that’s a wrap! Now that you know the laws of the land, you’re ready to lift without getting side-eyed by the locals.
Bonus Rule #31: Focus more on what you’re doing in the weight room and less on what your fellow lifters do, and you’ll enjoy both your training and life in general a little bit more.
And speaking of StrengthLog and tracking your lifts, it’s not just good gym etiquette in my world; it’s to be commended.
Logging your training to track your volume and progression is the best way to make sure you’re always improving.
If you aren’t tracking, you are guessing.
Track Your Training. See Real Progress.
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Thanks for reading, and see you in the gym!
Last reviewed: 2025-12-11
References
- Chicken Soup Cure May Not be a Myth. The Nurse Practitioner 28(6):p 16, June 2003.
- Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part J: Journal of Engineering Tribology. 2012;226(7):616-625. An assessment of the performance of grip enhancing agents used in sports applications.
- Scientific Journal of Sport and Performance 4(2):247-256, March 2025. Grunting increases power production and vertical jump height in experienced martial artists.
- Psychology of Sport and Exercise, Volume 35, March 2018, Pages 111-117. Effect of swearing on strength and power performance.
- J Strength Cond Res. 2016 Jul;30(7):1805-12. Longer Interset Rest Periods Enhance Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Resistance-Trained Men.
