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Now if they would only ban music. Nearly every person in a gym now has a smart phone and wearing earbuds. And for some reason gyms insist on blaring some god-aw
by bogomipz 9y ago
Now if they would only ban music. Nearly every person in a gym now has a smart phone and wearing earbuds. And for some reason gyms insist on blaring some god-awful awful generic "workout music." The net result being that customers have to compete with the gym's music in order to hear their own preferred music.
I tried to explain this to a manager at a gym last summer and he just stared at me blankly. It did not compute.
- hsod 9y agoIt's probably because the sound of a hundred people grunting and panting in a silent room would be weird
- 0942v8653 9y agoWhat about using white noise?
- grogenaut 9y agoThat would open them up to hundreds of copyright infringement claims!!!
- kinkrtyavimoodh 9y agoEven 4'33" of silence might!
- stordoff 9y agoWere I a member of staff, or even a frequent user who doesn't want his own music, I'd hate having to listen to white noise for extended periods.
- chimmy_chonga 9y agoThey play white noise in my building at work and, your first week you really notice it but, once you get used to it being there you don't notice it all. Except maybe when something happens and it turns off and then it's so loud that you wish it was on again.
- maxxxxx 9y agoIt's a f...ing gym! If people can't deal with the sound from other people working out they can get earplugs or get a headset.
- hsod 9y ago"can't deal with" seems like an unnecessarily personalized argument. Maybe they just like music better?
- maxxxxx 9y agoIft's fine if they like music better but their need can easily be satisfied by wearing earphones. It's harder for people who don't want music to remove it.
- jevirgen 9y agoif you listened to your arguments for the "other" people, you might consider getting ear plugs or noise-canceling headphones yourself.
- zaccus 9y agoMusic at the gym should be opt-in, not opt-out.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- squeaky-clean 9y agoThere's still always going to be some "opt-out" sounds at the gym. I'd prefer it be any kind of music rather than "Hnnnggg, urrgghh" and clink-clanks.
- imglorp 9y agoOr just ban the grunters... sigh. http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/no_grunting_allowed_at_the_gym_/ http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/no_grunting_allowed_at_the_...
- bogomipz 9y agoIt's weird that a gym sounds like a gym? There's also strangers in funny clothes sweating next to yiou. This is what one expects at a gym.
- squeaky-clean 9y agoThere's a difference between what you expect, and what you like. It doesn't mean it can't be a little better. Having something playing in the background makes the other noises less weird. It also makes me less self-conscious when I make my own grunting noises. You're telling me if they invented a machine that stopped anyone in a room from sweating or smelling, you wouldn't want your gym to have them?
- bogomipz 9y ago>"Having something playing in the background makes the other noises less weird. It also makes me less self-conscious when I make my own grunting noises." Which is presumably why the overwhelming majority of people in gyms are wearing earbuds and and enjoying their chosen music.
- squeaky-clean 9y agoOkay, but unless I can get every single person to wear earbuds than it will still make me self-conscious to grunt in front of the ones that aren't. Also the gym staff. Etc. If you have your own earbuds in, why does it matter if the gym is playing music?
- bogomipz 9y agoDo you really believe that if I am working out next to you that I can't hear you grunting if the gym is playing music? If you read the discussion you can see that the issue if you have to compete with the house sounds system which is much more powerful than your earbuds.
- 9y ago
- JohnBooty 9y agoPlenty of ways to cancel that out from an owners' perspective. Number one would be fans. Number two would be a noise-masking solution.
- hi-im-mi-ih 9y agoMusic is a pretty widely-accepted noise masking solution, though.
- stevekemp 9y agoMy gym has TVs with sound muted, and subtitles enabled, and the music is heavy-metal. It works just fine for me, on those rare days when I forget to pack my headphones.
- nullbyte 9y agoThat would drive me crazy
- briffle 9y agoThat music is probably more for the employees nowadays.
- jordigh 9y agoMy gym, the Sports Centre of Montréal's Olympic Stadium, very much has no music and has signs saying that if you want music, bring your own device. Most of the cardio machines also have access to various forms of entertainment, including YouTube and local TV stations, so you can just hook up your earbuds to them. I really love that gym.
- Fenrisulfr 9y agoI'm an avid gym-goer and I like the music on in the background. I don't wear earbuds because I value "awareness". I like being able to hear other happenings around me without them being blocked out. Same idea for public transportation. Anyways, the employees at my gym just play Spotify Premium and are friendly enough to take requests. Maybe you can ask your gym to play some music you like?
- bogomipz 9y ago>"Anyways, the employees at my gym just play Spotify Premium and are friendly enough to take requests. Maybe you can ask your gym to play some music you like?" Does this strike you as a viable solution? Everyone goes to the front desk and requests that the gym play music to suit their personal taste? How does that work out for the rest of the people in the gym that have different musical tastes? Also wearing earbuds doesn't mean someone doesn't value "awareness." I can listen to my music and not compromise my visual awareness in the least.
- jimmaswell 9y ago99% don't care, so the one person who does doing so is viable, yes.
- bogomipz 9y ago>"99% don't care" Do you have some data supporting this statistic? Just an exercise I suggest you approach the staff at your local gym and ask them to play personal DJ for you. I'm fairly confident what the outcome of that interaction will be.
- jimmaswell 9y agoI meant 99% of patrons aren't bothered by the music, if you were taking that differently. In that person's situation, apparently yes, they changed the music for him.
- jxramos 9y ago
- Chaebixi 9y agoCounterpoint: I've been to gyms when the music system broke, and the silence instantly makes it feel lonelier and more uninviting. This was late in the evening when there were few other patrons, so it might be ok during busier times.
- jobu 9y agoAgreed. Playing some low-level white noise over the speaker system would drown out the grunting, panting, or conversations almost as well, and it wouldn't interfere with people's own music choices on their headphones.