The locker room is one of the highest traffic areas of a gym. People are showering, talking, shaving, and comparing themselves to one another. There’s a lot going on! Learn the differences in male and female locker rooms and protocol for staying on your best locker room behavior.
What We’re Dealing With
Do you ever head to the locker room, only to be bombarded by naked people chatting about their weekend, or someone taking a selfie in the sauna – when you just want to enjoy yourself without the cell phone? From ‘letting it all hang out’ to refusing to wear deodorant, locker room bad behavior can be a challenge – and a surprising one at that!
What To Do and Not To Do
Some rules were made to be broken, but generally not when it comes to the locker room. Consider this your go-to guide, which can be applied to both female and male locker rooms!
- The towels are ther
e for a reason. This issue occurs on both the men’s room and women’s: totally naked, a gym member struts their stuff past the crowd, so everyone can notice. While the person doing it may feel great (showing off their fit physique), how comfortable does it make everyone else feel? Distracted, squeamish and downright uncomfortable. Remember, the locker room is a shared space. Being naked is reserved for those moments when you’re changing, or in the shower or sauna.
- Taking selfies. True, you may see this more often in the women’s locker room than men’s – but it continues to be a distracting, uncomfortable locker room habit: the selfie. The general rule (and some gyms will have a strict one) is no cell phone use in the locker rooms. If you’re taking a picture of your body, stop. Wait another time. If you’re taking a picture of you and your friends’ post-workout, do it in another place.
- Use deodorant. No matter what locker room you’re headed into, there’s usually a pungent smell member has to deal with. Don’t make it worse by failing to put on deodorant. Consider the people around you when you don’t.
Now that you know what to do (and most importantly!) what not to do, you can avoid the bizarre and uncomfortable gym behavior pitfalls. Remember, the gym is s shared space for all to benefit from. Do your part to make it enjoyable for everyone.
