Hey all! I’ve been in Taipei for a little over a year now and have been weightlifting for a good 4 years now. In this past year being here I’ve noticed that the gym etiquette here in Taipei can be minimal to non-existent. Things like leaving the weights on the floor, leaving the bench is still loaded, people using multiple things at one time, doing the same exercise for 30 minutes at a time seem commonplace to me. Wanted to know if this is particular to the gym I go to? You guys have any stories of bad etiquette? g8rman05
I’ve been to gyms where some people would leave “presents” in the shower.
But that was in China. Can’t tell you much about TW.
g8rman05: that’s been my experience too in Taiwan. It may not make much difference to you, but at least it’s my understanding that such rudeness stems from ignorance more than malice. That is, gym culture and pumping iron are newer in Taiwan than the west and have fewer hard-core participants, so unspoken rules and etiquette just haven’t developed here yet. They’re not trying to be assholes; they just don’t know better.
Incidentally, the same can be said for cycling, too. New exciting hobby here, everyone suddenly wants to try it, they go out and buy their 100K carbon fiber bikes, but they don’t buy a helmet or cycling shoes, or they end up pushing the bike uphill or walking it down hill, or they threaten to knock over MT as he rides past them because they don’t realize they’re supposed to hold their line, etc.
Give them time. Their culture is 5000 years old. In another 1000 years they’ll figure it out.
sounds about right. atleast they dont smoke cigarettes or chew ‘binlang’. i really give them credit for that.
Compared to the gyms I went to in Korea the gym I attend here is great. Pretty much everyone follows etiquette norms except for this one guy. You all know the type, he comes 3 times a week and from what I can tell he does 4 exercises every time, smith machine bench press 10 reps 10 sets 70kgs 3 inch range of motion. This is followed by the barbell curl 10 reps 10 sets back and shoulders swinging the bar up, Dumbbell curl 10 reps 10 sets back and shoulders swinging the dumbbells and last but not least the seated dumbbell curl with his arm supported by his leg. It is not his routine that bothers me so much but the fact that he never de-loads the smith machine, leaves the dumbbells on the floor and when he is doing his seated curls he sits right in front of the weights stacked up so other people can not get to them. The changing rooms here are a much nicer place to change clothes than in Korea too. All in all I like The gym experiences I have had in Taiwan.
typical Taipei gym scenes (bear in mind I go to the cheaper gyms, so at California Fitness it may be different):
-douchebag flexing triceps in mirror shamelessly between every set.
-poseur sitting on the only freeweight bench, doing two reps of too much weight per set (bringing it about halfway to his chest) in ten minute intervals. No one else will sit on that bench during your visit, including you.
-sawed off little stocky fellow puts every freeweight in the gym on the leg press and keeps it there for your entire visit.
-redundant hip hop or sappy mando pop ballad blaring so loud it is hard to hear the track on your IPod.
-sweaty out of shape guy drips all over the machines and benches because his ‘towel’ is actually a face cloth.
I would say 85% of the people are cool and considerate, but those other 15% really make their mark.
Deuce:
I think we may go to the same gym! lol I’ve come to believe that most of the ‘poor’ (by my standards) etiquette comes from ignorance rather than malice like Mother Theresa said… though some of it is pretty common sense to me. For example I was using a bench and in the middle of my reps a guy comes and sits down on the bench, keep in mind i was laying down on the bench lol! I don’t speak Chinese well but my expression told him everything he needed to know lol.
The bodybuilders are the ones that can’t follow etiquette? How about the personal trainers who use empty machines as clipboard and gear holders? Anyway, look on the bright side–you never have to feel bad if you forget to wipe down a machine or leave some weights on a piece of equipment, and no one will yell at you for it. My favorites are the ones who scream and yell while they are lifting. I know it has been said one way or another here, but you just don’t understand Chinese gym culture. 
keep in mind you may have shared the same pair of chopsticks with some of these guys in your friendly neighborhood eatery.
Does he arrive in a Beamer, Benz, or other out of this world car? It’s called rich man’s syndrome … don’t give a shit about etiquette … 
also, they don’t clean up after themselves, because Asia is a servant-culture, you have someone who’s going to clean up after you.
I don’t mind the people looking into mirrors etc. That will exist in any gym, any country. But in part, I will blame the management for not properly training or educating patrons to create a better environment (depending on the gym of course). If it’s a “new culture”, it can be created - just look at the MRT queuing compared to the chaos and rudeness of HK’s MTR queuing. That difference was because the Taipei government did something to educate users. It is possible.
The guys in my gym are so pathetic, they don’t bring their own towels, instead using up all the paper towels and drying their asses and feet with the hair… HAIR…dryer.
Lord Almighty, I’ve all but stopped going to my gym (the former California Fitness at Fuxing and Xinyi) not because I’m a lazy slob but that every single time I walk out of there shaking my head and muttering something very unkind about the Taiwanese people in general, which then triggers such a flood of guilt and shame that I go home and look for redemption in the bottom of a bottle and essentially undo all the cardio-goodness I just spent two hours achieving. I swear to God they take their lack of public decorum to stratospheric levels in the gym – it’s like waiting in “line” at 7-Eleven to the 10th power.
Hey, fucking Hong-wei, the torso rotation machine is not the place for you to park your spindly ass and have a 30-minute screaming session on your iPhone. See the line of people waiting patiently over here to use the machine? No, of course you don’t, fuckhead. Oh, I’m sorry, Pei-feng, but yes I would mind if you casually usurped the shoulder press while I briefly stand up to stretch my back muscles. Look, Ma-kou, I know you’re devoted to Animal Planet and this episode featuring crocodiles in Florida is indeed fascinating but, well, you see, there are a limited number of treadmills in this place and quite honestly, if you want to stand there idly and watch the program, well, they have TVs in the lobby, too, so why don’t you beat it down there, huh? See, there are people here who are actually interested in using the treadmill, for instance, me, who has been standing here for the last ten minutes in hopes that you might get the hint because otherwise, everybody else seems to be in the middle of their workout. And this can be a shout-out to every dude in the locker room, yes, I’m white and yes, I have a penis, and maybe you can do a better job of disguising your curiosity as opposed to staring at me while I’m changing, in fact, if you want, I can come over and wave little super-lucky in your face so you can get a real good look-see at him. Meanwhile, the next motherfucker who arrogantly bears down on me as I’m walking from point A to point B and forces me to change my course of travel is going to find out exactly how well I’ve been working my deltoids, while staring up at the ceiling, got it?
sounds about right. atleast they dont smoke cigarettes or chew ‘binlang’. i really give them credit for that.[/quote]
I go to California at Dunhua MRT station and for some reason I constantly smell cigarette smoke on the top floor. And yes, the Personal Trainers are always placing their clipboards on the piece of equipment next to the one they are using with a client. I know it’s not a big deal to ask them to move it, but shouldn’t have to ask.
I filled in a suggestion/complaint slip there a few months ago as I had a run in with another patron and not only was this person rude to me, they went on to put on a big performance and really all I could keep on hearing them saying was “Blah Blah Blah WeiGuoRen, Blah Blah Blah WeiGuoRen, Blah Blah Blah WeiGuoRen,” and seeing them doing an exagerated impression of my telling them to move out of the way as they were just standing blocking the use of a piece of equipment. Really, you can only ask nicely so many times before an “excuse me” turns into a “move your ass.” Anyways, I ticked the box saying I wanted to be contacted with feedback on my complaint and left my cell phone number, but never was contacted.
But gotta laugh at the guys in the change room who use two hair driers, one in each hand and blow dry their balls with them…
You want serious results, go to a serious gym. The customers the gym attracts represent that gym and it’s values. Draw your own conclusion.
man you guys have it tough. I got a 24hour fitness gym 2 mins drive from me that I am paying 35bucks/month and unfortunately i dont get myself there cept for maybe 3 times a month.
they lie tho as its not really 24 hours, its more like 6am to 9pm and sat/sun till 6pm.
at least everyone is into the gym etiquette and one never has to say a word to anyone, In fact the norm is nobody says a word to anyone. They go in , do their routine and get the flock out.
Yea guys,
I like the “servant culture” comment by Jack, interesting point that I hadn’t thought about.
I’ve seen all i want to see of guys blow-drying their hair. What I hate is when I see guys doing the least effective exercises! Fore-arm curls are a waste of time unless you are a body builder trying to work on your proportions. C’mon guys do some big compound movements and get on with your day!! I take a watch with me…over an hour and I’m wasting too much time resting and bs’ing around.
And Tommy, don’t you hate it how they say “24 hr” in the title but it’s blatantly not true? Seems like someone should call them out on that one lol.
Yes I know. If it was really 24 hour, I would be there more because I can go in the after 10pm slot, but no, they are closed. And weekends close at 6pm? Ridiculous. However to be fair this one is a 24 hour Fitness Express , meaning its a baby version so they are not really 24 hours. There are actually 2 other 24 hour fitness near me that really are 24 hours. One is at the big mall in Concord (but I hear theres some tuff dudes there that could be looking to give some peeps a real workout…shudder…shudder) and the other I havent heard too much about and I may try it. But I like this one because it is literally across the street from me but it aint 24 hour !
And ya i should probably start by walking there and back other then driving the 2 mins. that will probably help. But its dark and not a nice walk in particular and i may be hit by a car crossing the road there or by a deer !
But the good news is that the proportion of hot babes to oldies and no longer goodies is pretty high at this lil Express ! And there is exactly ONE shower so nobody showers there, thus no ball drying . Another plus. ( i do admit i do dry my balls at home tho with the hair dryer…the cat thinks its weird).
Well… going by that assumption my gym’s awesome! 
Well… going by that assumption my gym’s awesome! [/quote]
Nice.
sounds about right. atleast they dont smoke cigarettes or chew ‘binlang’. i really give them credit for that.[/quote]
I go to California at Dunhua MRT station and for some reason I constantly smell cigarette smoke on the top floor. And yes, the Personal Trainers are always placing their clipboards on the piece of equipment next to the one they are using with a client. I know it’s not a big deal to ask them to move it, but shouldn’t have to ask.
I filled in a suggestion/complaint slip there a few months ago as I had a run in with another patron and not only was this person rude to me, they went on to put on a big performance and really all I could keep on hearing them saying was “Blah Blah Blah waiguoren, Blah Blah Blah waiguoren, Blah Blah Blah waiguoren,” and seeing them doing an exagerated impression of my telling them to move out of the way as they were just standing blocking the use of a piece of equipment. Really, you can only ask nicely so many times before an “excuse me” turns into a “move your ass.” Anyways, I ticked the box saying I wanted to be contacted with feedback on my complaint and left my cell phone number, but never was contacted.
But gotta laugh at the guys in the change room who use two hair driers, one in each hand and blow dry their balls with them…[/quote]
No wonder the sales gal at True Fitness kept telling me to go to California gym for comparison’s sake. Looks like its among the worst in reputation of available choices.