Watch where you’re going

The intimate nature of the weight room does not leave much space for messing around. Navigating the weight room can feel like Mario Kart, avoiding the swinging spike balls in Bowser’s castle, and if you don’t watch where you’re going, you’ll end up in the fire pit before lap one.

Don’t hog the dumbbells

Yes, freshman who hasn’t hit your growth spurt yet, I know you need those 15lb dumbbells for every single exercise, but try letting someone else get in a set before snatching them back up. It might serve you well to lift something a little heavier.

Put your weight away

Leaving weights out is hazardous for multiple reasons: tripping, toe-stubbing, creating a mice habitat bla bla bla, but the primary reason is that it will lead to push-ups if the weight room is left a mess. So if you try and flex too hard by using something 20 lbs heavier than you can lift, just remember that you’re going to have to put that away too…and it might be difficult because your arms will probably still be sore from the push-ups you did last time when the freshman didn’t clean up.

Get out if you aren’t lifting

We’ve already established that being conscious of your space in the weight room is crucial, but nonetheless, having unnecessary bodies in the weight room, aimlessly walking around, will ultimately lead to them rearranging weights, and by extension, 20,000 push-ups if you don’t pick up the weight.

Thank the coach

It is probably pretty painful to watch a group of novice lifters pitifully attempt to increase their strength. So make sure to thank the coach on the way out, even if you won’t be able to sit down for the foreseeable future.