I moved about 4 months ago, and sadly left my small, all-women gym. I was addicted to spin classes and did 2 or 3 per week, as well as yoga and Zumba. I had some trouble finding a new gym here because, although there are many, most of them classes all day, ending by 6. I work during the week and wouldn’t be able to make these classes. I found a new gym that was supposed to open in April. They have very long hours, and many classes (7 classes starting every hour), and they go into the evening. There is also access to a pool at another gym in the chain, and I love to swim.
The gym finally opened a week ago, and I’ve gone several times. I have not taken a spin class yet because the music is ear-shatteringly loud. The music was a bit too loud for my taste at my old gym, but I wore foam earplugs. Earplugs will not be enough for this place. I also like to use the rowing machines, and they are near the weight-lifting area. I was there earlier this week and a man was flipping a large tire-like thing over and over along the floor. Each time it landed it made a really loud noise.
I know that the great majority of people want loud music in spin class, so even though the club management must be well aware of the dangers of loud noise levels, they would lose a lot of members if they lowered it.
Has anyone else dealt with this issue? I like the gym a lot but I won’t be able to do my favorite activity and (forgot to mention this) the yoga studio is kept a very hot temperature, even for the classes that are not marked “heated.”
I work at a gym. I teach spinning. On my last review I was told my music wasn’t loud enough.
It would try to talk to management if I were you. Most gym have comment cards -you could try filling one out. Or even getting in touch on social media.
I’m bothered by loud music in some stores. I know research shows people buy more when music is played, but it makes me get out of the store as quickly as possible.
I feel for you, but it seems like the vast majority of the population likes it loud.
I rarely take a spin class, but I agree with you. The noise can be outrageously loud depending on the instructor. I’d talk to the spin instructor before or after class and make a request to lower the volume a notch or two. My experience with gym club GM’s is that they could give a rat’s behind about much of anything.
As for the rowers, if they’re Concept2’s, then they’re really easy to move around on their back wheels. Stand it up and move it away from the tire flipping person. And then when done, move it back.
I hate the music in my gym which is one reason I exercise at home.
I carry with me ear plugs used for swimmers. I buy the child’s size and still break some off as
they are big. They are orange and the adults are clear/white. I buy them at target.
If you get them in properly you really will not hear the music. You can also put them in
mostly and so still hear the directions.
If the client asks me to- I do turn down the music. It is tough though. I asked in Pilates the other day -do you want fans on? I got several resounding responses - for both turning and not turning on the fans. The next week I turned the fans on one side of the room but which I thought would be popular -but a few people seemed a bit put out about that too.
Ask about lowering the volume. If the request isn’t well received, get better earplugs.
I am sympathetic. I go to a little spin place where I love the classes, but the music is a bit young and quite a bit loud for me. I haven’t taken my own advice and asked for it to be turned down. I could. I guess the thing stopping me is that I am a lot older than the other patrons so I am pretty sure I am in the minority.
The issue with rowers I think you are on firmer ground. Maybe they can be moved, as noted above. The gym is new and is still working out the bugs, so I bet they would like to know that the wheel flipping is too loud for the rowers.
I also do spin class and while I don’t mind the music I don’t like it so loud that I can’t hear the instructions. It happens in a lot of my classes. I tend to stay in the back so I might need move up further up front.
Yes, the music and noise made by others in most gyms are too dang loud and irritating to me. Thankfully yoga was silent in the studio except for the instructions we were given. I prefer the silence of our home.
I talked about this in another thread, but I’ve started using an app called aaptiv (and I have no affiliation with this at all- I just like it). You can try it for a week for free. I wasn’t thrilled with the spin classes offered at my gym, and this fits the bill! I can do it whenever I can make it to the gym, and pick which one I want to do. Might be worth trying the free trial.
It’s so hard to find the right fit gym! In fact, I’ve yet to find one that I like as much as the gym I went to in college, lol!
I tend to agree. I would also add, if the music can be heard outside of the cycling studio, it’s too loud. The people on the weight floor don’t want to hear the spin music.
This must be a pretty hard core gym if they have tire flipping. Generally things like this or rope training are confined to a personal training area or some type of separate area. But even if the floor is padded, they will make noise. But outside of a class, I’s listening to my own music, not the gym’s, and as long as the tire flipper is not impeding access for other users, I think you just need to work around them. Now if you have complaints about users dropping barbells on the floor or excessive grunting, that’s a chat with the mgr, since that’s generally against the rules.
I belong to a couple of gyms and I’m also fortunate enough to have one at home. One of the gyms I belong to is what we call a “globo gym.” “Globo gym” has a tire for flipping, but it’s a new tire made especially for inside gyms and those can be exceptionally noisy. I don’t use it and it gets very little use in “globo gym.” Typically, “boxes,” what CrossFit calls their gyms. have old large truck tires, which are flipped outside and make very little noise.
My suggestion is when someone is using the tire, if it really bothers you a lot, then you could suggest to the user to just lift and push the tire to a standing position and then let it down easy on its other side. Really once the tire is lifted from the ground and stood up, that’s most of the work involved anyway. That way the tire isn’t violently flipped on its other side making the loud noise.
As for grunting and dropping barbells and plates, well, that’s typically allowed in the open area when performing Olympic lifts like a clean and jerk and snatch with barbells and BUMPER plates. At “boxes” that’s all they have, so no machine weights.
Thank you for all the responses. This gym is part of a very large national chain, so they have a lot of experience. They have just opened a facility in my area. The place is enormous and very beautiful. They seem to have every kind of equipment imaginable. I was pleasantly surprised to find a range of ages. It’s not only young people. I am working with a trainer who is excellent.
The people who work there are very friendly, and I have received emails from the GM asking for feedback. I hesitate to mention the spin class noise level because I am sure that it is an impossible situation. I would be willing to bet that the great majority of people taking spin class there want pounding music.
The issue about the tire flipping might be different. It is extremely loud, a crashing thudding sound, certainly a lot louder than grunting. The rowing machines can’t be moved, they’re kind of in the corner and there is a large open area for training.
I will look into those earplugs, oregon101. I used foam earplugs in the spin classes in my old gym. The music was louder than I like, but not nearly as loud as it is in this gym. The foam muffled the music enough. I had no trouble hearing the instructions.
I will also look into that app, nahnah12. I take it you do it on the gym exercise bikes? I’ve never liked the bikes, so I was surprised at how much I loved spin classes. Part of what I liked is the darkness, and part was the motivating instructors.
I’m sure that it’s true that the entire class will never agree on anything, verruca. I loved the fans but some people didn’t. I’m finding the yoga studios at the new gym too hot; I know that a lot of people like this.
NYMomof2, my gym has a few of the spin class type bikes out on the gym floor, so I use those instead. I wouldn’t try these on the other types of bikes. I don’t like those bikes, either.
As I mentioned, one of the gyms I belong to is a national chain. They do have an open area with the tire and the barbells with bumper plates. The tire flip makes a HUGE amount of noise, to the point of making me jump. However, it’s used so little that it’s pointless to talk to anyone about it and I can put up with it for a couple minutes. So I understand the OP’s point on this. These national chains don’t buy/acquire used truck tires. They get these brand new tire-like things (not actual tires) that have handles and are made in such a way that they’ll make noise when thrown around. I assume used tires would violate some sort of insurance policy, but they would be far quieter.
I just joined a small gym. It specializes in women of a certain age, like me! They play music but not too loudly. I notice they play a lot of stuff from the '80s. We have fun asking the 24-year-old instructor if he knows the name of the bands. I like this place. Starting a 21-day sugar detox program on Wednesday, yikes.
I just quit my gym. The spinning class was next door to,where yoga and other classes took place. The music from the spinning class was so loud, it drowned out the nice quiet yoga music. And the floors vibrated.
A number of is mentioned it…but the reality is…they have more folks taking spinning than yoga.
So…I will be joining a different gym, and yoga will be at a different place.
Oh…when I mentioned this to the gym owners, they told me I could wear earplugs…um…no.
Nice quiet yoga music??? Not at my new gym! I just took a yoga class this evening, a regular yoga class, not the “yoga sculpt” class I took last week that included working with weights. Not only was music played (I prefer no music for a yoga class, but I don’t mind soft music), it was played loudly enough that it interfered with the yoga experience. And near the end, she turned it up to ear-shattering levels and did some strange exercise (go into a ballet 2nd position squat, hold one arm out to the side, and wave the other one back and forth). Bizarre.
Starting a 21-day sugar detox program on Wednesday, yikes.