The Complete Gym Personality Guide - Part 2
By Nick Nilsson

Continued from Part 1, you're sure to recognize many, if not all, of these personalities from the gym.

1. Taking Up Space

If you've been to a gym and watched somebody just kind of standing around looking lost, then you've seen this type. They work their way slowly from one end of the gym to the other, getting in the way and doing a few half-hearted dumbell curls every 10 minutes.

2. The Copycat

You can have some fun with the Copycat. When you notice them watching what you're doing (because you know they're going to copy you), do something extremely goofy and pretend that it works incredibly well. Chances are, when you've moved on to your next exercise, the Copycat is going to try it. Just like dueling banjos.

3. The Hindenburg

If you're having gastrointenstinal difficulties, don't do squats (or sit-ups). That just doesn't work out well for anybody. The humanity!

4. The Wannabe Powerlifter

Powerlifting is a tremendous sport. Watching somebody who is trying to powerlift but doesn't know how and is doing it all wrong can be tremendously funny. If you've ever watched somebody cinch a belt up so tight they look like a wasp then do a knee-buckling quarter squat with way too much weight, you know what I'm talking about.

5. The Pro

"There is only one right way to do things and everything else everybody does is all wrong and I'm the only who knows what they're doing and if you don't like it I'm going to take my dumbells and go home."

6. The Ignorant Personal Trainer

Every gym has them and I don't have any idea how they slip through the cracks. They teach bad exercises and poor form to unfortunate clients who just don't know any better. Then they answer their cell phone while they're spotting!

7. Fountainhead

Stop hogging the water fountain and let someone else have a turn! Fill up your water bottle at home - don't stand there for five minutes while the trickle from the fountain slowly fills your gallon jug. That goes double for backwashing into the fountain.

8. Mr. Sweaty Bench

If you sweat so much that you slide off the back end a FLAT bench when you lie down, bring a towel, for crying out loud! And please, please, PLEASE wipe it off when you're done. Don't make me have to invent a standing bench press exercise.

9. The Inventor

Sometimes new exercises or techniques work and sometimes they land you right on your head. The Inventor will get back up and try again, sometimes performing the most incredibly effective movements you've never seen. I know because I am an Inventor! But put together a bad Inventor and a Copycat and you've got trouble!

10. The Houseguest

If you've ever seen someone walk into the gym carrying a gym bag big enough to stash a body in and full of so much stuff that they could live on an island for a month, you've seen the Houseguest at work. Three hours later, when they leave the gym, they even have the keys to lock up.

11. Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

No need to carry that dumbell to your bench, just roll it! After all, that's why they're round, right?

12. Beyond B.O.

It's not a crime to take a shower. If a cloud follows you around like Pig Pen in the Charlie Brown comics, you may want to look into that bathing thing.

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of BetterU, Inc., an internet- based personal training company. He has been training for more than 14 years and has been a personal trainer for more than 8 years. He is the author of the training eBooks "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of", "Gluteus to the Maximus" and "Specialization Training". Go to his Web site for more information on these books.

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