Gym mirror etiquette

Gyms tend to make too big a deal out of mirror etiquette. A gym’s posted rules will always include on the list something about dropping weights, some gym-specific oddball rule like “No beverages except water allowed on the gym floor,” and then a note about not interfering with members’ line-of-sight to the wall mirror.

I’m a big fan of watching myself in the mirror. Yes, the guy staring back at me is strikingly handsome. But as important, the feedback helps me perfect my form, and even helps with balance.

As a responsible gym user, I do my best to avoid stepping in front of others while they’re in the middle of a set. If nothing else, I’m sensitive to the way this distraction can break one’s concentration. Nevertheless, there are limits to mirror etiquette in a public gym, and I accept that fact on both sides of the equation.

Of course, some people are plain jerks.

Today I’m starting leg day with a couple sets of squats. The power rack I’m using is positioned a few feet from the gym’s mirrored wall. Ready to go, I brace myself under the heavy barbell, back away from the j-hooks, and begin my descent. This guy – chatting into his AirPods – walks across the space between the back of the rack and the wall, pulls a plate off one of my rack’s weight horns, and proceeds to retrace his steps back across my field of view. 

Whatever I lost in concentration, I made up for in rage.