I've been aware of the change at the gym for quite a while now but I still couldn't pin point it, exactly. I knew things were different but I couldn't really put my finger on it until recently. Have you noticed it? The gym just isn't the place it was 5 or 10 years ago. Would you agree that the gym has become an "individual" experience and no longer the "meeting place" or "social place" it was in the past?
I can remember a time when the gym was the center of many people's social universe. The gym was designed to encourage member socialization with cafes, snack bars and herbal juice bars smack dab in the middle of the facility. It was the time when the gym was so "social" that many were referred to as "meat markets". People would join a gym not to work out but to get a date. It was a great place to meat, oops, meet guys"! Meat market aside, the gym was in fact a good place to connectt with others who cared about being in shape, who cared about nutrition, and was often a great source of encouragement for many seeking to make a change in their lives. There were many gym friendships forged during those days. You saw familiar faces and you looked forward to chatting with your gym friends while on stepper. Those days are gone.
What was the catalyst for the gym change? What could possibly explain the drastic move from the social entity gyms were in the late 1990's to the current "get it done and get out of this place" it is today? For me the two things that have transformed gyms were and are headphones and the hectic lifestyles of living in 2010.
Because of headphones, no one initiates conversations while sweating on the stepper. No one lingers next to the treadmill to chit chat. Why? Because more times than not the person beside you has headphones on and they're listening to their IPODs or they have their headphones plugged into the TV which is attached to nearly every machine in the place! Also, people are pressed for time. No longer do people spend a couple of hours at the gym. We just don't have the time to chit chat AND work out! Hence, "I can't hear you AND I don't want to hear you" gym mentality. The social gym is gone and its been replaced with the "don't EVEN talk to me" gym.
I too enjoy the alone time that the modern headphones have morphed the gym into because I'm also short on time. I mean I still have gym friends but I'm unable to spend the time chatting I did in the late 90's. I've also decided the use of headphones is actually a signall in the gym world. The use of headphones declares the desire to workout "alone" or can be interpreted as "I'm busy and pressed for time"and just want to exercise and leave!" The lack of headphones is the opposite signal which is "code" for "I'm open to socializing". Of course, god forbid, you just FORGOT your headphones because you could be in a for quite a chatty gym experience!
Gym codes! Who knew? Everyone apparently since gym codes are signals that everyone knows without really verbalizing. They are unstated and silent but they speak volumes! So, change happens...even at the gym. Next time you visit your gym look closely. Can you decipher the codes?
