Is it just me, or does it seem like people at gyms are becoming more and more un-social??

I consider myself to be a pretty social person, but when I take a look around me at the gym everyone seems to be involved in their own little world and dont bother to chat or say hi to anybody.  Has anyone else experienced this? I know the Ipod's a great thing ( I own one too) but everywhere I turn people have them on, kind of saying don't bother me I'm listening to my music.  I guess it just bothers me because I like to talk to people and everyone around me just seems unsocial or dont care to engage in small talk while working out.  I live in Texas and would like to know if its this way in other states..

i think this is true everywhere, not just in gyms  :)

those people are me. I'm in my zone, in my music, and focused.

I'm not there to chat.

I'm actually bothered by people who want to interrupt and chat me up.

It shakes my focus and ruins my workout.

I love my ipod because ppl leave me alone more with it on.

There are always ppl there who do want to chat though - form a group on your own for work out chatterers! (leaving the others in peace hehehe)

Or take a friend in with you!

I wouldn't get offended though, I mean, people are there to work out. Its not meant to be a social gathering. Some people do use it that way but that isn't the main purpose of going to the gym.

Original Post by jorge_h:

I consider myself to be a pretty social person, but when I take a look around me at the gym everyone seems to be involved in their own little world and dont bother to chat or say hi to anybody.  Has anyone else experienced this? I know the Ipod's a great thing ( I own one too) but everywhere I turn people have them on, kind of saying don't bother me I'm listening to my music.  I guess it just bothers me because I like to talk to people and everyone around me just seems unsocial or dont care to engage in small talk while working out.  I live in Texas and would like to know if its this way in other states..

If you want to be social I'd advise goign somewhere where that's actually meant to happen. Most people don't go to a gym to talk.

I personally can't stand it when people try to talk to me at the gym. I'm there to do one thing and it's not to chat.

Those people are me too, in the gym I like to be focused. As for the iPod, I wear it everywhere because I just love music is all.

I agree with both crazy and chiefsfan.  I don't want to be there for 2 hours and if I'm waiting on a group of people bs-ing...I get very irritated.  Your not supposed to bs.  Your supposed to keep your heart rate elevated.  Now if your conversation is that intense...then maybe it's okay :)

EDIT:  Sorry, coffin...you too :)

I workout at home, I loathe when my own husband tries to chat me up when I'm getting my routine on. I imagine at a gym I would care for it even less.

We interact when lifting weights together or boxing, but the conversation tends to be activity specific.

I will offer a smile and nod to others at the gym, but that's it. I am polite, but I don't want to chat, I am there to work out and for me that takes focus. The LAST thing I want to do is have to make small talk! I can see above that that's true for many folks. Perhaps you need a different venue if you are looking to chat and be social.

I don't want to socialize at the gym either. 

I also don't like to socialize at the grocery store, the bank, the doctor's office or any other place I happen to be surrounded by strangers while trying to carry out a specific task.  I'm not rude - I smile a lot and will answer/respond - but I don't want to talk.

That said, I'm slightly anti-social and can get pretty anxious in public places.   But I'm a helluva dancer!  Ha!

I go to the gym to workout, not to meet people.

I get very annoyed when people try to talk to me there.

a) I'm in my zone, don't interupt... gym is ME time

b) I probably don't look too pretty with no make up on, flushed face, and covered in sweat.. you think I really want others to look at me for longer then 0.02 seconds right now?

they actually had an article about this in my Oxygen Magazine a while back, and one of the top pet peeves of going to the gym of readers was PEOPLE TALKING TO THEM WHILE THEY ARE WORKING OUT

talking to someone at the gym is like playing the tamborine in a library... annoying, obnoxious, distracting, and likely to make others very angry.

go to a party to meet people.. not the gym

Fellow Texan here as well; I've got very little free time, so when I hit up the gym, I plan on being there a set number of minutes, and getting a set number of calories burned. I don't like to deviate and lower my heart rate, because that means I'll have to stay at the gym longer, and postpone my other plans. 

I'm sure people who want to talk are very nice, but it's kind of like bothering someone while they are at work or studying. Like others have mentioned, if I wanted to be social with strangers, I'd head to a bar or a club. I'm friendly under the right circumstances, I promise.

I go to the gym to train.  I keep strict time between sets.  If people begin talking to me during a 60 sec rest period I've been known to continue my set while they chatter on.  If I see someone I know, I may chat a bit when I'm done if I'm not interrupting their "workout". 

When I want to socialize, I go someplace that there are lots of people and make nice with others who seem to want to socialize...this works particularly well when you have a shared hobby.  The rest of the time I just mind my own business and ignore those who want to chat beyond a brief hello.  It might be rude, but it's just as rude if not more so to impose socialization upon those who just want to be left alone to their own business.

I like to sit in the hot tub at the gym and read my book.  For those who insist on making small talk I'm not there to entertain them, I brought my own entertainment, so unless they're better than my book I'm reading.

I don't know - I'm at home with my kids all day.  The few times a week I can get to the gym, I kinda like connecting with an adult.  It's not like I interrupt anyone and try to start a conversation, but I make a comment here or there about what's on the TV that every one is watching while on the treadmills, or something like that.  Those who have their earphones don't hear me - doesn't bother me.

Of course, there are a lot of retirees at my gym (community center), and they do treat it as a social club.

I have found, in general, though, that Southerners like to make small talk with strangers more than Northerners.  Me, I spent my childhood in Texas, never lived farther north than Oklahoma until we recently moved to Missouri, though I've travelled all over.  We kinda feel like it might be rude to not say something to someone standing next to us.  We also tend to start our conversations with small talk, rather than getting right to the point.  Why, we can be downright irritating to someone who's standing there thinking "Why is this weirdo talking to me?"

However, society does seem to be moving toward everyone in their own little bubble (Did you see WALL-E?  Everyone in their chairs chatting with people over video phones who are on the same ship, instead of going to see them?  Oblivious to what is happening around them?)

I am, like many folks here, pretty anti-social at the gym.  The only people I talk to are the trainers, and that's usually a) because I'm working with one or b) because they keep moving my weights while I'm on the sprinting part of my intervals.  Like others here, I'm pretty serious about my workouts.  I'd add too that I think I'm probably not the only one who's just plain awkward around strangers.  If you start talking to me, I'm bound to say something strange and be embarrassed by it for the next decade, and that sure won't help my motivation to work out ;)

But, uh, if you want to be social, come to my gym, because there are ALWAYS people chatting on the machines, near the entrance, etc. 

Oh, and to add to the general regional generalizations, I live in the south but am from California.

When people try to talk to me a throw a plate at their head.

Original Post by smwhipple:

When I want to socialize, I go someplace that there are lots of people and make nice with others who seem to want to socialize...this works particularly well when you have a shared hobby.  The rest of the time I just mind my own business and ignore those who want to chat beyond a brief hello.  It might be rude, but it's just as rude if not more so to impose socialization upon those who just want to be left alone to their own business.

I like to sit in the hot tub at the gym and read my book.  For those who insist on making small talk I'm not there to entertain them, I brought my own entertainment, so unless they're better than my book I'm reading.

EXACTLY!!  It's like conversation rape.  Some people are NOT willing participants.  This is why I don't even bother to join a gym--I don't want strangers trying to chat me up and distract me.

Conversation rape!! ROFL

Southerner here. (grew up in florida woods - think marjorie kinnan rawlings) Now live in ATL.

Wow, I seem to have struck a nerve with a lot of you on this one.... just goes to show how much we care about being social.  I understand that the gym, grocery store, banks , etc. are places where you might not care to talk to anyone but have you stopped for a moment to think that you could've passed up an opportunity to meet a really good friend?  Most of you say that there's a time and place for these kinds of things but come on, some of the best things come from where you least expect them. 

I go to the gym to workout, sweat, sort out my thoughts and listen to my favorite tunes.  I go too fast on the elliptical to even hold a conversation; and i get so sweaty I'm not sure anyone would WANT to talk to me.  I know if nyc where I am; socializing in the gym usually happens if there is a class in a studio; but you won't find people chatting it up in the cardio area, unless two people go together to semi-workout.  People aren't freindly in the gym.  It's not a place to meet new people, it's a place to get into your zone.  Polite-  yes (most of the time) But; I got mad once when someone started to try to drum up personal training busines with me when I was doing leg presses.  The nerve!!!!!

"Conversation rape" is never leaving my vocabulary now!

I don't mind talking to people at my gym.  There's a handful of amateur powerlifters that train at the gym I go to - they're about the only folks I make conversation with, because we're usually occupying the same spot in the weight room, doing the same things.  As long as somebody has the presence of mind to talk to me in between sets (which they do), it's all good, but there's nothing more annoying than somebody rambling at you while you're waiting to start your next set!