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 go to the gym to WORK....might be a hobby or a fitness goal thing for most people, but i go there to work...not to socialize.  If you want help or you want to learn what I'm doing real quick fine...no problem....but if you want to talk and have tea and crumpets while we workout....I'll have to put you in an arm-bar.

Original Post by eddiepotter:

....but if you want to talk and have tea and crumpets while we workout....I'll have to put you in an arm-bar.

 Hehe!

Original Post by peaches0405:

Original Post by eddiepotter:

....but if you want to talk and have tea and crumpets while we workout....I'll have to put you in an arm-bar.

 Hehe!

 lol....I wouldn't really.....UNLESS YOU WANT SOME!!!!!!!

I don't mind if someone asks for pointers, I see someone I know and catch up real quick, or a simple, "I see you here a lot. What do you like to do? Oh really? Alright then, have a good work out." But when guys just go to the gym and hit on girls/ask them out, that's when I get pissed.

If you really want to socialize, go to one of the classes that most gyms offer. Talk to people before, after, and if they want, during the class.

hmm. i guess there must be a big difference between being introverted and shy.  I am an extremely shy person, to the point where I used to barely be able to make eye contact with people.  I guess you would call it social anxiety.   But I actually think that Im extroverted.   I get uncomfortable when people talk to me almost to the point of having a panic attack, but at the same time, I want people to talk to me.  I like being social even though Im not good at it and because Im so shy, I really appreciate it when people talk to me first.

which is why I skip the gym and go straight to the pub

Original Post by jessicasbc:

hmm. i guess there must be a big difference between being introverted and shy.  I am an extremely shy person, to the point where I used to barely be able to make eye contact with people.  I guess you would call it social anxiety.   But I actually think that Im extroverted.   I get uncomfortable when people talk to me almost to the point of having a panic attack, but at the same time, I want people to talk to me.  I like being social even though Im not good at it and because Im so shy, I really appreciate it when people talk to me first.

i can some times be both, but im not really that shy. the difference i find is that when i feel shy, i need some encouragement to go up to people but when im introverted i just need some space.

Original Post by jessicasbc:

hmm. i guess there must be a big difference between being introverted and shy.  I am an extremely shy person, to the point where I used to barely be able to make eye contact with people.  I guess you would call it social anxiety.   But I actually think that Im extroverted.   I get uncomfortable when people talk to me almost to the point of having a panic attack, but at the same time, I want people to talk to me.  I like being social even though Im not good at it and because Im so shy, I really appreciate it when people talk to me first.

This is social anxiety. :( I feel the exact same way, it's really love/hate.  I want it and don't want it at the same time. I used to say I wanted an extremely extroverted friend to help come out of my "shell". But in reality extroverted people frighten me. :( That and... well, I have no friends. -.-

aww. cptbunny, your making me sad.  :(   i can say that as i get older it seems to be getting better.  ive finally gotten the guts to move on campus at my school and im hoping that that'll putting myself in a constant social environment will stop feeding the anxiety.   extroverted people freak me out too, but i also notice that my hidden, inside personality is a lot like them.  I mean,  I dont want to be some wild party person, but I love being around people.  If I could just stop stuttering and hyperventilating for a second....

introversion (for me, at least) is very different from shyness or anxiety.  i was a very shy kid, but i got over it (through sheer will).  now i have no problems with that, i can talk to anyone, i have little or no anxiety in social situations.  public speaking doesn't bother me a bit.  but if i've been around people constantly for several days, i will have a sort-of rebound effect and will hide out at home and avoid people for several days.  doesn't mean i can't go to the grocery store; just means that i don't want to be social.  and i'm not shy about saying so.

back during my undergrad, when i had roommates (four of us in a small house for three years), i would be on my way home from school or work, thinking, please, don't anyone be there.  and i would do my best to get up before anyone else so that i could at least have a cup of coffee alone.

extroverted people don't freak me out; they just wear me out :D

Original Post by jessicasbc:

aww. cptbunny, your making me sad.  :(   i can say that as i get older it seems to be getting better.  ive finally gotten the guts to move on campus at my school and im hoping that that'll putting myself in a constant social environment will stop feeding the anxiety.   extroverted people freak me out too, but i also notice that my hidden, inside personality is a lot like them.  I mean,  I dont want to be some wild party person, but I love being around people.  If I could just stop stuttering and hyperventilating for a second....

Hey I'm doing something similar, not living on campus but I'm going to school this fall. So scary! :o

Stuttering is the worst... oh man.

Original Post by cptbunny:

Original Post by jessicasbc:

aww. cptbunny, your making me sad.  :(   i can say that as i get older it seems to be getting better.  ive finally gotten the guts to move on campus at my school and im hoping that that'll putting myself in a constant social environment will stop feeding the anxiety.   extroverted people freak me out too, but i also notice that my hidden, inside personality is a lot like them.  I mean,  I dont want to be some wild party person, but I love being around people.  If I could just stop stuttering and hyperventilating for a second....

Hey I'm doing something similar, not living on campus but I'm going to school this fall. So scary! :o

Stuttering is the worst... oh man.

does your eye ever start randomly twitching or watering when you get nervous.  I think that might be the worst ever.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

introversion (for me, at least) is very different from shyness or anxiety.  i was a very shy kid, but i got over it (through sheer will).  now i have no problems with that, i can talk to anyone, i have little or no anxiety in social situations.  public speaking doesn't bother me a bit.  but if i've been around people constantly for several days, i will have a sort-of rebound effect and will hide out at home and avoid people for several days.  doesn't mean i can't go to the grocery store; just means that i don't want to be social.  and i'm not shy about saying so.

back during my undergrad, when i had roommates (four of us in a small house for three years), i would be on my way home from school or work, thinking, please, don't anyone be there.  and i would do my best to get up before anyone else so that i could at least have a cup of coffee alone.

extroverted people don't freak me out; they just wear me out :D

Wow, I know exactly what you mean.  I had a roommate in college who was ALWAYS HOME and I couldn't cope.  I actually skipped classes all the time so I could be ALONE for a few minutes at home.  That situation went bad fast.  I know I could never have a roommate again.

Original Post by jessicasbc:

Original Post by cptbunny:

Original Post by jessicasbc:

aww. cptbunny, your making me sad.  :(   i can say that as i get older it seems to be getting better.  ive finally gotten the guts to move on campus at my school and im hoping that that'll putting myself in a constant social environment will stop feeding the anxiety.   extroverted people freak me out too, but i also notice that my hidden, inside personality is a lot like them.  I mean,  I dont want to be some wild party person, but I love being around people.  If I could just stop stuttering and hyperventilating for a second....

Hey I'm doing something similar, not living on campus but I'm going to school this fall. So scary! :o

Stuttering is the worst... oh man.

 

does your eye ever start randomly twitching or watering when you get nervous.  I think that might be the worst ever.

No but my neck/head does LOL I must look like a freak... though the twitch is minor but man... I feel like everyone can see it!

Just because a bunch of people are in a room doesn't mean it's a social activity.  There are equipment and resources available at a gym that most people don't have in their homes.  That's why they go to the gym.

I don't think there's anything wrong with a friendly nod, smile or hello but beyond that I prefer to be left alone.  At the gym or anywhere else. 

First of all, right on to all the other introverts--huggitbear, you hit the nail on the head.  My social battery just runs out sometimes.

Secondly, I just have to share this story as it's relevant to the thread, and as I was thinking about this discussion the whole time!  Earlier today I was at the gym, and after my shower I hit the sauna for a few so my hair would stop being quite so drippy.  There was a completely buck-naked woman in the sauna, and she started talking to me.  Not just "nice weather we're having" either, but full-on "I've been going through menopause LET ME TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT FOR TWENTY MINUTES" talking to me.  While naked.  And she kept flashing me her crotch.

So, while I get frustrated with people trying to talk to me on the machines, it is NOTHING compared to slightly manic naked ladies with no sense of modesty who start telling me about their bodily functions in the sauna. *BLINK*

Original Post by nevarren:

First of all, right on to all the other introverts--huggitbear, you hit the nail on the head.  My social battery just runs out sometimes.

Secondly, I just have to share this story as it's relevant to the thread, and as I was thinking about this discussion the whole time!  Earlier today I was at the gym, and after my shower I hit the sauna for a few so my hair would stop being quite so drippy.  There was a completely buck-naked woman in the sauna, and she started talking to me.  Not just "nice weather we're having" either, but full-on "I've been going through menopause LET ME TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT FOR TWENTY MINUTES" talking to me.  While naked.  And she kept flashing me her crotch.

So, while I get frustrated with people trying to talk to me on the machines, it is NOTHING compared to slightly manic naked ladies with no sense of modesty who start telling me about their bodily functions in the sauna. *BLINK*

 that story is horrifying.   you probably couldve reported her or something for making you uncomfortable, especially considering she was naked.   ick.

damn...man...some of you got it bad....

goodluck....

Living in the GA, I find it more common to be roped into a conversation with strangers than in other places I've been. It's just expected that if you're in line anywhere, it's time to chat. If you're sitting alone anywhere, and you don't put stuff around you, someone is going to join you. Somedays it sucks, at the same time its really disconcerting for me to know go other places where people don't automatically say 'hello' if you pass them on an otherwise empty street.

At the gym, I'm in the 'don't talk to my while I'm working out club,' but just when I'm in the middle. I'll chat during warm-up or cool-down. In locker rooms. In line to check in. If I see someone fighting with a machine in confusion, I'll offer assistance. And I find others do the same. So most people are pretty social, but still understand that you don't strike up a convo with someone jogging on a treadmill.