Dealing with Overcrowding at the Gym

Too many People at the Gym can be Overwhelming

by Jim Rial

Now that you have yourself on a healthy eating plan, or at least you're working hard at it. You’re feeling better with more energy and a clear mind. It’s time to start getting into shape. Whether you decide to join the gym or work out at home. There are several ways to get into shape without spending a ton of money. You can find inexpensive gym memberships that are as low as $10 a month and offer everything you need to get physically fit. Or you can invest a few hundred dollars upfront and get everything you need at home. If you opt for the home option, My first recommendation is a bench that’s fully adjustable from incline to decline and a nice set of dumbbells. Due to current inflation, the price of weights has skyrocketed making the at-home option much less appealing. You could opt for a nice set of bands, they work well and offer great results for much less money. Any sporting goods store should have a good selection of bands that are strong, durable, and can be used with several attachments. I like using both dumbbells and bands in my home routines.  Currently, with the price of weights, I have been a bit more hesitant in buying additional plates and adding more to my band collection instead. The last time I checked the price of weights I was looking at getting four 10 lb. plates for my dumbbells and the cost was a whopping $27 per plate. Other stores like Walmart may have better prices but they have also increased dramatically. For $10 a month a gym membership may just be the way to go. Although there are many pros to inexpensive gym memberships, there is also one of the biggest cons with an inexpensive gym membership. If you guessed overcrowding at the gym, you are 100% correct. Way too many people in the gym at the same time can be less than desirable.

When I first started out, I opted for a gym membership that cost ten dollars per month. At the time it was much more cost-effective, and the gym offered a whole slew of options. For instance, the gym I joined had an area in the back called the 30-minute circuit. This in my opinion was the best option for getting off and running. I started the first month just doing that circuit three times a week and hitting the cardio machines for the other two or three days. Eventually, I even started getting up early on Saturday morning and hitting the gym before 10 in the morning. This was a really good time of day to get in a nice peaceful workout. I was avoiding the rush by getting out before 10 o'clock. When I first started going one of my biggest concerns was the hordes of people coming into the gym and having access to the equipment. I'm not trying to be stingy or anything, it's just not very conducive to getting your workout done in a timely fashion. So this ultimately made being new at the gym somewhat intimidating. At first, I was very overwhelmed by the overcrowding at the gym that I had to contend with daily, especially on weekdays. Being a full-time employee and father of twins, you don’t have many windows of opportunity for going to the gym. You can try getting up early in the morning and going before work but there can still be some overcrowding at the gym. I think if you can make it by 5 in the morning you may run into less overcrowding when it comes to waiting times and equipment access. So, if mornings do suit you. I think the morning would be a much better time to go, but that also depends on other factors. Going earlier can have its benefits, such as getting your routine completed earlier in the day. This would leave you with more time in the evening for the other things on your plate. Since I am not an early riser by any extreme, I would not be able to stick with a morning routine. So, in my case doing it after work or at 5 in the evening was the best option.



As a new member, getting started at the gym and dealing with the overcrowding can be overwhelming. The biggest issue with overcrowding at the gym is competing for equipment and long waits in between sets. Too many people at the gym can be overwhelming. Initially, I would just get very frustrated and a few times I even vowed I was just going to cancel my membership. You get to the gym around 6 in the evening planning on working your chest and triceps that day and voila, everyone has the same plan. You can bounce around using alternate equipment but if you have a routine then you like to stick with it. In my case, I liked to get through my compound movements first. Usually, this is where I put the bulk of my energy. In fact, my upgraded workout after the month of 30-minute circuit consisted of mostly compound movements including bench presses, squats, and deadlifts. The racks or smith machines were always occupied. Since I was pretty determined to get into shape, I decided not to let this frustrate me and I started paying attention to what other members did and what days certain muscle groups were prevalent. At first, there were days I was planning on working one muscle group only to change once I saw what the masses were working on. For example, at the gym I went to, everyone seemed to work their chests on Monday and the busiest time was right at 5 in the evening and started slowing down somewhere around 7 in the evening. I decided that Monday did not seem to be a major leg workout day, so I changed my plan to work legs on Mondays closer to 7 in the evening. So I arrived at 6:30 and started in on my warm-up and stretching. at around 6:45 I could usually make my way over to the equipment I needed and get started. I developed a schedule based on my observance of others and learning their routines each day and developed my plan around everyone else's schedule. After a while and someday and time adjustments it worked out and I was able to complete my workouts without interruptions or long waits. This was important because my workouts required several movements without long rest periods in between. If I had long wait times or couldn’t get on the equipment I needed, I did not get to work out as intended.

Aside from lifting I also had my cardio routine. The gym I attended had plenty of cardio machines like arc trainers, steppers, stair climbers, elliptical machines, and treadmills.  However, on certain days, it was hard to get on the machines I really like using like the arc trainer and stair climbers. I normally would spend about 20 minutes per machine on the treadmill, arc trainer, and finish up on the stair climber. The best way to beat the crowd and avoid overcrowding at the gym on cardio days was to get there a little later in the evening. It was actually very relaxing, I brought my headphones and watched TV or listened to music and enjoyed getting fit. However, if you're pressed for time maybe get into a little HIIT exercise on the side and utilize the machines if and when they are available in your time frame. HIIT can be performed with or without any equipment. You just need a little space. Later on, I will discuss a nice home routine I have developed that has negated any need for cardio at the gym for now. 


At the end of the day, you just must develop a plan that works best for you. Figure out your routine and when is the best time to make it happen. After about a month of the 30-minute circuit, I was ready for a little more intensity. Moving out into the crowd wasn't going to be easy. Originally, I chose to make a plan that included 3 days of weight training and 3 days of cardio. In a related article, I will discuss my workout plans in-depth, what worked and what did not. When it came to lifting, I stuck to mostly compound exercises at first until I developed strength and endurance. However, the areas to perform these exercises were the biggest part of the overcrowding at the gym problem. Don't let yourself get overwhelmed, use your head and work around the masses. Overcrowding at the gym can impact your plans and the key to getting fit is performing your workouts correctly and at a good pace which will, in turn, boost your metabolism and turn your body into a fat-burning machine.