I was at the gym and I was at a shoulder press. I brought over plates for my warm up set and 2 additional 10 pound weights for my second set before increasing. I put the 25s on the equipment and the 2 10s on the spare rungs.
While on my warm up set a guy came and took the 2 10s from my equipment. Without asking.
So when I finished my set I walked over to his equipment and took the 10s back. He freaked out, called me a douche bag and went to gym management to tattle on me.
To me, gym etiquette is if someone is using equipment you should ask before taking plates. If nobody is at that equipment then the plates are free to be used.
Why didn’t you just say “hey I’m using those” before he took them in the first place?
ESH He maybe should have asked, but you also can’t call dibs on a bunch of weights you aren’t using.
Haha he’s so manly and strong that he had to go tell mommy on you
NTA
You’re right, when someone is using equipment, you ask before taking.
You were NOT using the plates.
YTA.
It depends. In my gym it would be totally fine to do what he did since the spare rungs are used as weight storage. Still polite to ask but not a requirement. If you took weights off his bar then I would say YTA. If the weights aren’t on the bar or not obviously taken then they’re fair game IMO.
ESH more so you, just speak up when he grabbed them.
NTA. He is, and he knows it. I hope you explained what really happened to gym management.
YTA
Clown behaviour on both accounts
YTA
You’re only entitled to equipment you’re actively using, and all weights on racks or storage rungs are fair game for all. Gym etiquette 101. You weren’t using the 10s. It’s very common for people to take spare plates off leg sleds, shoulder presses, squat racks, and other pieces that have storage rungs.
It sounds like a bit of an overreaction for the other guy to get management involved, but if you approached that interaction with the kind of entitlement you’re showing here, I’m guessing you escalated it to the point he felt he had to.
Worth mentioning: you also broke gym etiquette by hoarding plates. You should have grabbed the 25s, done your warmup set, then walked the probably 5-10 steps to get the 10s for the next set. Nobody is going to try to grab the machine in those ten seconds.
INFO: What did management say?
ESH- It’s fine to take plates from the spare rungs if they aren’t being used. It would make things a pain in the ass if people could just hog weights for a while. It’s already a problem that people hog machines too long and are scrolling on their phone. If you took the weights from his bar then YTA. You also could have just asked him not to take them because you were about to use them.
ESH.