As a frequent gym-goer I’ve started to see not only how different people workout, but the motivation behind it. People go to the gym for vastly different reasons and the style of workout they do depends largely on the dominant personality traits that motivate them to become fit. Here are a few different workouts and the personalities that I think are behind them so you can get a feel for the people working out around you.
1. Three Sets of Eight Reps
This is the typical bodybuilding workout routine. You pick an exercise, and do it for three sets of eight reps to pump up the targeted muscle. This is the most common type of workout in gyms because the people doing them are subject to the most common personality trait for gym goers, insecurity. You don’t feel like you’re good enough on the inside so you work on the outside to make up for it. I’m guilty of it too.This was all I did when I first started working out in high school. You want girls to look at you, and guys to fear you a little bit but also want to be on your good side.
2. The Five by Five
This falls under the category of power lifting. These are guys, and girls, who say things like, “nice muscles but what can you do with em?” These are the people with inferiority complexes. They want to impress you, sure, but they really want to be better than you. You’ll see the most competitive people in the gym doing workouts like this, with heavy weight, low reps, and lots of grunting and weight slamming.
3. Two Hours of Cardio
Essentially, this is the girl, or guy, who starting hitting the gym hard a week ago because spring break is in a couple of days. She, or he, knows that real results are impossible in this short amount of time but they think they can will themselves to a beach body. At least these gym goers are determined. Get in the gym sooner if you want real results though. Respect nonetheless.
4. HIIT
These people are just bored. They live in a world where they play for their favorite football team or are preparing for the zombie apocalypse so they must be in professional shape (guilty as charged). When you see these people sprinting on the treadmill at top speed and slamming the battle rope into the ground while doing box jumps, kindly remind them that real life isn’t so bad.
5. One and Done
If you go to a gym, you’ve seen this person. They’re my favorite. You can’t even classify this as a type of workout because all they do is walk in, do one set of bench press, talk to people for an hour, and then leave. This is the person that got amnesia and thinks he, or she, is really at a bar. This is the one I can’t speak on because I’ve never done this, but I’d say they’re either lazy, or just love people. Either way, gotta love em.
While there are infinitely more workouts and even more personalities behind them, one thing is for sure, nobody works out only for themselves. It’s a game of show-and-tell and that’s totally OK. To the insecure guy, the girl with the inferiority complex, the spring breaker, the guy who would’ve played D1 football if he never broke his leg in high school, and the social butterfly, keep doing you because we’re all in the gym for mostly external reasons. Just remember that when the going gets tough, your helping yourself in the process too.
