6 Personal Gym Tips from This Fitness Guru

1. Be kind and courteous to fellow gym-members. You don't have to exchange hugs or anything to be considered polite but be conscious of your surroundings. Ask those around you if a certain piece of equipment is being used before you park yourself or pick it up. Just because you didn't see anyone there when you walked over don't assume that somebody didn't just walk away to get a drink of water or isn't doing super-sets or giving another member a spot. Also allowing other members to work in unless a tremendous burden is created (as in the case of great free weight disparity) is also part of proper gym etiquette along with re-wracking and/or stripping the weights and equipment when you are done.

2. Do ask/share information with gym novices if this doesn't create a gap in your work-out groove. We all started out at ground zero once. Chances are that if you've been in the gym for the last quarter century your earliest mentors were other gym gurus who admired and respected the fact that you shared their passion and enthusiasm for a way of life that was once considered fringe.

3. Do stay consistent in your desire to attain and maintain the most optimal state of physical fitness. If you make it your business to stay informed and keep an open mind, making every attempt to keep up with the latest developments in physical fitness there is no question that you will be able to achieve your fitness goals, regardless of what they might be. Understand that this isn't a flash to merely look a certain way for an event such as a wedding or your high school reunion. Your time in the gym should be all about a change in lifestyle.

Gym Don'ts

1. Don't take up precious time and space by sleeping on equipment or wandering around equipment while chit-chatting with your buds about where you are going to hang out tonight or what type of hair gel works best. Those of us who are serious about our time spent in the gym get quite irate when another member behaves as if the gym we share is theirs alone. It is the ultimate in gym-rudeness.

2. Don't interrupt someone's workout to ask them a litany of questions or any questions at all expecting to get an answer. Regardless of how simple or involved a question may be, you should never assume that anyone who is in the midst of their workout wants to lose their pump or slow their momentum because you have a question. This is incredibly rude and presumptuous. If you have questions then you should seek out members of the on-site personal training staff. Any good gym will employ staff that is ready, willing and able to answer simple questions.

As an old-timer I can tell you that any one of us will share information freely given that we are not in the middle of our own workout and have a few moments to chat with you. The more you show your dedication (in other words we see you in the gym on a regular basis and we see that you consistently working hard and aren't engaging in any rude behavior that violates the laws of gym etiquette) the greater the chances are we may share what we've learned the hard way.

3. Don't expect miracles. They just don't exist. There is no secret, quick route to mastery over your own physical fitness whether it comes from a supplement (legal or otherwise), some new piece of equipment or "magic way" of eating. Your body is a living organism that is constantly changing so half the battle to achieving that mastery is adapting to facilitate those changes and finding out how to achieve your desired goal.

If you effectively employ the "3 Gym Do's" and avoid the "3 Gym Don'ts" there is no question in my mind that you will be able to attain and maintain your fitness and wellness goals as they change throughout your life. I've got 26 years of success in this arena to back that statement up.