How does the space influence people?

GYM

People go to the gym with similar aim - to shape their bodies and this obviously involves sweating and exhaustion. It is different than going on a concert with relatives, the company in which you feel safe and belonging to. At the gym, people tend to avoid close contact and what is more, embarrasment. They would rather engage in excercises which would not attract many attention.

Nevertheless they are sometimes forced to interact with others for example during group classes. They then need to find their comfort zone to feel comfortable. According to my observation, during group classes, people usually prefer to exercise where the light is not so intense. They would rather hide in the corner rather than expose themselves in the middle. They probably do not feel comfortable when other people are watching them excercising.

In the gym where I go to, there is definitely not enough space for such crowd. In peak hours, most of the devices are busy and finding a room in the corner for the individual training is like winning the lottery. It is simply fully loaded. People get annoyed and forced to find little patch on the floor to work out. The odour of sweat and noice can be very discouraging. The good thing though is the fact that this space is devided into two sections. One is for muscular men, the so called 'gym freaks' who want to build their muscles as much as they can and the other one is for more physical activities including running and spinning. Being surrounded by people with similar ways of excercising make them feel more comfortable.

In the gym enviroment is very specific. For the beginners, all these strange machines are often deterring and discouraging. They would rather take a mat and excercise alone, whereas members who are familiar with them are thankful for having such facilities such as steppers, free weights, treadmills, spinning... There are often even queues to some devices. They make training more complex and more interesting. However, some of the equippment should definitely be replaced. It is stratched, stinky and people are often disgusted with it. There are also some important and very usefull objects though - drinking stations which allow people to refill their bottles as often as necessary. But no matter if you are a beginner or not, just after entering the gym most of the people seem to be quite disorientated and lost but with time they get more confident.

What is really important is the number of people involved in the activity. In order to work out hard, people need to have a motivation. Of course, each individual has its own way of excercising but it is more probable that people will do their activities harder while feeling the pressure from the group surrounding them. During group classes, while looking at people who are still working out, no matter if they are younger, more fit or thinner, they will try to keep pace and not give up. If they were excercising alone and if they were feeling exhausted, they would just stop. If they come to the gym with a friend or with a partner, the result will be even worse, caused mainly by the breaks for a quick chat.

Additionally, music is also one of the most important features that leads to a good training. The louder and faster, the better. It unconsiously motivates people to move quicker and to not give up. They often do excercises in the rythm of the music. Since there are also televiosions hanging around the main room, people focus on what is going on there, time flies a lot quicker and they forget about the toughness of the excercise.

INTERVIEW:

ME: Is there any specific etiquette at the gym? Any rules that people have to follow?

TRAINER: Of course! Members are not allowed to smoke at the gym, including e-cigarettes. It is strictly prohibited. They should keep their valuables with them where possible and they cannot leave them in the lockers when they are not there. That's obvious but they cannot behave in an aggresive, abusive or anti-social manner to any staff or member. They must be wearing suitable attire. Jeans, flip flops or sandals aren't allowed. Drugs and alcohol are banned. They are pleased to wipe down the kit after use although sweating is a sure sign of a great workout. (laugh)

M: According to space, what is the biggest issue for you at this gym? Would you change anything? Since you are spending here most of the day, you probably know what for example makes you tired.

T: The lack of space is one of the biggest problems here, I guess. Fitness area is not only too small, but it is also wrongly divided. In order to get to all the equipment, you need to go through the area where most of the group classes are held. It can be very annoying for both, people who want to do an individual training and people participating in the group classes. The other thing is... If you look at these capsules at the entrance, you can see that there are just four of them and every morning, before opening, at 6:30 am, there is a huge line in order to get in. There should be some more of them. Also, the music for me is too loud. That's why we have to close the gym at 10 o'clock pm because there used to be many complaints from the neighbours.

M: What is the most annoying thing for you when it comes to people's behaviour at the gym?

T: They are not used to wiping down devices after using and that is basically it!

M: Thank you very much for answering.

T: My pleasure :)