New guy at my gym is one of the biggest tools I've ever encountered, we have one squat rack and bench and this guy spends his entire workout squatting with his hoody and stuff laying on the bench so he can use it after he's done on the squat rack. I had a polite conversation with him where I was basically like why do like 16 sets of squats in one night? And he pretty much told me to mind my own business
I'm not concerned about being alpha'd and I don't want a confrontation with this guy, I just want to get my workout in and go home and he's fucking it up with his squatting marathons. Is there not an unspoken time limit to using gym equipment? If you can't knock out sets in 10/15 minutes then wtf are you doing? 
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Probably a douche, but then again maybe your initial approach with him came off douchey as well?
If you're in a time crunch and he is hogging the equipment, can you just ask him if you could work in with him?
My approach may have been, but I asked like I was sincerely interested, I've never known of somebody to have sessions of just squats twice a week. I'd ask to work in but he sets the bar really low to the floor so he's starting with his ass practically on the floor
I see. Well it definitely sounds like he has an uncommon approach. I can only think of a few options.
1.) Shuffle your workout template/schedule to avoid crossing paths with this guy.
2.) Have a talk with management. They can either
a. Have a discrete chat with him
b. Put up signs and institute rules about equipment use
c. Buy more equipment
3.) Try to get there before him.
4.) Have a more assertive talk with him.
I never usually have an issue with stuff like this, I normally work in or work around it. If someone is using the bench then I'll go use dumbells.
Putting your stuff on something you're not using is ridiculous though. I saw him using the lat pull down today with a towel on the seated row, guys a doucher
Squatting the whole time is just fine.
Putting his stuff to mark territory on things he's not using but wants to later is totally unacceptable.
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You should anally rape him. That'll teach him whose squat rack it is.
Not so unusual to be squatting for the entire session....typically takes me about an hour to get through it myself. Most of that time is resting between sets though.
But, my gym has 5 or 6 squat racks so there's not usually a line-up. I will always offer to let someone work in if they ask how much I have left.
Hope they say no (which is typically the case), but at least I don't come across as an asshole.
If there's only one squat rack at your gym, and if he's using it at peak gym hours, then ya, kinda sounds like the guy is an asshole.
And the reserving other equipment with a towel bullshit... I would just simply take his stuff, neatly set it aside and go ahead and use it.
Maybe because I am in and out of the gym in 30 minutes, maybe because I never do more than 3 sets of any exercise, I have a problem with these fuckers who spend 20 and 30 minutes hogging one piece of equipment. I had a similar issue the other night - dude even had his hood pulled up like OP's guy. Dude monopolized the leg press machine for 20 fucking minutes. I finally gave up and did dumbell front squats instead which pissed me off because I wanted to go heavier.
My first time at a new gym was yesterday, and it felt a little awkward.
The whole gym culture can at times be very weird, so I used to just swim or walk on the treadmill at the gym and lift at home. Unfortunately, my gym with the pool closed, hence the new gym (no pool).
So I guess I violated gym etiquette at the new place yesterday. I needed a collar for one end of the curl bar, as there was only one with the bar/weights. Being unfamiliar with the place, I’m standing there looking around but don’t see any collars.
What I DO see is a curl bar, with weights and collars, on a preacher curl (?) bench. No one seems to be using it, so I grab one of the collars and start my curls.
Ooops…not too long after a guy comes along (he had been using a different machine/equipment) and sees his collar missing and has to go grab another. Idk if he knows I took it. I’d have apologized, but we both had ear buds in and it just would have been awkward.
I guess I didn’t realize tying up multiple pieces of equipment was a thing. I think that’s poor gym etiquette. But I suppose I should have assumed someone was using that equipment since it wasn’t put away, so that’s on me.
It’s rare that people put shit away or strip a bar when they’re done. Or they do drop sets and just the leave all the dumbbells wherever they dropped them. Some douche loaded up the leg press recently so he could do bullshit 1/3 range of motion pressing with his feet way up on the platform further cutting down difficulty and range, I could tell he would be aggro if I asked him to strip before he left it so I offered to strip one side while he did the other and he was indignant and got all alpha like oh you can’t press that (pussy)? No, not without a warm up because I don’t want to tear my quads off the bone, and incidentally neither could he. One of the trainers I knew came over and stripped it with me instead while that guy left to be a self interested asshole at another venue of life where he’s no doubt a headache also
A better indicator of whether something is in use is if there’s a water bottle or phone next to it
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Well, there you go that’s a perfect example of the gym culture I was referring to and why I try to avoid it.
Good advice on looking for water bottle and/or phone, keys, etc. None of those were there when I took the collar from the preacher curl stand, so I just assumed it wasn’t being used, especially since I wasn’t sure how good people are about putting stuff away at this particular gym.
What you did sounds like an honest mistake and atleast you have the self awareness to have given it a seconds thought unlike a lot of people in gyms
I’ve been tempted to turn my garage in to a gym, just a power rack, barbell, plates and a pulley. The thing that puts me off is how much of a pain in the ass it would be if I move
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