Have you ever been in a gym with a grunter? Not the person who makes the occasional "ahhhh" or "uggggg" or "grrrrr" when some particular exercise is hard or when lifting a heavy weight, but the constant grunter who sounds like they are in some serious pain.
I think the key is they sound "serious" and I can't help but think for some of them that's the point. They want you or whoever else is around to know they are doing some "serious" work. Maybe some of them just don't realize what they are doing.
I have to be a little crude here - the noises some of these people make sound like they are taking a huge dump. I don't wanna hear it...
There used to be a guy that would lift weights at the Y in the early mornings and make the most God awful sounds. It was weird because it wasn't a body builder type heavy weight spot. It was a place with some free weights, stationary bikes and cross trainers. Lots of people doing lots of things - including regular exercising, visiting, reading the paper, stretching...and one guy who was making noises that sounded like he was in labor. I think someone talked to him or maybe he figured out on his own that he was the only person moaning, grunting and groaning at high volume - because at some point he stopped.
Yesterday I stopped in a small gym and there was one other guy there. He was a grunter, groaner and a moaner. He wasn't lifting weights but rather doing some "serious" push-up like moves using one of those trainer balls.It's embarassing and irritating to me to have to listen to someone making really loud gutteral noises, so I turned on the T.V. - loud. He immediately cranked up the radio - so I turned off the T.V. and was thankful for anything to drown out his suffering.
Which is the point. If you are suffering to the point that you have to moan, groan and grunt - how long are you going to stick with an exercise routine. If you are really in pain how long would you keep doing the exercises? Probably not long unless you have some sort of masochistic tendancies.
Not only is grunting irritating and fakey sounding - it's a waste of energy and it's poor form. If you are lifting weights you need to control your breathing, breathe out on the lift, not be grunting and groaning. Ditto for aerobic activity - breathing is key and grunting and groaning just gets in the way.
I think about people who are performing physical feats that are very hard, who don't waste their energy grunting and groaning - basketball players, mountain climbers, runners, bicycle riders - you don't hear them making a constant barrage of loud painful sounding grunts and groans. A few noises here and there - sure, but they are focused on what they are doing, getting in the flow, in the zone.
So I will make this plea to all you loud grunters in public gyms - please for the sake of those around you stop and listen. Try to fit your personal sound producing activities within the range of those around you. If you are in a gym with a bunch of Bulgarian body builders...maybe everybody is grunting to their hearts content, if you are in a public gym with just regular people chances are they aren't moaning, grunting and groaning like there's no tomorrow.
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