No Headphones In My Gym

It’s not like I created a rule or policy against headphones. In fact I didn’t even realize it was happening until mid-sentence when I was talking about community and the gym. No one at my gym ever wears headphones. I don’t mean generally. I mean it has literally never happened in all the years we have been open, and I think not only does it say a lot about the gym but there’s something you can learn from it.

What do most gym floors look like? A bunch of people all in their own little zone with their headphones on going about their workouts.  I’m not saying there is anything especially wrong about this because there are plenty of lone rangers who have gotten stupid strong or super jacked training this way and enjoy every second of their solitude. But here are a few of the things they’re not doing:

• Taking input and learning from a coach or their peers.
• Throwing out and receiving impromptu challenges: “Hey, can you do this?”
• Asking questions.
• Talking through their day or about what’s on their mind.
• Building relationships with like-minded people.
• Encouraging others or being encouraged.

Believe me there are times when the music selection would drive any reasonable person to want to put in headphones. But they don’t, presumably because they’re getting far more out of the environment than they’d gain by going to their fortress of solitude.

This isn’t meant to be an ad for my gym, especially because I know there are tons of gyms in which you’ll never see headphones, like most Crossfits and hint-hint this is what makes it so popular. That’s not the point. The point is the environment and what it does and does not facilitate.

My question to you is – what do you get out of your gym environment? Is it the best you can do?