Hilarious gym memes that help us survive our workout days

Most people find getting through a workout would be much easier if they had the gym to themselves. As with most situations, it’s the other people around you that make the experience unbearable, not the actual activity. Gym etiquette is something that few people seem to have learned, so those of us with manners seem to be perpetually surrounded by those who don’t have them. The gym is a struggle, but these memes can make it just a little bit more bearable.

Can never be too prepared

Preparation is everything. If you want to ensure you have a good workout you’re going to need your own tunes to get you through it, as the gym’s music choice is often questionable at best. Even though you forgot your headphones, and your water bottle, you soldiered on through and completed your workout! That session is always a struggle but a harsh reminder that next time you go, you need to get your stuff together in advance.

Just, why?

There’s a bunch of empty treadmills all lined up, but instead of doing the normal thing that everyone else would do, some person has come along and started running next to you. What is wrong with them? There is so much space elsewhere, why do they have to get so close? Cardio is hard at the best of times, but with someone else trying to race you, it’s become twice as hard. The only satisfaction you’ll get now is if they quit before you!

Fitness is all about the fashion

Sometimes, it can feel as though you’re walking down some kind of athletic runway when you get to the gym. Everybody always has such fancy workout gear that they make you feel bad about yourself. The only way to fix that is to go out and get some new workout gear of your own, and suddenly your eyes are open. This feels incredible, why haven’t you been buying new workout gear all along? Oh yeah, it’s ridiculously expensive.

No pressure, just hurry up!

The gym is busy, people are waiting in lines to use the machines, and everyone who isn’t working out is getting pretty impatient. You know, because that was you before you got your place. Now you feel the pressure of a thousand eyes as everyone is collectively waiting for you to hurry up and finish. Even though they don’t say anything, you can feel their eyes stalking you as you do each and every rep until the pressure is too much and you cut your set short.

Whatever gets you through

You’ve got to use whatever tools at your disposal to ensure you get through your workout. While people might look at you and assume you’re pumping iron to some heavy beats, little do they know you’re singing your heart out inside to some Adele. It doesn’t matter how you do it, the most important thing is that you get through your workout. If Adele just happens to be the person to see you through then so be it.

Time flies when you’re having fun

Anyone who has ever stepped on a treadmill will know that time does not fly when you’re running just staring at a wall, or worse, your own reflection. Every part of your being tells you not to look at the timer as you know it’s not been anywhere close to as long as it feels, but you can’t resist. Before you glance at the timer, you reckon you’ve been going a solid 15 minutes, but when you look it’s only been three minutes – just another 27 to go!

It’s all for me!

Most of the time, just trying to find time for a workout can be tough, but everyone else seems to be on the same schedule as you and the gym is packed full. Then you get the glorious days where there is absolutely no one else there, meaning you can use the machines and free weights until your heart’s content. Savor these days as they aren’t a regular occurrence and the next time you step foot in the gym there’ll be three people per station.

Feel the burn

There’s a common phrase among gym going people, “feel the burn.” It’s often said when people are struggling, but it’s meant to be a good thing because then you’ll know you’re working your muscles to their limit. No one ever warned us that the burn was actually real and it feels as though your arms or legs are on fire as you do your best to squeeze out one last rep. Upon “feeling the burn” the most common response is to curl up in a ball and hope you recover.

Jaw day

There is one part of the body that seems to get worked out more than most, the jaw. Most people go to the gym to either get fit or maintain their level of fitness, not to stand around getting to know people. You’ve got an hour or two to push your body to its limits and the one thing you don’t have time for is getting to know each and every person on the gym floor. It’s a wonder these talkers get any exercise done at all.

Gotta stick to that schedule

You’ve made a deal with yourself, if you can go to the gym three times per week before work then you can eat a tub of ice cream at the weekend. It sounded like something you’d be willing to do but when your alarm goes off just a few hours after you got to sleep you instantly regret your decision. Should you keep the deal you made with yourself or should you roll over and get another couple of hours sleep? At that moment, sleep is often too tempting to resist.

Does anybody like leg day?

Leg day is possibly the hardest session at the gym; not necessarily at the time, but the following week when you can barely lift your legs to walk anywhere. It’s such a struggle that we have begun to wonder if there is anybody out there who actually enjoys leg day and all of its aftereffects! The pain is often so intense it’s tear-inducing, and all you keep asking yourself is, “was this really worth it?”

Must. Listen. To. Music

You know that if you head to the gym without your headphones there’s a good chance you’re not going to the gym at all. Along with the blaring music the gym likes to play, there’s also the grunting and chattering coming from people there. The only way to get through your session is to drown it all out by listening to some of your most energizing tunes, but you’ve begun to panic because you can’t find your headphones anywhere.

Arm day, leg day, they all hurt

It doesn’t really matter what day it is at the gym, be it arm, leg or cardio day, they are all extremely tough, and you’ll be feeling them for days after. At least when you’re working out, you can just forget how you look and power through it, until you catch sight of yourself in the mirror. In your head, you were looking strong and powerful but now you’ve seen your technique, you reckon you look like a complete amateur.

‘Going’ to the gym

You tell people you go to the gym seven days a week and immediately they are impressed with your commitment. That’s a lot of time to be spending at the gym so you must be getting some super results. You said you go to the gym, you never told them you work out each time you’re there. No, this is your chance to get away from your home life for a while and catch up on some much-needed rest and recuperation. Who said the gym is just for working out?

Cardio blows

You’ve scheduled a heavy cardio session into your gym regime, and you’re prepared for the struggle before you even make it into the gym. You’ve been giving yourself a pep talk all day long, but now you’ve approached the treadmill, your face is not happy with your life choice. This face perfectly sums up your enthusiasm for cardio right at that moment. You simply have no time for cardio and decide that your walk from the car to the gym was a good enough cardio session.

Glamorous gyming

Why is it that some people just look incredible when they are working out at the gym? You’re over there in the corner, a sweaty mess, while there’s a bunch of attractive people running around all over the place barely breaking a sweat and looking as fresh as they did when they walked in. Are you just overworking or are they doing the gym all wrong? If they are doing it wrong then why do their bodies look like they’re carved out of rock?

Reach for the sky

If you’ve ever spent a long time working on your arms, you’ll know this pain. It doesn’t take long for the aftereffects of your workout to kick in and even by the time you’ve jumped in your post-workout shower you find it really hard to lift your arms above your shoulders. The worst part is trying to put shampoo in your hair and instead of raising your arms higher you have to bring your head to meet your hands, otherwise, you won’t be washing your hair today.

What we all hope for

You’ve already been dreading going to the gym, but you also expect it to be busy which just makes it seem even more like a punishment. You’ve given up some time from your weekend to squeeze in a workout, and to your great surprise when you step foot in the gym it’s basically empty. Now you’re excited because you can try out that fancy looking new machine that always has a crowd of people around it. Time to spread out and enjoy this workout.

Gym safety

You approach a weight rack and the person who used it before you has unhelpfully left their incredibly heavy weights on the bar. Looks like it’s up to you to put the weights back and as you go to pick one up you accidentally catch your finger in between them. You’ve never known pain like it. People said going to the gym was going to hurt but you thought they meant from working out, not moving equipment around!

Speaking of leg day

You’ve seen the people in the gym who are obsessed with lifting weights using their arms. They pump iron impressively and when they are sitting on their weights bench look impressive, until they stand up. You notice that despite having a huge frame up top, they’ve neglected the other half of their body, their legs. They look as though a gentle breeze might topple them over because they are so top heavy. If they dedicate as much time to their legs as their arms, they’ll be in proportion in no time.

The diet’s the real hard part

Going to the gym is hard, but once you get into the habit of going you can learn to enjoy it. The other half of a healthy lifestyle is your diet, and nobody warned you just how hard changing it was going to be. You’ve been cutting all the tasty stuff from your diet and found that you’ve begun to really miss them. Sometimes you cave in and go a bit wild by eating anything and everything in sight, even though your cheat day isn’t for another three days.

It’ll be worth it in the end

You’ve got to keep pushing yourself until the very last rep each and every time you go to the gym. You keep telling yourself it’ll all be worth it in the end, so as your session is coming to an end you step things up a notch and take it right to the limit. Your arms are no longer willing to give you any more reps so you’ve got to force them to cooperate which makes your face work harder than anything else.