Making new friends in the gym

annetheman · 5 October 2018 at 3:52PM

Hi there,

I'm joining my local gym purely to make new friends.

I would like to meet people in my area as I moved here purely to be closer to work and don't have any friends other than my colleagues who I don't see at weekends. Weekends and evenings can be extremely lonely for me.

What do you suggest I do to make new gym buddies? Eventually, I would like them to be shopping buddies, dinner-on-a-Tuesday buddies, weekend-brunch buddies etc. but I don't want to seem unbelievably creepy.

Any suggestions on where to start - perhaps joining a class and then offering some away-from-class joint excercise on another day? After-class water? I don't know? How do people make friends at the gym

katiekittykat · 5 October 2018 at 3:54PM

Hi,

Doing the classes are always a good place to start as you will soon get chatting to people, and the rest will follow naturally

x

NeilCr · 5 October 2018 at 4:44PM

katiekittykat wrote: »

Hi,

Doing the classes are always a good place to start as you will soon get chatting to people, and the rest will follow naturally

x

Agreed.

I have a number of friends that I first met at gym classes. But, you do have to go regularly to the same ones and gradually get to know people. It doesn't happen straightaway.

And walking into classes can be daunting for the first time. They can appear cliquey as the regulars know each other and the teacher and there is quite a lot of "in talk"

parking_question_chap · 7 October 2018 at 4:10PM

Classes are much better for meeting people than the gym floor.

DUTR · 7 October 2018 at 4:38PM

annetheman wrote: »

Hi there,

I'm joining my local gym purely to make new friends.

I would like to meet people in my area as I moved here purely to be closer to work and don't have any friends other than my colleagues who I don't see at weekends. Weekends and evenings can be extremely lonely for me.

What do you suggest I do to make new gym buddies? Eventually, I would like them to be shopping buddies, dinner-on-a-Tuesday buddies, weekend-brunch buddies etc. but I don't want to seem unbelievably creepy.

Any suggestions on where to start - perhaps joining a class and then offering some away-from-class joint excercise on another day? After-class water? I don't know? How do people make friends at the gym

Not creepy but to me a bit controlling if you have a must execute agenda, the people you meet there will have their own lives too.
At the moment I am going to salsa classes, the one class they like to go for bevvies after, for me dance and home (other than the social events). But as others have suggested being out and in places where folk share a similar agenda increases your chances of meeting a good acquaintance.

Sibz · 12 October 2018 at 11:00PM

NeilCr wrote: »

Agreed.

I have a number of friends that I first met at gym classes. But, you do have to go regularly to the same ones and gradually get to know people. It doesn't happen straightaway.

And walking into classes can be daunting for the first time. They can appear cliquey as the regulars know each other and the teacher and there is quite a lot of "in talk"

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
So true lol....

Sibz · 12 October 2018 at 11:05PM

annetheman wrote: »

Hi there,

I'm joining my local gym purely to make new friends.

I would like to meet people in my area as I moved here purely to be closer to work and don't have any friends other than my colleagues who I don't see at weekends. Weekends and evenings can be extremely lonely for me.

What do you suggest I do to make new gym buddies? Eventually, I would like them to be shopping buddies, dinner-on-a-Tuesday buddies, weekend-brunch buddies etc. but I don't want to seem unbelievably creepy.

Any suggestions on where to start - perhaps joining a class and then offering some away-from-class joint excercise on another day? After-class water? I don't know? How do people make friends at the gym

Katie is right about classes.

Local gyms (usually the council gyms mostly) have good friendly atmospheres and a large social element. Even the gyms (despite the age old reputation) are good for socialising...

Just take it easy and slowly, talk to the staff, if you tell them your main goal is socialising they will be able to help you more than anyone on here (no offence - just that they'll literally know the other customers and be able to point you to the right people/class, or away from a wrong one

)

Hope it all goes great for you

Gloomendoom · 15 October 2018 at 11:53AM

I think you would need to pick the gym carefully.

My wife is a gym regular so I showed her this thread. Most of the people she works out with are straight men. None of whom, in her opinion, would make particularly willing shopping buddies, dinner-on-a-Tuesday buddies or weekend-brunch buddies etc.

jenniewb · 18 October 2018 at 5:59AM

Try circuit classes. When I used to do circuit classes of all the group exercise classes I did, they seemed the less cliquey and the most talkative of everything and also had the greatest range of people, from the bloke who was ex army to the girl who would always be running late because she had her lipstick to apply (we all have our quirks!)

I think you have to try a range of classes though to see where you best feel at home- with all the friends in the world if you hate circuits to the point of despair, don't do them! It could be other classes in your gym are just as friendly. Don't be suprized if it takes a long time to make friends close enough to consider dinner with though; people normally take a while to value friendship more than the odd nod before the class and drink after a class.

Zana2018 · 29 October 2018 at 9:44PM

annetheman wrote: »

Hi there,

I'm joining my local gym purely to make new friends.

I would like to meet people in my area as I moved here purely to be closer to work and don't have any friends other than my colleagues who I don't see at weekends. Weekends and evenings can be extremely lonely for me.

What do you suggest I do to make new gym buddies? Eventually, I would like them to be shopping buddies, dinner-on-a-Tuesday buddies, weekend-brunch buddies etc. but I don't want to seem unbelievably creepy.

Any suggestions on where to start - perhaps joining a class and then offering some away-from-class joint excercise on another day? After-class water? I don't know? How do people make friends at the gym

I know you said gym specifically, but are you interested in team sports at all? Or even racquet sports like squash, tennis, or badminton? These sports (in larger gyms/clubs) usually have beginners/improvers classes, club nights etc. And these allow you to socialise a lot more as they are effectively team sports. Personally, I met my fiancee at our local tennis club.

Alternatively, as people suggest, classes are a great way to make friends, usually some of the regulars also go to the gym, and if you start to recognise them, an occasional (non-creepy) smile or nod of the head over a few weeks will get you recognised as well. I would definitely not expect to start socialising with them outside of the gym for a good few weeks or perhaps even a month or 2 later. It'll be slow going, but stick to it.

jameshouston135 · 30 October 2018 at 12:25PM

wow what interesting it is.

Making new friends in the gym

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free