The Common Law of the Gym, 0419 COBJ, Vol. 48, No. 4 Pg. 20

AuthorBy MARK COHEN
PositionVol. 48, 4 [Page 20]

48 Colo.Law. 20

The Common Law of the Gym

Vol. 48, No. 4 [Page 20]

Colorado Lawyer

April, 2019

THE SIDEBAR

By MARK COHEN

Common law is law judges develop in individual cases, as opposed to laws enacted by legislative bodies or regulations the executive branch issues. Justice Holmes explained that common law develops gradually as consensus arises from prior decisions.1 Customs may become so widely accepted as to become part of the common law.2

In the United States, few laws govern conduct in the gym. Of course, the jurisdiction's criminal laws will apply, so you can't steal equipment or assault another visitor. In addition, some facilities promulgate gym rules, but these are usually limited to those needed to ensure safety. Beyond that, with regard to matters such as etiquette, we must look to the common law.

Fitness training is not a modern invention. Egyptian tombs show pictures of lifting bags filled with sand, and stone swinging and throwing exercises.3 Weightlifting competitions date back to early Greek civilization.4With no statutes, ordinances, or regulations governing gym etiquette, customs developed and became so widely accepted as to acquire the status of common law. This article summarizes nine common law principles of the gym.

1. Offer no advice unless asked or there is an imminent threat to someone's life or health.

You may be a bodybuilder with decades of knowledge. You may see a young person using too much weight on the curl bar and using his or her body to swing the bar upward rather than using less weight and isolating the bicep muscles. You know this young person would benefit from your advice. What should you do? The common law requires that you say nothing because the person has not asked for your opinion and is not endangering anyone. This rule is not new. The Bible cautions us to mind our own business in the gym. It proclaims, "And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you."5

2. Prior in time, prior in right.

The first person in the gym controls the music. End of discussion. The Romans summarized the applicable law in the maxim, Si dormiatis, vinceris.6That's the law.7

3. Move along or let others work in.

You're using your gym's only squat rack and someone else wants to do squats. Because you're more concerned with impressing others by how much you can squat than you are with being fit, you rest five minutes between sets. Under these circumstances, if you leave the squat rack, even for a second, to get a drink of water, the common law allows others to use the equipment while you're wasting time. "Equity aids the vigilant, not those who slumber on their rights."8

4. Clean up your mess.

Your mother doesn't work at the gym. You can bench press 315 pounds and you love doing it as others marvel in amazement at the fact that you have three 45-pound plates on each side of the bar. If you complete your last set and walk away without putting your weights away, the Yiddish weightlifters had a word for people like you—shmendrik.[9] If you're strong enough to lift die weight, you're strong enough to put your weights away. The Bible repeatedly commands us to put away our weights.10

5. Offer to spot others.

As an experienced...

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