Lou Ferrigno reached bodybuilding legend status in his prime, going toe-to-toe with Arnold Schwarzenegger himself on the Olympia stage and playing the Incredible Hulk in the days before CGI was around to turn a man into a jade-jawed monster. It goes without saying that Ferrigno has always taken his workouts seriously, and at 67 years old, he still hits the gym hard to stay in killer shape.
Given his wealth of knowledge when it comes to building and maintaining muscle, it’s no surprise that Ferrigno shares training tips and videos on Instagram from time to time. But he took to the platform on Wednesday to draw attention to a gym pet peeve of his: mid-workout phone users who take up unnecessary space in the gym.
A post shared by Lou Ferrigno (@theofficiallouferrigno) on
Let’s be honest: You either hate it when people pull this all-too-common move, or you are the person who’s so absorbed in your phone that you tell a legendary bodybuilder to wait a few minutes while you scroll through your social feeds and text your mom. If you’re the latter, Ferrigno has exactly no time for your bullshit.
At the end of the video, he shares his tips for lifters who are tired of having their workouts interrupted by slackers. If you can do it without being rude, Ferrigno suggests telling the person that if they’re not here to train, they shouldn’t bother spending time at the gym. If social interaction in the middle of a workout isn’t your thing, Ferrigno’s advice is to move on with a different exercise and address the problem later.
“Don’t let them discourage you,” he said. “Find another machine, and complain to the manager.”
Whether or not you address the problem with Ferrigno’s suggested approaches, one thing’s for sure: You don’t want to be that guy at the gym, and you don’t want to piss off the Incredible Hulk.
