my gym said all members are welcome to use all equipment at any time. so I started using the equipment the trainers use.
okay so I go to a mid-size gym, been a member for about two years. they have a section in the back with nicer equipment, better cables, the kind of adjustable bench that doesn't wobble, a decent amount of space. in practice this area was quietly treated as the trainer zone. no sign saying members couldn't use it, no rule in the membership agreement, just an unspoken thing where if a regular member wandered in there a trainer would kind of appear and hover until you felt weird and left.
I asked the front desk once if members could use that area. the guy looked slightly uncomfortable and said "all equipment is available to all members at any time, that's our policy." I said great thanks and went home and did nothing with that information for about three weeks.
then one Tuesday I just. walked back there and set up. used the good cables for an hour, wiped everything down, was completely out of anyone's way. a trainer came over and asked if I needed help with anything. I said no thanks I'm good. he stood nearby for a bit then left. this happened maybe three more times over two weeks, different trainers each time, same script, same outcome.
week three the gym manager came over and said the back area was "typically reserved for personal training sessions." I asked if that was written in the membership policy because I had asked at the front desk and been told all equipment was available to all members. she went and checked something on the computer. came back and said "you're right that's our stated policy, we just ask that you be mindful of trainer schedules."
I said absolutely I would be mindful. I have been using that area three times a week since February. not a single trainer has approached me in six weeks. the wobby bench in the main area remains wobby.