He’s a 40-something-year-old man with red shorts and grey sneakers, who sits in front of a mirror, stretching on a blue mat. While you do sit-ups, you notice his reflection staring at you through the corner of his eye, examining your every move. You cast a spiteful glare in his direction, hoping that will convince him to stop molesting you with his eyes.

-Your patience is running out. It’s been a long week. Your 5-year-old dog acts like he isn’t potty trained, you missed class to finish your paper, laundry is piling up, family members can’t stop nagging and all you want to do is work out your frustrations at the gym. A long, intense cardio session and weightlifting binge is just the thing you need to get those happy endorphins flowing again. –

Stress relief is your primary objective at the gym that day, along with losing a few extra pounds before summer — but that’s beside the point. How come some days at the gym are so nerve-wracking?

It’s hard to comprehend how some people pay monthly dues just to sit on a stationary bike and read a magazine while exerting minimal energy for eight minutes. I once spotted a familiar face from school doing this. What’s the point? All that wasted money could be saved if people just traded in those roll-a-bags they pull around on campus for a real backpack.-

Maybe these observations sound cynical — but heck, they’re true! Some Sacramento State students say they experience similar frustrations at the gym.-“My pet peeve is when I want to use a certain machine and someone keeps hogging it, doing all these intervals, and hovering around in between sets, preventing other people from using it, even while they’re taking a break,” said Solomon Turner, health science major.-

Hmm. Does he sport a teeny wife beater? Look like he’s on steroids? And growls thunderous, attention-seeking moans each time he completes one rep? If so, we’re seeing eye-to-eye.-

Another really irritating behavior is when you’re 30 minutes into a cardio regime, your heart is pumping, you’re breathing fast and the next thing you know, a not-so-bright gym employee totters over, squirting his spray bottle to clean the elliptical machine right next to you. Now you’re hacking up a mixture of chemicals that you just inhaled, but the guy keeps on spraying, incapable of putting two and two together. –

That particular incident was a true blood boiler.

“I got to the gym this one time and all the treadmills were full, so I had to wait,” said apparel marketing design major Jean Lee. “Waiting is bad enough, but when I finally got on, the guy next to me farted and the smell was so nasty that I ended up leaving!”-

Yikes! That’s worse than inhaling toxic ammonia fumes. Appalling would be the best word to describe it.-

“There are three things that get on my nerves: When people don’t put the weights back in the proper place, when sweaty people walk around without towels and when I see buff guys that aren’t even working out trying to hit on females,” said accounting major Allan Mabalot.-

Of course the not-so-buff guys can be equally guilty of that offense. Gym culture can be so stressful. But the sun is out now, so go take the dog for a run in the park.

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Carrie Espiritu can be reached at [email protected]