Junior year of high school, my lab partner told me he met my dad the night before at the gym. I was mortified. Like any high school student, I was not keen on my school world mixing unsupervised with my family world. Evidently Jason (the lab partner) had put too much weight on a barbell and my dad helped him lower the weight without crushing himself. They got to talking and made the connection that I was my dad’s daughter.
I learned my dad is “that guy” at the gym: Mister Chatty. He sparks a conversation with everyone, and while he does workout, the gym is a social experience.
This got me thinking about the personas you see at the gym. There are some classic ones that I’ve noticed over the years: