Burn Calories, Not Bridges: Office-Gym Etiquette

"The same rules apply in the office gym, and the consequences could be even worse if you act like a boor in the office gym because it could seep into office politics," says Caroline Tiger, author of "How to Behave: A Guide to Modern Manners for the Socially Challenged" (Quirk Books, 2003).

A few fundamental guidelines:

• Don't leave a machine covered in sweat. Use a towel to wipe it down.
• Bring a fresh change of workout gear. No one wants to see you (or smell you) in the same stinky outfit.
• Don't hog a machine if others are waiting to use it. Stick to a 30-minute time limit.

Sound obvious? Not always, evidently. At his previous job with a Georgetown law firm, Matt Melnicoff, 26, used the gym in the basement of the office building -- seemingly convenient, but for the fact that the treadmills were often occupied.

And they were always used by the same women who would walk slowly for an hour. "There was no time limit, so they would just . . . walk on those machines forever," he says. "And they always watched this same horrible judge show on television."

Melnicoff eventually switched his workout schedule to avoid treadmill confrontation. Ultimately, he and other frustrated co-workers went to the building manager and requested that he put up a sign about limiting machine use.

But not all gym issues can be resolved by management. Some, unfortunately, are left to individual discretion. Like, say, choice of attire.

"Wear your biggest, baggiest workout gear to the office gym," Tiger says. "It would be awkward to see your co-workers if they're the kind of people who just wear spandex to the gym. Especially on guys, that can be a really scary sight."

Um, yeah.

There's also a blurry line regarding where workout attire is appropriate. Brennan Hogan's old office had a gym in the basement that she sometimes used; at other times she'd run outside after work.

"Occasionally I'd forget my water bottle at my desk, so I'd run in and get it," says Hogan, 25. "I worked mostly with guys, so running to my desk in shorts and a T-shirt was always kind of awkward. I'd be like, 'Hi, ignore me!' "

If it was after working hours, she sometimes would return to her desk to finish a few tasks before heading home.

"I didn't really want to shower and put work clothes back on," she says. Besides, she figured it was after-hours -- who'd be around to see what she was wearing? Alas.

"My manager just happened to be on my floor and was like, 'Hey, Brennan' -- and there I was, sitting at my desk, working in a sweaty T-shirt and sweatpants."

Luckily, she says, her manager cast no judgments. But if your boss isn't so easygoing? It's worth remembering where you are -- and who's around you.

That wisdom holds true for the locker room, too, where some of the most uncomfortable encounters can take place. To mitigate the awkwardness at AARP, Slawson says, she changed quickly and discreetly.

But, she says, "I definitely saw some co-workers walking around the locker room naked. How do you face that person? There's some strangeness around that."