Going to the gym is quite an experience.

After you dig out your Mavcard from under a pile of laundry, find clean gym clothes and get to the gym, you’ve already wasted half an hour.

The real fun happens when you get to the gym.

Within 10 minutes of starting your workout, you will have observed some of CMU’s finest gym-goers.

The first type of person you’re likely to run into is the grunter. This person (usually male) grunts loudly, his veins popping out of his neck and his eyes bulging. At the end of his set, he drops the weights on the floor in such dramatic fashion you feel the floor shake. I’m sure the grunter thinks that every grunt helps him build muscle, but I’ll let you all in on a little secret. It doesn’t. It’s just annoying, and when I can hear you over my iPod, you’re too loud.

The next person you’ll run into will be the PYT (pretty young thing). These girls are the ones who have their shirt, shorts and shoes perfectly color coordinated. They have their hair up in some fancy ponytail, and they look like they have just applied a fresh face of makeup before arriving. Throughout their whole workout, they maintain that fresh face, while the rest of us all try not to let our tongues hang out of mouths and the sweat run down our faces. They prance around from weights to bikes, maintaining their cheery disposition.

Usually, these PYT’s turn into the gigglers. These gigglers occupy the Group X room, and they laugh the whole time. They laugh when they mess up a Zumba move, or when the teacher says “show some attitude.” They usually run in and out of the room three times during the class to recruit their friends. After five Zumba songs I’m about ready to die. The gigglers are not taking things very seriously. They can be seen flirting with the guys.

Of course, as in every setting in life, there are gym rats. Gym rats can run around the track for an hour, do a yoga class, and lift weights – and that’s just their morning session. They come back two more times before the day is over, doing 10 laps of lunges around the tracks, then doing backwards lunges for another 10 laps. They make the hardest activities look easy.

The last type of person you’ll run into is the elliptical runner. Elliptical training is a good option for people who can’t run, or who are just getting started on a workout program. However, the people who just ride the elliptical on level 1 for an hour aren’t really accomplishing anything. They spin their little legs as fast as they can go, talking on their cell phones or reading a book. If you’re not doing intervals or setting the incline to at least five, then you’re just spinning your wheels. They’re usually more interested in looking at the guys working out then working out t