I was at a fitness facility a few weeks ago and (aside from people half squatting, which drives me insane), there was a guy making lots of noise. He was in his forties, and every single movement (whether he was picking something up off the ground or completing a rep) was accompanied by “Eeeeeeeeeeeeh, sahhhhhhhhh!”. When you say the “Eeeeh!” part, make it come from the depths of your throat without the guttural addition — kinda like when an umpire calls a strike (“Streeeeeeeeeh!”). The second part, the “sahhhhh”, is comparable to the noise you might make after taking a sip of delicious beer (mmm, beer). However, you add on the sharp “s” noise at the beginning which is comparable to the beginning of the word “sayonara” (the Japanese word that has become slang for “see you later, mother trucker”). Both of the sounds were done at a decibel level equal to that of an exuberant third-strike-umpire, and it was audible across the facility.

I would consider this unacceptable even if he was doing a heavy set of squats, but the guy was doing…front dumbbell raises. This irrelevant exercise doesn’t garner enough energy to emit strange sounds, much less warranting the noise of an intense Karate fight. Making excessive noise in a fitness facility, “gym”, or gym is lame because it means you want attention. If you were wanting attention, you could roll your sleeves up and wear shirts with jewels, crosses, and skulls on them like everybody else.

Non-excessive noise is acceptable if and only if you are experiencing high intensity. This would require a high percentage of your max or lots of reps (i.e. > 10) with a significant percentage of your max. I’ve grunted when lifting before, but I think the only time I’ve ever screamed was when I hurt my back at the bottom of a rep and squatted it up so I didn’t kill Chris and the other spotter. If you’re in a public facility, yelling unnecessarily is annoying and stupid. If you’re in your own facility then yelling is not only acceptable, but encouraged. Excessive yelling should be accompanied by loud Led Zeppelin, round house kicks, and big weights. If you are yelling about a light day, then you are saying, “Look at me! I have a teeny peeny!”