It’s been a summer of sport and inevitably all that physical prowess and endeavour trickles down to ordinary mortals, who feel motivated to get fit and brush up their exercise routine. Sporting and physical exercise opportunities are legion, but how should you behave when you’re working out?

The dedication to physical activity, the dogged determination you bring to your exercise routine and the single-minded fixation on exercise goals are all important traits for aspiring athletes, but they all involve a level of self-absorption that can easily mutate into selfish and rude behaviour.

We’ve looked at some of the main activities and suggest the following basic exercise etiquette:

Gym

•If you’re a novice gym-user you may need advice and help when it comes to mastering the equipment. Don’t be shy; politely ask other gym-users for assistance – you’ll find they’re generally only too happy to help.

•Wear clean, presentable gym clothes and deodorant when working out and always carry a towel with you.

•You’re inevitably going to get sweaty when you work out. If you have a towel and carefully wipe equipment down when you have finished with it, nobody is going to find your sweating offensive.

•Don’t hover impatiently over users who are mid-workout because you want to use equipment.

•Don’t hog the equipment. In most gyms other people will be waiting, so don’t just sit there waiting between sets and scrolling on your phone. Move on and free up equipment for other users.

•Don’t offer advice on other people’s workout and never stare at fellow gym-goers. If you’re really concerned that someone is making mistakes and might injure themselves, have a discreet word with one of the staff or trainers.

•Be noise aware. If you’re listening to music, use headphones and keep the volume down. If you’re chatting to fellow gym-users, do so quietly and discreetly. Nobody would argue that gyms should maintain a church-like tranquillity, but most users are intent on their routine and find noisy conversation and music distracting.

•Keep your wits about you. Many people zone out when they’re exercising, especially if they’re listening to music or podcasts on their headphones. But keep an eye open – other people may want to ask you questions or may be seeking assistance and you wouldn’t want to cut them dead.

•No matter how satisfied you are by your gym-honed musculature it is a bad look to stand preening in front of the mirrors or to pose for self-congratulatory selfies. You’ll look like a self-absorbed narcissist and ordinary mortals, who are trying their best and hiding behind baggy and unflattering gym clothes, will feel deeply inadequate.

•Be very wary of videoing yourself mid-workout. Many people seem to feel that these smug snippets are suitable uploads for social media, but it’s very hard to grab a video without capturing other unwitting gym-users in the background and posting the results will intrude on their privacy and may cause trouble.

Pool

•Shower before you swim – creams and deodorant don’t mix well with chlorine. If possible, wear a swimming hat – especially if you’ve got long hair. Encounters with stray hairs are unpleasant for fellow swimmers.

•Know your form. When people are serious about exercise swimming, they visit pools at times when they are divided into lanes, which are usually classified into slow, medium and fast. If you’re unfamiliar with the environment, take a few moments to assess the speed and stroke of the swimmers in the various lanes and choose appropriately. A slow-moving breast-stroking tortoise in a lane full of slick and speedy crawlers is a recipe for frustration.

•It’s all about speed control. If you find yourself stuck behind someone who’s slower than you, keep close behind them and trust that they will let you past when you reach the shallow end. If they resolutely refuse to do so, you can resort to the cut-off – changing your direction of travel before you reach the shallow end and thereby avoiding the whole issue.

•If you feel someone breathing behind your neck as you approach the shallow end, accept that they’re faster than you, and usher them politely past. Doggedly refusing to do so will be the cause of a great deal of resentment and frustration and might even lead to angry exchanges.

•Always be observant of other swimmers; if you’re waiting to start a new lap and you see a faster swimmer than you approaching, it’s a good idea to wait a few moments and usher them in front of you.

•If a slower swimmer than you is courteous enough to wait for you and wave you on, acknowledge this gesture with a polite nod, a smile or a word of thanks. Don’t just power your way end to end in a relentless flurry of foam and goggles.

•If you feel someone coming up behind you and the way ahead is clear for them to overtake without inconveniencing oncoming swimmers, let them. Over-competitive swimmers often see the approach of a faster swimmer as a moment when they should do their utmost to speed up and block their attempts to overtake. This is just childish.

•Pools can be sociable places, with regular swimmers enjoying chats and small talk. This is very civilised, but if you’re going to hang around at the shallow end chatting, make sure you tuck yourself away to the sides of the lane, so that oncoming swimmers are not met with an impenetrable wall of stationery bodies and have room to touch the wall and turn.

Exercise Class

•Do your teacher the courtesy of paying attention in class. You might be attending with a friend but now is not the time for chatting.

•You’re involved in a communal activity so take the temperature of the room. Now is not the time to put your head down and engage in astonishing feats of speed and endurance; follow the tempo and atmosphere of the class. Classes are primarily about community not competition, so if you’re fiercely trying to outdo everyone else you’ll stand out like a sore thumb.

•If you’re a bit of a duffer, who’s always a few steps behind the routine, or you tend to go the wrong way altogether, then you’re not a candidate for the front row, as you may cause anarchy and chaos when your missteps are copied by the people behind you. If you’ve any self-doubt about your abilities lie low at the back of the class where your fumbling will pass unobserved.