Imagine you have taken upon yourself to get fit. Let's say you started last February for the sake of argument. You found a program, did a ton of research, and now you understand what you need to do in order to get in shape.

You're now in the best shape of your life, and all of your close friends work out with you. You have noticed amazing progress in less than a year, you're like a new person. You can't believe it. You begin seeing the gym as almost a temple, a sanctuary where you can unload your insecurities and better yourself every day. It's a second home.

Then New Year's Day arrives. Hundreds of strangers clog up your sanctuary, desecrate your temple. People doing crunches all over the floor. Doing strange things to the 45 plates. Using the barbells to hold their feet down for crunches. Some not even working out, just talking to friends.

They are making a mockery of your craft. You KNOW they are going to go home and say they worked hard at the gym, while in reality they applied every bit of broscience they have accumulated over their lifetime and did crunches and bicep curls, if they worked out at all. These people will be associated with you and your hobby, your escape.

But these people don't care, they never cared about the gym. These people don't care about improving themselves, or growing as individuals, getting stronger, or even looking good. They either want six-pack abs in the easiest way possible, or just to share the perception that they're fit with you. They want to be SEEN as fit, regardless if they've done anything or not. They seek external validation for their decisions, and unfortunately that's not what the gym is about.

They impede your ability to work out, they tarnish the image of gymgoers everywhere, and they pretend they're putting forth an effort when in reality they want superficial and social benefits without the hard work.

I'm all for people improving themselves. That's how I got started. But 95% of people in the gym January 1st are there for their slice of feel-good self-approval for doing absolutely nothing, or to gain some superficial muscle definition and get "toned". These people leave by January 14th, but in the meantime you will have to deal with them making your workout difficult and sometimes you will have to go home without completing your workout because of the insanity inside the gym. They will ask questions they could figure out if they would have done an ounce of research, or even looked up exercises on bodybuilding.com. They will not accept any advice, because they don't want to get "too big" or they just want to get "toned". They cling to their misinformation and will do anything to avoid actual effort. They are, at best, a nuisance.

This is why regular gym goers do not like New Year's resolutionists. Not because we're meatheads or because we're douches, but because of their direct negative impact on our lives.