Gym Etiquette

So I'm at the gym. Alone. As there is nothing I like on TV on Monday nights, I turned to TBS, where I figured I had a good chance of catching Friends. A few minutes later, I am happily running along, watching Rachel and Monica crash Joey's soap opera party, when in walks SERIOUS WORKOUT GUY. You know - he has all the workout clothes, he has his little MP3 player, fancy shoes, he looks all in shape, etc. He gets on the other treadmill and starts running. We run companionably for a few minutes and then I notice he is glancing derisively at the TV. Hmmm, I think. He doesn't look as though he's really a Friends-watcher; he'd probably much rather ESPN or the Outdoor Life Network. We run for a couple more minutes, during which there were many more snooty glances. I start to think.

What does one do here? Ask what he would like to watch? Volunteer to change the channel? Say we'll watch Friends and then switch it? Or does she who gets to the gym first dictate the TV programming?

I ended up not saying anything. Needless to say, I was extremely gratified to find that, ten minutes later, Workout Guy was sucking major wind and making these odd grunting noises every time he exhaled. Shortly thereafter, he started walking. Slowly. It was great.