Should I say something to the landlords?

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Our upstairs neighbours have taken to exercising late at night in their living-room, and sometimes during the day too. It's extremely distracting and annoying even for my NT boyfriend, who doesn't usually get affected by neighbour noise.
They have hardwood floors up there so we can hear every footstep as it is. I can only assume they're exercising because the bonking and thumping sounds like regular movements like exercises.

We've never seen them before as they never seem to go out, so we feel a bit awkward just going up there and asking what they do or whatever, as we don't know what they're like.

It's an awkward situation because exercising probably isn't against the rules but it's extremely distressing for us underneath. We can't go around with earplugs in all the time as it makes it difficult to communicate, and white noise doesn't seem to drown it out. We usually avoid the living-room in the evenings because the noise above is unbearable and you can't focus on watching TV or anything.

Should we have a word with the landlords, or will it just make things worse?
It does stand to reason though. We're not being nitpicky, they really are very noisy day and night.

How many hours do you think they are spending exercising per day?

I don’t think the landlord would do much. Usually, they’d intervene if a person was playing loud music or having loud parties late at night, but I doubt they’d discourage people from exercising.

I know, this is where it isn't fair. But I really don't think they should be exercising late at night though. Last night it was midnight and they were still making loud banging noises in the living-room. I'm having trouble sleeping so I tend to stay up late but I just want to watch the TV (quietly) and all I can hear is their ugly noise above. It even shakes the whole building. I hate them. I wish they'd drop dead.

Probably not.

It would cause ill-will with your neighbors.

The only alternative is to swap with them, but my boyfriend will need a lot of convincing to do that, because he finds stairs difficult with his knee problems and COPD. We'll probably be quiet for them, because we spend more time sitting around than anything else, and if we did need to do an activity that involved noise we'd probably inform them, because we're considerate.

I do feel like saying something about the amount of noise they make daily, all day and half the night, in their living-room. I have to permanently have earplugs in when in the living-room, and although I don't get much peace when I go into the bedroom because there's still always somebody in there too but they're not doing exercise, I still panic in case they might start exercising in the bedroom too. I like to watch DVDs in the bedroom but not with headphones as they're a hindrance. But I can't spend the rest of my life plugged in all the time. It's making it difficult to communicate with my boyfriend or visitors. The bastards upstairs are so loud that even white/background noise like the TV doesn't drown them out.
And their exercise corner is directly above the desk in the living-room, and the other day me and my boyfriend had to do something official online and it was extremely hard to focus with constant banging and thumping right above our heads. That was a task where I couldn't wear earplugs or headphones, because we had to communicate to get the task done. I'm worrying about the constant wearing of earplugs will affect my hearing and give me tinnitus. I suffer from vertigo as it is, probably because my ears are already crumbling.

It's not fair at all, because I think they like making a noise for us, they have no consideration, and the fact that they never, ever have music on probably implies that they don't want us to report them but they know that making noise other than music isn't against any rules. That's how jerky some people can be.

Exercise is horrible to hear from below, as much as loud music is, but exercise isn't something that neighbours have a right to complain about. It's not fair, I hate other people and having to put up with their noise. I wish I was rich, then I can move away to a secluded part of the country where there are no friggin neighbours disturbing you with their precious exercising and screaming babies and 24/7 housework. God I hate people.

Tl;Dr
If they do start their dumb exercising in the bedroom, particularly late at night, then I will say something to the landlords.

Late night exercise routine..

Chances are they have an active sex life and that’s the banging you’re hearing.

Sweet Pea hugs

No, it's not. Why do you guys think of sex all the time? I don't want to know.

They bang and bomp from about 5.30am to about 2.00am, nonstop.

Sick of it. I want to move, if only it were that easy.

Umm.. it's the most logical/natural explanation of upstairs neighbours banging away in the middle of the night ? Maybe that's why ?

They bang whatever room they're in. It's like they don't stop pacing around. Footsteps constantly, right above your head. Every. Hour. Of. The. Day. It's tiresome. And there is nothing I can do about it, because it isn't loud music. I think they deliberately not play loud music ever so that I can't have a right to complain.

When they first moved in my boyfriend confronted them because of a leak that was coming into our kitchen from above. He was drunk at the time so didn't have much control over his words. I was annoyed at him because it wasn't their fault there was a leak, and it gave us a bad impression to them. Neither of us have spoken to them since. So now I reckon they're banging on purpose because they hate us. It just sounds deliberate because the person who lived there before them didn't make that much noise like that. She never stamped her feet as she walked around, and the noises she made could easily be drowned out by earplugs or white noise.
Not these tossers. They sound like elephants up there and I am not exaggerating.

..or maybe they don’t realize they’re “heavy walkers,” and don’t ever think anything of you at all.. maybe if you politely let them know they’re very loud they might politely make an effort to be quieter - like reasonable neighbours.

OK I have dealt with people like this in the past. The solution was to not actually mention what they are doing or confront them. The solution is to say hello to them in a friendly way and maybe do little favors for them. I know you probably want to do the opposite


You mentioned this in the past but I didn't know it was after a confrontation

They never come out, so we never, ever see them.

So many people are inconsiderate jerks, especially most our landlords tend to house in this apartment block. So I have a feeling that politely confronting them will just make things worse. They'll probably get defensive, saying that their constant banging is just "everyday noises".

If I was an upstairs neighbour, I'd be much more considerate. If I did do an activity at night that might be noisy, like certain exercises or housecleaning, I'd just mention it to the people below first. If the people upstairs came down and told us that they do exercises in the evenings in their living-room then I probably wouldn't mind, as then I'd know what it is and when they do it and which room they do it in. But their noises are so unpredictable.

I just wish we lived below a couple that went out to work every day and just relaxed in the evenings and went to bed. That way when they do do activities that I may hear at least I can accept and ignore it more. But when it's constant and loud and unpredictable and all hours of every day and most the night, I get tuned into it and I find myself listening out for it when I don't even want to.

It's like my brain is a wireless wifi device and the noises from upstairs is another device I'm paired with.

ohh thats really bad, so when your bf confronted them he knocked on their door?

Crazy plan, you could leave them a giftbasket or something

No, they'll probably just think we're weird, or trying to bribe them about something. Giving gift baskets isn't really a thing here in Essex, maybe it might have worked 100 years ago.