I don't mean while working out. I mean before, in locker rooms, and after in the sauna or lounge. Those are both spaces where there's an expectation of some level of small talk.
Not in any gym I've ever worked out in. Who strikes up a conversation with strangers in a gym locker room? That's not a place where I go for smalltalk; it would be like talking to the other men at the urinals while we're pissing.
The best way to meet new people and make new friends, in my experience, isn't to simply be somewhere at a regular time - it's to do something which naturally involves interacting with the other participants. In other words, get a hobby.
To give an example: in the last few years I've met and befriended a lot of new people in my area through training in BJJ.
