Common sense in the gym?

[Cat]

My trainer's group fitness classes usually run along the same lines as most football field training, bootcamp-ish PT, sprinting and such. He's not a typical women's aerobics class instructor, which is why I prefer his fitness classes to begin with. Standing in a single spot the whole time annoys me.

Anyway to a new person, he is most effective in restoring balance, coordination and equilibrium in those first few weeks. Earlier last week a woman tripped and fell while jumping rope. Today another trip and fall, sustaining a broken wrist while "shuffling".

The grumbling behind the scenes was along the lines of "he's too quick", "the basketball court is too hard", "we can't do that", "she shouldn't have fallen". Last Autumn it was a complaint he caused shin splints running up and down the bleachers and 100 yard dashes.

First and foremost we all signed a waiver for his classes. Secondly that very first day you get a real good idea of how it's going to go.

I suppose I really don't have a point to all this. Can a fitness instructor be too difficult? Or is it the attendee's responsibility to find a better class more suited to their individual ability? In other words, do you reduce the class intensity or politely tell them to GTF off the court?

FWIW, last week's fall gamely got back up without complaint, a few "ows" but she returned. The complaints were by others.

 

[CEHollier]

Slackers will always whine. If the person feels unsafe doing a routine stop and tell the trainer.

 

[topgunz1]

If they don't like the instructor, they don't have to take the class. Now if the intensity is too high and it is causing his attendance (and thus money) to drop, it's the instructors job to drop it down a bit to keep students.

 

[James Cannon]

No one is going to shoot them if they decide not to do something, or not come back the next day.

If it's too hard, suck it up. If you can't suck it up, YOU suck.

This is what I always tell myself when my inner-whiner tries to talk.

 

[Hitman]

I'm pretty sure you KNOW the answers here


Especially after signing the waiver. Exercise for not fit folks is going to be tough, but you'll never get there without a little pain. I definitely wouldn’t participate in that BS talk and might even spur them on some with a little “Maybe you should quit and go back to watching Oprah and eating Ice Cream on the couch” lol

 

[Cat]

I'm pretty sure you KNOW the answers here


Especially after signing the waiver. Exercise for not fit folks is going to be tough, but you'll never get there without a little pain. I definitely wouldn’t participate in that BS talk and might even spur them on some with a little “Maybe you should quit and go back to watching Oprah and eating Ice Cream on the couch” lol

ROFL.

I have to chuckle because he has some returns from last Autumn. We started at about 40 five weeks ago. We're down to about fifteen. Half of us are returning. A few are folks he's picked up that will probably hang on. And a couple grumblers. I don't know if it's the 5:30 start time or his methods.

James, I agree. But I'm not sure if that's the right attitude. Topgunz has a valid point too. He's tough but I've been with him three days a week for two years. Some of these people just started working out for the first time five weeks ago. The reason I brought this up is because I'm about to head back up there for weights and Spin and this morning will be our discussion for a half hour. I'm not sure what my honest opinion should be.

 

[Hitman]

THE TRUTH!

Tell them the truth. You know it sucks, you’ve been there before but what sucks worse is going back to being a lazy bum.

You have to realize too that the Gym's and Fitness Arena’s are ALWAYS PACKED with soon to be quitters at the start of the year. It's just the simple truth.

EVERYONE wants to be fit for their New Year’s resolution but it's the highest failure rate. The GYM fills with people on every machine. Then by Mid February it's back to normal.

This is why I try and get people worked up towards the spring to get ready for Swimsuit time. January is too cold for most folks to get outside and get something done. I see much more success in folks getting ready 90-120 days before Summer.

 

[olivs260]

If they can't handle this work out, they need to start with something lighter. You don't go from couch potato to running stadiums in one workout...

 

[spanky]

I say f' 'em.

If they don't want to be there then they don't have to. The intensity should be chosen by the instructor and not the clients. He's the one that knows what needs to happen, not then.

 

[Cat]

That was the general consensus. It sucks she got hurt and he's upset about it, but as far as te others were concerned, business as usual tomorrow.

 

[irishredhead]

I say f' 'em.

If they don't want to be there then they don't have to. The intensity should be chosen by the instructor and not the clients. He's the one that knows what needs to happen, not then.

i agree. if they dont like how the trainer works. then they can find someone else. there in the gym to get in shape. and thats what trainers do. it sucks that they get hurt. but that just means that they need to start smaller and work theyre way up.

 

[Tulse Luper]

Tell them to go fellate a hedge trimmer. F'em.

 

[El Rubio]

Were they wearing power balance wristbands? I doubt these injuries would have occurred if so. You know, it works some kind of way that nobody can explain and uses natural body frequencies that nobody can measure. It instantly improves your balance and strength. It also makes you look thinner and clears your complexion. Now why pay big money for Sgt Carter to run you up and down the bleachers when all you really need is a trip to Kiosk at the mall.

 

[Guate_shooter]

It will all depends on how his methodology of training and how the class is setup to begin with, most of this "bootcamps" are setup as one class for all which is pretty IDIOTIC IMO, as some are more advanced than others granted heaving a higher level of students will make the slackers push harder but when it pushes them to broken bones there is somthing wrong w that.

A better idea woutl be to split that class in Level 1 and Level 2, and get away from the basic or advanced eventhough they mean the same, mentally knowing you are beginner makes you step into an advanced class without being ready.

The "new" big thing is the crossfit systems like the T-REX, which demands a lot from a user and the level can be increased very easily, there is NO time to rest and most workouts dont last longer than 20 minutes but even on this system they have levels of training to make it fair to the students, nothing worts than being an advanced student at something and have to wait on the slackers to get their **** together before you can move on.

Just a thought.

Nobody said it was going to be easy but as an Instructor you should be able to evaluate the level of your class and know when to tweak it up a notch or when to lower a couple of notches so the users/students get their moneys worth but also continue to come back for more.

 

[Cat]

It will all depends on how his methodology of training and how the class is setup to begin with, most of this "bootcamps" are setup as one class for all which is pretty IDIOTIC IMO, as some are more advanced than others granted heaving a higher level of students will make the slackers push harder but when it pushes them to broken bones there is somthing wrong w that.

A better idea woutl be to split that class in Level 1 and Level 2, and get away from the basic or advanced eventhough they mean the same, mentally knowing you are beginner makes you step into an advanced class without being ready.

The "new" big thing is the crossfit systems like the T-REX, which demands a lot from a user and the level can be increased very easily, there is NO time to rest and most workouts dont last longer than 20 minutes but even on this system they have levels of training to make it fair to the students, nothing worts than being an advanced student at something and have to wait on the slackers to get their **** together before you can move on.

Just a thought.

Nobody said it was going to be easy but as an Instructor you should be able to evaluate the level of your class and know when to tweak it up a notch or when to lower a couple of notches so the users/students get their moneys worth but also continue to come back for more.

Pablo, his methods allows a person to be able to keep up with the class and go at your own pace at the same time. Bands are in several strengths, some may do 20 squats in 30 seconds, some do more, some less. "Do what you can" is his constant motto. But fact of the matter we do sprint or jog from time to time. When we do have reps, he'll tell us to knock out 20, bands down when you're finished, sort of style.

For example, a minute or two minutes jumping rope. I jump slow simply because it jars my ankle with all the hardware. A guy next to me jumps very very quickly.