I had one pet peeve at the gym: People who use the lat pulldown, pin one or two plates, and bring the fucking thing down to their lap.
I saw something new that blew my mind: A 50 year-old skinny nerd wearing an acrylic sweater with snowflakes on it and ball hugging shorts like they had in the 60’s and 70’s NBA. He’s sitting in the leg press machine, legs fully extended, with just a few plates pinned, and all he’s doing is popping his knees and bouncing the stack & the sliding seat. This set went for about 5 minutes. He made such a commotion of the machine shaking and clanging I thought he was jacking-off over there.
They canundrum I have is, do you even bother to help these fools and teach them how to use equipment and do an exercise correctly or just leave them alone to make asses out of themselves?
If I was doing an exercise wrong, I would appreciate the tips. But these people are so far out there that instructing them would likely embarrass them.
Used to see this guy who would do a one inch ROM on everything, it was weird.
Offer advice if you must but don’t be a dick about it. I know if it was you, you’d be all ears but be prepared to be met with resistance (ie. Seeing him do the same thing next time around or giving you a long winded insight into his philosophy).
I think these are people who sign up to get fit but have no clue what they are doing or how to use any of the equipment. They are more likely to hurt themselves than get any fitness out of it.
I wouldn’t be a dick about it. I’m a nice, tactful guy.
People who are new to the gym are uncomfortable just being there. I’m willing to bet most would just be embarrassed and have more incentive to stop going to the gym. I think a better approach would be to leave them alone, let them get comfortable even stepping foot in the gym, then let them learn by watching others.
I think trying to correct them would do more harm than good.
I see all sorts of asshats doing the partial ROM thing, I mean like not even a 1/4 of a rep… maybe like a 1/64th and I’m being generous. The question is: Are they swole? The answer is: No.
On the plus side, they are out of that station in 45 seconds. If they tied it up for 5 minutes with such nonsense, that would be another story.
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
People who are new to the gym are uncomfortable just being there. I’m willing to bet most would just be embarrassed and have more incentive to stop going to the gym. I think a better approach would be to leave them alone, let them get comfortable even stepping foot in the gym, then let them learn by watching others.
I think trying to correct them would do more harm than good. [/quote]
I completely agree with this. I think saying a friendly “hi” as you pass will ultimately do more to help them achieve gains.
Lanky is right, they’re skittish creatures, new gym-goers. I loved working in gyms because for some reason I’m good with awkward people and it was deeply satisfying to me to help them settle in and feel at home.
[quote]XLR8MyLife wrote:
I had one pet peeve at the gym: People who use the lat pulldown, pin one or two plates, and bring the fucking thing down to their lap.
[/quote]
That would be for the gym staff to correct. Excessive ROM on the pulldown is usually the result of the trainee trying to get perfect technique - it’s really the opposite of cheating.
If they already have a clear view of what they think is ‘strict form’, they are unlikely to be open to unsolicited advice from another gym-goer.
partial or full rom or how about the article recently on 21’s!
So stay focused on your own workout, which you’re logging . . . unless you goal is to be johnny helpful.
if somebody asks, first listen
everybody was new once,
[quote]bdocksaints75 wrote:
Nope, who really cares what other people do.[/quote]
^ this.
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
People who are new to the gym are uncomfortable just being there. I’m willing to bet most would just be embarrassed and have more incentive to stop going to the gym. I think a better approach would be to leave them alone, let them get comfortable even stepping foot in the gym, then let them learn by watching others.
I think trying to correct them would do more harm than good. [/quote]
^ plus this.
[quote]CroatianRage wrote:
Are they really morons?[/quote]
^ plus this.
A) It’s simply none of your business. Unless they’re in imminent danger (like trapped on the bench press) I tend to leave people entirely alone. B) No way in hell a gym newbie will be comfortable getting unsolicited advice from some average dude in the gym. “This jagoff isn’t even a trainer but he’s going to tell me what to do?”
And C) You don’t always know, for a fact, that the person is doing something wrong. You can be 70-90% sure, maybe, but there’s always a chance they’re doing exactly what somebody already told them to do.
Example: I’ve done these and had clients do these (great for scapular strength and stability), but if you saw it from across the gym, you’re telling me your first instinct isn’t “Ha, fuckin’ noob wasting time doing pulldowns wrong. I’ll go tell him a better way.”
A) It’s simply none of your business. Unless they’re in imminent danger (like trapped on the bench press) I tend to leave people entirely alone.
[/quote]
Pretty much this. You obviously assist a person who’s already being crushed by a weight. I can think of a couple more examples when I’ve intervened pre-incident.
I remember seeing a group of really skinny kids, and one fat kid (all under 18) bench pressing. They were all super excitable, and were essentially maxing out plus assistance. So the fat kid is basically showing off, and decides he’s going to put 315 on the bar. His legitimate unassisted max was probably under 200. None of the kids he was with could have helped, so I walked over and insisted that I spot him. I helped him with the lift off, and once he had the bar over him, he realized the trouble he was in, and I helped him re rack the bar. I hate to think what could have potentially happened if the kids around him had been responsible for assisting him.
I’ve solicited advice on squats/deadlifts a few times. If I’m squatting or deadlifting, and there’s a new trainee next to me who is watching me and looks like he’s trying to imitate what I’m doing, I’ll go ahead and ask him if he’s interested in getting some advice. A lot of the time they might be too intimidated to approach an advanced lifter and ask for advice, but they look like they want some help. I think it’s good to be able to recognize these situations.
I think the OP’s attitude is troublesome. Echoing what most have already said, doing something strange in the gym is not something any of us should be criticizing. I remember one time I was doing a barbell complex from a CT routine, and this big old guy started berating me because he wanted to use the rack I was using, and kept yelling “you ain’t gonna get big doing shit like that”. So for the most part, in the absence of danger, it’s best to leave others alone. It’s quite possible you don’t know as much as you think you do.
I remember one time I was doing a barbell complex from a CT routine, and this big old guy started berating me because he wanted to use the rack I was using, and kept yelling “you ain’t gonna get big doing shit like that”.[/quote]
