Hey My fellow T-Men (and Gals),
I work as a personal trainer at a corporate fitness center, and I just need to vent a little. The fitness center I work at has tv’s in it (which I think is a dumb idea). It boggles my mind when someone comes in to supposendly “workout” and they ask me to change the channel! Being the nice guy that I am, I politely ask them which channel they want it on…but in my mind I am thinking, “you lazy piece of shit…are you here to workout, or watch tv???” How can one possibly get a good workout watching CNN the whole time?? I can slightly understand having the tv on when you are doing cardio…but I have guys who come in to workout with free weights, and they spend half their workout with their mouths wide open “tv jaw” and heads tilted towards the god damn tv’s!!! And then I have this one guy who comes in who always tries to show me these so called “new” exercises and coach me on how to lift. This coming from a guy who thinks working out one body part (usually chest) 4 times per week using one set of something he can do 40 times, is a way to get HUGE!!! I’m like… “hey dipstick…I went to school for this shit and you are an idiot!”…haha. So, one day, I said here let me show you something. I sat him down and showed him the proper form…introduced the ol’ 313 tempo…and he couldn’t do the same weight he normally does 40 times…10 times! And wouldn’t you know it…he still does it his way. What the hell??? Can anyone relate?? It really cracks me up!. I’m out.
When I started out as a newbie at the big fitness center in town, my goal, of course, was to get big since I was a skinny guy all my life. To this end I entrusted myself to the personal trainer sessions that were an entitlement of my monthly membership fee. During my first “session” the guy set me up on machines saying that they were better for my form as well as size gains. Then he let me in on his magic formula for getting big. Eat three Wendy’s Big Classics a day.
Thank God I couldn’t afford to do that (and I found T-mag a few months later.)
My favorite is the guy who asks for a spot, and you have to help him on each rep. This is usually the same guy who does only bring the weight down a quarter of the way. I usually just say “I would go down in weight.” or “Yeah buddy it was all you!” just to avoid the argument. I’m not a large guy (5’11" 168lbs) but I know how to lift properly.
Then, my most favorite, is the curls for the girls guys. In my gym they’re all about 5’3-5’6", 220lbs, 20%bf. They come in with the “barrel under the arms” walk, the “i’m huge” glare in their eyes and WAY TOO MUCH COLOGNE!!! What the hell is with that? I would rather smell B.O. or some nasty feet than TOO MUCH COLOGNE!! THey set up in front of the mirror for dumbell curls, do 15 reps, throw the weight down and flex in the mirror for 5 minutes while yapping about how pumped they are. These are also the same people who leave the weights all over the floor or put them in the totally wrong place. I understand its not the library but you should still be able to read if you’re in the gym!
THen there is the staring guy. These guys usually travel in packs. Staring a women with no shame and eyes popped out and even staring at other guys talking shit.
All of these people fall under the same “WHat’s your max bench” group.
Am I the only one who goes to the gym to work out and look at some booty in quiet?
Just my $0.02.
Big fitness centers are saturated with idiots.
Well here at OU, the schools gym is closed so that means that the surrounding gyms get an increased volume of customers. The gym I go to is an iron pit for the most part, but due to the increased volume more dumbass frat boys and sorority girls come in. Now, I have no problem with the girls because they make the gym more visually pleasing, but most of the frat boys don’t know what they are doing and just annoy me. But hey we all know what its like to be uninfromed so I show them a little empathy.
In the past I had worked for a corporate health facility for Social Security Administration. In my opinion, of all the peple who workout at corporate facilities I say 20-30 percent of them are really serious about serious training. The other 70-80 percent are there only because a physician told them they were going to die if they didn’t get their out of shape asses moving. You sound like some one who is very passionate about working in this feild like I am. I found out real quick corporate health facilities were not for me. Due to the lack of motivation and energy your facility generates, you may be better off seeking employment at a commercial health club or a private personal training studio so your skills can shine. No one at a corporate health facility care about EDT, wave loading, meltdown training, or German volume training unless a doctor told them it would keep them from getting a triple by-pass.
I completely understand about the people who ask for a spot and want you to do it for them. It’s worse when the first rep doesn’t get up without your help, and they end up doing 3 or more reps. Each time you’re thinking, “This MUST be the last one,” and then that little kick in the balls when he goes for yet ANOTHER rep. Even worse is on dumbbell exercises. Not only are you lifting for them, but on an exercise that typically does not even need a spotter.
I work as a trainer too. Hve thought about giving up many! Times. But it is all worth it when you change peoples lives.
idiots are abundant, try and help em’ out once, and if it doesen?t stick learn how to let it go…
This one is for the skinnier guys.
I hate it when I’m doing dumbell rows, or deadlifts and someone much larger than me says “Bro, you’re skinny for that weight! Are you juicing!?” If I could vomit on these people and get away with it, I would. Some people don’t understand that genetics and CORRECT training plays a part in your overall strength . . . . .
Or when a fat guy tells me I do too much cardio. I love fat people, don’t get me wrong, and it’s nice to see that some overweight people are trying to do some good for themselves but just because they workout with a friend who isn’t a whale they talk to people like they know what they’re saying.
I usually don’t participate on this kind of threads but I guess I should vent a little.
Personaly, what drives me crazy are the damn trainers at the fitness canter. Most are completely ignorant about lifting, there was even one girl there that doesn’t workout at all, some days every 5 minutes one comes to me, it’s either you shouldn’t arc your back while bench pressing (even when doing a PR and with your butt on the bench), you’re not deadliting properly (then they show me how to perform a SLDL, or the other way around) and shit like that.
I am assembling a home gym so I can workout in peace, without having some trainer telling me that you HAVE to go to failure on every single set, otherwise you’re not doing anything because those damn Tudor Bompa books say so and that low fat diets are the only way to go, etc, etc…
The list is endless, I have no patient anymore, I don’t care about the two roid users who keep giving out advice and overtraining every newbie that’s foolish enough to follow their advice, or the skinny fat one that hands out terrible advice to everyone because they won’t give me any, it’s the damn trainers that get on my nerves…
Personally I’m DONE with commercial gyms. I may go there once a week cause I really like the lat machine (the one that you lay on your chest and has the same motion as barbell rows and dumbell rows), and some of the shoulder press machines, but that’s about it. Everything else I can do at home, in half the time, listening to my own music, without waiting or having to deal with the latest idiot that has the latest theory on the “secret” of lifting. I also got yelled at for doing deadlifts and for using chalk! Pathetic.
Half the trainers I’ve seen are complete dip shits. I for one demand that whatever channel’s displaying a footballl game be on as I can’t stay home and miss a workout while at the sametime I would rather not miss a game. Those of us who are into sports know what this means. THose “trainers” who couldn’t catch a ball, don’t.
Thus since I am bigger and more cut than any “trainer” I’ve met I wonder if they same the same bout me??? Especially after I give the D-bags advice and direction…
Sincerely,
An athelete, not a (ooh) trainer…
Drakkor
I saw someone in my gym recently doing bicep curls and kissing his biceps. Same guy will bring bands in and ask anyone to spot him while benching 135 with them. He wears sunglasses in addition.
It’s not just the big commercial gyms that are filled with annoying idiots. The little places are filled with them too! I already posted before in another thread about the guys who want a spot, using way too much weight, and then want you to upright row their whole set… Make each rep last at least 10 seconds! Don’t help them unless they are going backwards. Really make them work for every inch. Quit enabling them with easy reps.
Oh my God my chest is about to burst, that’s classic, sunglasses, hahahahahahaha, kissing biceps, hahahahahaahhahhah
I HATE FRAT BOYS at the gym!!! They ALL come to the gym in packs and they ALL seem to be wearing “wife-beater” thinking they are huge. I remember I was doing back rows on a machine one day and I just finished my first set. This FRAT boy dork (who had a decent build, probably about 220, 15%BF)walks up to me and asked how many more sets I have. I said I have 3 more, but you can jump in if you want. He just rolled his eyes in disgust and walked away. Fucking a-hole man! Not to mention all these FRAT guys come to socialize anyways. They sit there at the bench press and talks to chicks and punch each other in the arms like little fourth graders. And here I am trying to get a good workout in and I have to walk around the circle of clowns!! And by the way…that story about the dude kissing his biceps and wearing sun-glasses is freakin classic. Oh, and to the guy who likes to watch football while he works out…hey my man, I can tolerate that!! I only get pissed when I have someone walk into the fitness center and they ask me to change the channel and then they dont do jack shit in terms of working out!!! Take a chill pill…jeez. I’m out
Here’s one for you:
“The IQ average of a crowd in invertionally(sp?) proportional to the number of people in the crowd”
This is one universal truth and here’s another one:
“The bigger the gym, the smaller the average user’s brain is going to be.”
-LPdSB
My biggest gym pet peeve is when people don’t put up their weights after they’re done, that really ticks me off. Some of the regulars at my gym do that. I have a long way to go, but geez, my mother taught me to put things back where they belong.
That’s why I work out at home. Stay away from the dumb dumbs at the gyms.
And you think that’s funny… Just wait until after New Years and the entertainment will be overwhelming! The “Two Month Wonders” have already started coming in last week. It’s amazing that the people that show up, burn out and quit are the ones that really really need it the most.
As far as pet peeves I’d rather not list them as it’s pretty long and has been stated before but as far as new and amusing clowns:
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Saw a woman (biiiiiig woman) wearing a fucking cellular phone headseat while working out.
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All the newbies have heart rate monitors strapped to their arms, amusing - if you have to check you heart rate (to make sure it is maxed) then you’re not working hard enough
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A guy giving his girl bad advice and telling her how to train - from the looks of him he could use a lesson or two himself
Anyway, I’m sure I’ll have more strange creatures to laugh about in January…