Hey there, hope you’re doing awesome. I rarely get upset about things, but today I saw something at the gym that really ticked me off ( even though it happens ALL THE TIME… this particular time is just got to me a bit more than normal)
As many people know, I’ve been hitting the weights again after a three year lay-off that started with hernia surgery.
Well, anyway, I’ve been working out a large corporate gym down the street from my house, I won’t mention the name of it, but it rhymes with EL-A-FEET-NESS.
As I was pushing my way through a pretty good lower body workout… fives sets of five reps of box squats and five sets of five reps of deadlifts ( grueling workout, but the kind that makes me feel strong from head to toe, and makes me see progress literally every time I do it)… something I saw really got to me.
When I resting between sets I was watching one of the new trainers in the gym train an elderly client.
And what I saw about gave me a panic attack, even though it’s common with trainers in a lot of corporate gyms who have no knowledge of proper exercise form…
He was having his client do….
1. Bent-over rows with an Ez-bar… bent wrists, rounded back, locked knees, toes pointed out at 45 degrees.
2. Stiff-legged deads … toes pointed out at 45 degrees, knees locked, rounded back, reps done SUPER fast
I felt like walking over to the trainer and telling him that if I ever see him training people like that in my town again he’s gonna have to do it with my boot up his a**, as well as telling the client to run like hell, and then finding out whoever in this corporate gym martix was responsible for for allowing such sins to occur among their staff and doing very bad things to them.
HOWEVER, since we live in a civilized society, have laws in place to protect idiots like these and because getting through my workout sounded a lot better then spending the night in jail, I quickly got back to my workout and took my frustration out on the iron. ( So I guess something positive came from this, I got a hell of a workout)
Is it the trainers fault?
Not really, even though I wanna blame the guy, he’s just some dude who applied for a ten dollar an hour job and got hired… he has know idea that he could be doing long time damage to the majority of his clients… he’s just trading an hour for dollar, he could be working at a gas station, a warehouse, a restaurant or a grocery store, the gym just happened to be the place that was hiring… so as far as he’s concerned, he’s just doing his job.
I think the corporation is at fault... they’re at fault for hiring people who have no experience or interest in exercise… putting them through a 2 day workshop ( or 3 day, or 4 day… doesn’t really matter) and then letting them run free on the gym floor and parade around as trainers.
This not only puts clients at risk of severe injury, but it gives our industry a bad reputation.
It’s like the bully cop who beats on the perps… or the doctor who just hands out antibiotics and opiate pain meds to everyone who walks in the door no matter what the ailment.
As a reader of this blog I’m pretty sure you care about what you do and that you take it very seriously… chances are being a fitness trainer is a lifestyle for you, and for that I want to thank and commend you… as you’re most likely one of the ones who give the industry a GOOD name.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this situation… just leave a comment below letting me know what you think
BTW, if you like this post, you’ll probably also like this one: 20 Trainers that make the industry look bad
Thanks in advance for your comments, opinions and input.
After reading you post I had a few thoughts
Guns don't kill people, people kill people…
Squats don't injure the body, bad squats injure the body…
I just opened a 8200 sq foot private training facility 1.5 miles from a brand new LA Fitness. Many asked if I thought that they were competition. ahhh.. no. I have turf, sand bags, tires, squats racks sorry spritzer bottles. I'm results based. I don't believe in mind numbing steady state cardio and using the smith machine. If you want a relationship and support from those that come from similar backgrounds and are training with similar goals, then we're for you.
Thanks for the laugh!
Scott
http://www.umbergerperformance.com
You nailed it brutha! The industry needs higher standards. I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I wish you could just see what goes on in some of the gyms here.
I cringe when I hear some of the trainers in my gym, 20 years old, charging the same price as me – 11 years older, and been weight training since they just started school…
They do nothing but count reps from 1 to 20 while looking round the gym while their client is using completely poor technique.
I can't wait to go out on my own and do things as I want, not how the gym dictates, and side by side with experienced trainers who give the rest of us a bad name
Until individuals begin thinking of personal training as a CAREER and not a STEPPING STONE (I talk about this in my book), it's going to be a mess.
This happens to me also when I go into the corporate gyms. I see it so often that I purposely try to stay out of them. This was one of the main reasons why I opened my own studio. It seem like their should be some kind of regulation on this sort of thing.
Yup we've GOTTA set our own standard. I go to a big box gym around me to do some sprinting and pullups from time to time so the scenery changes. I gotta tell you that what I see these "trainers" doing with their clients makes me gasp.
It's one thing to carry a clipboard and pull out pins for people… which is quite pathetic really, but another to act like they know what they're doing and everyone is watching them as a so called "fitness professional". Well that is certainly NOT my standard or that of real fitness professionals out there. LOL
Great post Chris!
i see this all the time at different gyms.
At my current workplace, my job as a senior trainer is to mentor rookie trainers. i educate them on many different aspects of being a complete personal trainer and that is nutrtion, sports coaching, rapport building skills, sales training skills, how to coach clients into having goals, how to conduct a cardio session also how to perform ALL weight resistance exercises and structure programs. this takes three months of 1 on 1 attention. then they will be up to the standard of what i call a trainer because without this knowledge they are worthless to the clients and to the business. i dont understand why all rookie trainers dont have a mentor???
That is really the sole reason I do not go to commercial gyms. It makes me cringe. So build a network of real trainers around the world and when you have to travel go to there facility and train. Just my thoughts. If anybody is in new jersey and needs a real place to train come to my facility. Email us and tell us you hate commercial gyms and want a real place to train. You are all welcome
Mike
http://www.hanleystrength.com
http://www.thetrainingstudionj.com
I see it all the time its a joke give us the worst reputation. Especially, for trainer that know the real deal form is everything.
Gym should stop hiring trainer or so called trainer with no experience what so ever….. Their hurting people instead of helping them.
That's why we fight every day. From doctors to osteopaths, they all should do what they know. But please don't prescribe exercise. They often do and i understand then, with this RETARDED trainers that only work in order to make some bucks and don't give a shit about client's health. This way our industry will never be respected as medical or physio…
Hi Chris,
This negligence doesn't just happen at large big box type gyms, there are medically-based fitness facilities that have trainers with a B Sc. behind their name but that doesn't equate to them being a competent trainer. I used to go to one of these gyms in my city and so often the staff were standing around talking to each other while gym goers were doing exercises completely wrong and potentially dangerous to their back and neck. Other trainers were doing high intensity workouts with novice clients – such as flipping heavy tires with rounded backs. It was very attention getting for that trainer, but I was cringing as I watched the individual go through that workout and couldn't believe that management weren't monitoring what their trainers do.
It's from situations like the ones all of us have listed that causes us to have a completely different training mindset for our own facilities – a model of excellence and safety.
Great blog post…thanks.
-Sara
Hey Chris
This is what inspired me to become a trainer. Seeing horrific training techniques deployed on innocent clients made me just cringe. I couldn't take it. There should be a practical examination for all trainers to take that must show proper lifting techniques, this is a serious issue.
hellow mr gregg justice. wow so you have the appt formed . i would like to know more. i cannot tell you how i have been wanting to find ,and hear from other trainers wisdom. i have benn at this 24 for gym for going on 9 years and two moths an s i fell i am at a dead end. i cannot begin to describe the nightmare working there, and seeking honest support and direction. i hope to know more, and have hope. god bless you, and the new formed appt.