Kids at the gym

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MikeInAZ
MikeInAZ Posts: 483 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My gym has an age restriction of 16 and older. However, I always see some very young kids running around using the equipment. It usually doesn't bother me. There has been this little girl at my gym working out lately. When I say little I mean like 11 or 12. She seems to know what she's doing and is walking around like she owns the place.

Last night she's using a machine and in between sets, she's doing shoulders lifts with an "ez curl" barbell. When she finishes her set of shoulders she drops the bar from chest height. Over and over I watched her. The bar is bouncing all over the place, it's hitting the machines, it's rolling in the isle.

Finally, I went up to her and said, hey don't slam your weights. It's bad etiquette and not safe. She looks at me kinda funny and says, "oh ahhh sorry" and walks away. A few minutes later a man (her dad) walks up to me and starts yelling at me. Says I was harassing his daughter, and she's just a kid, and don't ever talk to her again.

I told him that what she's doing isn't safe for me or the gym and that she shouldn't be slamming her weights around. He says "you let me worry about her". I thought the guy was gonna punch me.

I'm going to go back in the day when the owner is around and talk to him about this. I have no problem with a kid working out around me. But if they're goofing off, making distractions, not being safe, etc, they don't belong there. This is the same gym who told me that my 11 year old daughter couldn't take the Zumba Class with my wife. When I've seen many young kids in that class before.

What would you have done?

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Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    I would have talked to a gym employee first. I'd have no problem with you telling my kid not to do thst (though she wouldn't have been there to begin with) but enough people are uber protective of their kids that I avoid correcting them directly.
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
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    You did the right thing. You ignored it to the point that it was not safe. Guy was trying to protect his daughter so understand his point of view but wrong about gym etiquette.
  • jorbjorb
    jorbjorb Posts: 26
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    i wish i worked out when i was 12 haha
  • dlvuyovich
    dlvuyovich Posts: 102 Member
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    You did the right thing, addressed the problem in an appropriate manner and now you should talk to management.

    I coach highschool girls so trust me, I understand the uber protectiveness (to a point) but when there is a dangerous situation, waiting for a parent to step in so you don't "cross a line" is not in the best interest of anyone. If I waited for parents to address everything from what happens at practice to what I hear about what goes on outside, over half my kids would be in the hospital or in jail.

    Obviously this kid is not getting the proper gym etiquette from her parent so good on you for giving it a shot. His reaction is his to deal with.
  • 212019156
    212019156 Posts: 341 Member
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    You did the right thing. A 12 year should not be lifting weights unsupervised.
  • Asheea
    Asheea Posts: 211 Member
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    I agree with you that it was unsafe. I don't like confrontation so I would've asked to see the manager and told him about the situation. It's why he gets paid the big bucks. :) Then I would've moved away from her and continued my workout.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,473 Member
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    imagine what she will be like when she hits 20 and up, good for her,,, and you,,,i would have told her and I certainly would have punched the DAD out too., but that's me,,, your a good person and that's what counts.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    There's a good reason why my gym has its own childcare
  • Lauren8239
    Lauren8239 Posts: 1,039 Member
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    What a bad dad. First of all she's under age, and he's not even supervising her. If the little girl got hurt, I bet her dad would be suing the gym. Yes, you did the right thing, and also talking to gym management is the right thing to do.
  • knitapeace
    knitapeace Posts: 1,013 Member
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    Clearly this is exactly why they have, and should enforce, the 16 and older rule. Children who are too young to be addressed directly by grownups shouldn't be working out in adult gyms.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
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    I am a rule follower but I also hate confrontation. The pre-pubescent set really shouldn't be lifting weights, much less unsupervised. I would have notified one of the trainers on duty or the desk staff instead of confronting the girl directly, but that's just me. Her dad was definitely out of line.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    Unfortunately, seemingly perfectly normal people can become instant psychopaths when their kids are involved. To me it just shows how empty their own lives are.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Grown men should not be approaching young girls they don't know and initiating conversations with them for any reason, really. If you continue to approach young girls, I assure you that more dads will show up. That's what dads do. Aside from the fact that it isn't your job to correct other people's children, it is just kind of creepy.

    It's also not your job to protect the gym. If you feel that things are out of control and want action taken about what is happening in the gym, talk to the management there, tell them what is displeasing you and ask for help.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    I would have probably found a gym employee/trainer and let them deal with it.
  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,668 Member
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    If her parent feels she is old enough to be in the gym working out, she is old enough to observe the rules and etiquette. I think you did the right thing.
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    edited November 2014
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    You shouldn't have talked to or approached the kid at all. You should've went straight to management. Sorry, but that's the world we live in these days.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    MikeInAZ wrote: »
    What would you have done?

    I'd have told the kid to knock it off. Then, gone over to one of the gym employees, pointed her out, and asked if this was a gym, or a child's daycare. I'd also press the damn issue until the kid and her parent was ejected.

    Now, angry poppa? I'd have told him one thing, and asked him another. "Go *kitten* in your hat, and do you want to eat your teeth?" I'm not going to take some idiot yelling at me, particularly when he's in the wrong. If he needs to eat a 15# dumbbell, so be it.

    I've seen an influx of kids lately at my gym. If it gets too much worse, I'm going to make a federal case of it. I don't care so much in the machines section, as I think I'd die laughing if I saw one shoot off a treadmill, but they've been getting too close to the free weights section, and their bodies are very squishy. I don't want my section closed because one of them has to be hosed off the deck.
  • JeffseekingV
    JeffseekingV Posts: 3,165 Member
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    BinkyBonk wrote: »
    If her parent feels she is old enough to be in the gym working out, she is old enough to observe the rules and etiquette. I think you did the right thing.

    That's how I feel too. But in reality because she was a girl and he's a man, he should have talked to management. I think the father was freaked that a grown man approached her daughter. But if she's working out in the weight room, not sure how the father thinks it wouldn't happen.

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