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Unwanted advice at gym

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Replies

  • vanityy99
    vanityy99 Posts: 2,583 Member
    SnifterPug wrote: »
    vanityy99 wrote: »
    So no one would say anything to people who are using machines like this? K.

    Well, there is some weird looking stuff going on there. But just because someone is using a machine in an unconventional way does not necessarily mean they are following an unsafe practice. The only one where I would feel the need to say something is to the man at the end hogging a machine while he plays games on his phone.

    I was gonna say, as someone who frequently gets weird looks while using a Smith machine for weighted hip thrusts, I wouldn’t want to assume. Some of the people in the video doing the more odd and idiotic things probably saw some YouTube trainer recommending it as an accessory.

    I have said something once to a couple of clearly brand new to the gym teenage boys who were having a deadlift contest and pulling with completely rounded backs, because it was painful just watching them. I tried to keep it casual and friendly, “Hey keep an eye on your form, don’t pull with your back,” and they asked me for more information. But if they had said, “Back off, lady,” I would have accepted that considering I was butting in.

    What’s wrong with that?
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,646 Member
    Cherimoose wrote: »
    Don't you have your own workout to do? I don't understand how someone would need to do this... worry about yourself.

    Some people are concerned about others in their community. When someone gets injured, they could be out of work and their family could suffer, which in turn affects others in the community. A 30 second convo can change lives, and it easily fits in between sets.

    Then again, the people in that video almost certainly know they're using the machines incorrectly, and in my experience, they will be resistant to advice. But if a wandering newbie is trying to do bicep curls on a leg extension machine (which i have seen!) i might point them to a website, app, or youtube, to get some guidance (which is likely to be better than Planet Fitness' staff). :+1:

    And get sued for liability... yeah no.
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 1,979 Member
    it makes for a pretty funny video but if they want to hurt themselves, that's on them. If they were hurting someone else, then yes, I'd butt in.
  • vanityy99
    vanityy99 Posts: 2,583 Member
    edited September 2019
    vanityy99 wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    vanityy99 wrote: »
    So no one would say anything to people who are using machines like this? K.
    https://youtu.be/q0MOVX-A3R4

    What kind of certification, professional training and/or professional liability insurance do you have to be giving advice (regardless of how stupid something looks in your opinion)?

    I’d ask if they were aware of how the machines are actually meant to be used. If they were meanfully doing it that way for their own reasons that they think are helping them, even if it looks crazy AF to me then I’d just be like ok cool and move on. But if they were actually not aware that they were doing it wrong and they asked, I’d show them how I would do it. I’d rather say something then them get hurt.

    Don't you have your own workout to do? I don't understand how someone would need to do this... worry about yourself.

    I said why I would feel the need to do this.
  • vanityy99
    vanityy99 Posts: 2,583 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    vanityy99 wrote: »
    So no one would say anything to people who are using machines like this? K.
    <snip video for reply length>

    I'm still in the "tell the staff there's a problem" camp, predominantly.

    If the staff can't be found, and circumstances politely and safely allow**, I'd consider an interaction (during a set break, say) along the lines of 'Wow, I've never seen the machine used like that! Where did you learn to do it that way, and what do you find it helpful for?" and see if there's an opportunity to suggest something safer, if only obliquely.

    ** There is, I've found, a kind of "li'l ol' lady privilege", where people expect us to be a bit honest/unfiltered/over-friendly, so they'll let us get away with saying stuff that others couldn't. (I don't make a regular habit of this; I'm just aware of it as a possibility.) OTOH, I'm not super big or strong, and some wrong-headed people can be very aggressive very abruptly, so situation-reading would be required.

    For example, as a senior (in every sense) member of my rowing club, I recognize by sight the rowers who just learned to row, and will - as pleasantly and non-accusatorily as I can muster - remind them of safety practices that they were taught in class, or help them learn/practice safety-related skills they obviously haven't quite learned yet, if I see them on the dock or out on the water doing something whacky. But this is a very different social setting than a normal gym, too.


    @Chef_Barbell thoughts?
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,609 Member
    vanityy99 wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    vanityy99 wrote: »
    So no one would say anything to people who are using machines like this? K.
    <snip video for reply length>

    I'm still in the "tell the staff there's a problem" camp, predominantly.

    If the staff can't be found, and circumstances politely and safely allow**, I'd consider an interaction (during a set break, say) along the lines of 'Wow, I've never seen the machine used like that! Where did you learn to do it that way, and what do you find it helpful for?" and see if there's an opportunity to suggest something safer, if only obliquely.

    ** There is, I've found, a kind of "li'l ol' lady privilege", where people expect us to be a bit honest/unfiltered/over-friendly, so they'll let us get away with saying stuff that others couldn't. (I don't make a regular habit of this; I'm just aware of it as a possibility.) OTOH, I'm not super big or strong, and some wrong-headed people can be very aggressive very abruptly, so situation-reading would be required.

    For example, as a senior (in every sense) member of my rowing club, I recognize by sight the rowers who just learned to row, and will - as pleasantly and non-accusatorily as I can muster - remind them of safety practices that they were taught in class, or help them learn/practice safety-related skills they obviously haven't quite learned yet, if I see them on the dock or out on the water doing something whacky. But this is a very different social setting than a normal gym, too.


    @Chef_Barbell thoughts?

    Before she adds her thoughts, I should've mentioned, in my last paragraph, that the reason I recognize the new rowers is that I would've helped with delivering the class they just took, so they recognize me, too. On the rowing version of Azdak's checklist, I come out pretty clean. ;)

    At the gym, I'm just another bozo, albeit a li'l ol' lady.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,948 Member
    wmd1979 wrote: »
    wmd1979 wrote: »
    Call me non-sociable, or whatever, but I really don't want to be talking to anyone at the gym, period. There is a big difference in being polite and saying hello, to giving advice or inquiring about someone else's workout. That annoys me to no end, and especially in this situation I would have probably told the guy to *kitten* off. I just want to get in there, do my work, and leave. People who do this are either making a very poor attempt at flirting, or are trying to feed their ego. I wish there was one gym we could ship all these people off to. That would be pretty entertaining actually, to see all these bro types critiquing each other and trying to determine who has the most perfect form. Thats reality tv I would watch.

    Assuming from your photo/avatar you're male, if you told him to kitten off, he wouldn't have called you a b***h or a c**t, which is actually on the low end of what women have to be aware could happen if they tell a jerk offering unsolicited advice, compliments, or invitations "no".

    That may be true, but I don't understand what that has to do with what I said, or why you feel the need to critique what I said. I simply stated how I would react in that situation, but I wasn't telling the OP how she should have reacted. I think she has the right to react however she feels fit. I am male, which is why I was voicing my frustration with other males that act like this in the gym.

    OK. I don't think interpreting exchanges in the format:

    X: I had this experience that really bothered me
    Y: Here's what I would do in that situation

    as Y offering advice on how to handle the situation is a bizarre interpretation, absent some kind of disclaimer like, "but that's just me."

    But that's just me.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,088 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    vanityy99 wrote: »
    So no one would say anything to people who are using machines like this? K.
    <snip video for reply length>

    I'm still in the "tell the staff there's a problem" camp, predominantly.

    If the staff can't be found, and circumstances politely and safely allow**, I'd consider an interaction (during a set break, say) along the lines of 'Wow, I've never seen the machine used like that! Where did you learn to do it that way, and what do you find it helpful for?" and see if there's an opportunity to suggest something safer, if only obliquely.

    ** There is, I've found, a kind of "li'l ol' lady privilege", where people expect us to be a bit honest/unfiltered/over-friendly, so they'll let us get away with saying stuff that others couldn't. (I don't make a regular habit of this; I'm just aware of it as a possibility.) OTOH, I'm not super big or strong, and some wrong-headed people can be very aggressive very abruptly, so situation-reading would be required.

    For example, as a senior (in every sense) member of my rowing club, I recognize by sight the rowers who just learned to row, and will - as pleasantly and non-accusatorily as I can muster - remind them of safety practices that they were taught in class, or help them learn/practice safety-related skills they obviously haven't quite learned yet, if I see them on the dock or out on the water doing something whacky. But this is a very different social setting than a normal gym, too.

    I would listen to you Ms.Anne because you have massive delts!🤩