What Kind of Gym-goer Are you? - JP Fitness Forums

John Izzo · 03-29-2007, 05:14 AM

Working in gyms or fitness centers that last 8 years and spending the better part of my days for the last decade and a half, I have seen AND heard some crazy stuff. However, the last 2 years have been very profound for me personally, becuase I have really tapped into psychology practices. Let me explain....

As a trainer, we sit down and get to know someone. They give us info about themselves and we develop an understanding as to why they are the way they are. Recently, as a fitness director, I have developed a keen sense for people without ever having to sit down with them. Its like I have a superhero's ability to x-ray myself into their mind, ideiology, or upbringing and understand who they are. Its almost scary...

Yesterday, a member came to me very irrate and angry that a treadmill was down. It was broken... That stuff happens. What I don't understand is why this person couldn't move to one of the other 19 treadmills that I had available??? When I work out at the gym (a different one), and I get on a treadmill that doesn't seem to be working properly, I simply move on to the next one.

Why do people feel compelled to be victims of circumstance? Why can they not find a way out of the hole (or situation)? Instead, they resort to extending that index finger and aiming it at everything except themselves.

So I have to ask, what do you do if a piece of equipment is broken at your gym? Do you use something else? Do you perform a different exercise?

gobbla · 03-29-2007, 05:30 AM

If the barbell is broken, I grab a different one. If they're all broken....I'm pretty pissed. Typically not a problem though.

cappuccino · 03-29-2007, 05:35 AM

not all treadmills are created equally. Some have better functions and some are placed better (by the tv, for example). As tortuous it is to use the treadmill, there is some recompense in being able to use your FAV

the broken ones might get used the most???

JoshDunn · 03-29-2007, 05:36 AM

Don't really have a problem with broken equipment. I do make running changes to program order or straight sets over supersets based on the busyness of the gym at that time.

Jason B · 03-29-2007, 05:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gobbla

If the barbell is broken, I grab a different one. If they're all broken....I'm pretty pissed. Typically not a problem though.

Exactly what I was going to say. It's kind of hard to find a broken barbell and power rack.

K Manley · 03-29-2007, 05:55 AM

Well I think I can safely say that I am in the majority here: If a machine I wanted to use is down I simply throw my water bottle in the general direction of authority, tear up my membership card and curl up in the smith machine for a good cry.

I think you're bang on with the victim mentality of some people. They see every problem as a personal affront and are always the ones to 'stand up for the little guy' by taking their complaints to you. I noticed that alot of those kinds of complaints came from the same individuals who were there to 'buy fitness'. They see getting in shape as something they have paid for and something the club must provide. Other complaints came from the very dogmatic (the lighter side of OCD) lifters who have a very specific routine they follow that they understand systematically but not conceptually. You, it would seem, see getting in shape as something you're going to do, you know many ways to do it, and a club merely provides tools. If your hammer breaks you'll use a rock, but there will always be some people that will give up if they don't have a nailgun.

I once had a guy interrupt me when I was with a client to tell (not ask) me to unplug the speakers in the cardio room because he didn't like the music. I told him that I was very sorry but I wasn't allowed to do that. but if he wanted I could flick the lights on and off and turn it into a dance party. He turned me down, even after I offered to rustle him up some glowsticks. Seems like a similar mindset.

fayman · 03-29-2007, 06:01 AM

People are creatures of habit. I know when I got into a heavy routine of training, I noticed that my attitude became as rigid as my workout schedule. If anything or anyone put a kink in my schedule, I would steam about it for the rest of the day. Sound stupid? It was, but it was how I felt, and I couldn't help it at the time.

The broken treadmill could be a metaphor (of sorts) for his training. If the treadmill is broken, so is his training schedule, and that's enough to freak people into thinking they'll fall off the wagon of consistent training.

Just a thought.....It's hard to explain, but I've been there.

Just never to the point that I'd take it out on other people. Get bummed that something is messing with my schedule? Sure. Get pissed at the world because it ruined my whole training program and f*#ked my entire day? Time to rethink what life is all about!

Irishdazza · 03-29-2007, 06:23 AM

I have no problem with broken stuff in the gym, can always work round....recovering all the benches on one floor (all the proper free weights) on one day and all the benches on the other floor (pink and chromed dumbells under 20kg) the next instead of half and half, bugs the hell out of me.

Common sense...the world's biggest oxymoron!

RedLefty · 03-29-2007, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K Manley

I once had a guy interrupt me when I was with a client to tell (not ask) me to unplug the speakers in the cardio room because he didn't like the music. I told him that I was very sorry but I wasn't allowed to do that. but if he wanted I could flick the lights on and off and turn it into a dance party. He turned me down, even after I offered to rustle him up some glowsticks. Seems like a similar mindset.

I'd love to see a video of this! Gym rave!

Phaedrus49er · 03-29-2007, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K Manley

I once had a guy interrupt me when I was with a client to tell (not ask) me to unplug the speakers in the cardio room because he didn't like the music. I told him that I was very sorry but I wasn't allowed to do that. but if he wanted I could flick the lights on and off and turn it into a dance party. He turned me down, even after I offered to rustle him up some glowsticks. Seems like a similar mindset.

Now that's funny. I'm not in a pre-determined workout program right now since I more or less CrossFit everything right now (not the WOD, just a similar daily program design--I love open-source). I usually have two or three possible combinations of stuff in mind when I walk into the gym, so no one or even two hiccups will derail me. Kind of a MacGuyver approach, though it does bug me a little every time I mistakenly grab the one bowed barbell in the gym (why they haven't replaced it, I don't know; it's been there for months).

Lost Dog · 03-29-2007, 07:23 AM

John, if you look deep enough, I think you'll find that, under the surface, that gym-goer has an empty space that no amount of treadmilling has been able to fill. A festering burning feeling that radiates from within, as hot as it is cold. empty. alone. That was a cry for help. Do you hear it? Are you, Trainer Man, listening? Which is broken, John, the treadmill? or, the gym-goer?

RedLefty · 03-29-2007, 07:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

John, if you look deep enough, I think you'll find that, under the surface, that gym-goer has an empty space that no amount of treadmilling has been able to fill. A festering burning feeling that radiates from within, as hot as it is cold. empty. alone. That

Maybe it's HOT-ROX??

And for the record, I just switch to something that's not broken. But the YMCA only has one squat rack, and then I mostly use dumbbells for everything else.

My problem is when the solitary rack is taken by a couple of guys doing fourteen sets of 2-rep partial squats, with 156-second rest periods. That's when I want to huff and leave.

Jimbo · 03-29-2007, 07:38 AM

The ONLY time it's irritating at all is when you are in the "ready to take on the work out" mind set and you get on a piece of equipment and spend 10 minutes before figuring out that it's broke. I've had that happen and it was a bit irritating but I didn't "blame" anyone. I did take time to tell someone it was broken. I don't know how I came across but hopefully not like this guy did.

I understand the irritation. But I wouldn't understand him aiming his frustration at management unless the equipment is constantly broken. That would move from being an equipment problem to being a management issue.

So it really depends on the circumstances as to whether or not he would be justified in his actions.

John Izzo · 03-29-2007, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K Manley

Well I think I can safely say that I am in the majority here: If a machine I wanted to use is down I simply throw my water bottle in the general direction of authority, tear up my membership card and curl up in the smith machine for a good cry.

I think you're bang on with the victim mentality of some people. They see every problem as a personal affront and are always the ones to 'stand up for the little guy' by taking their complaints to you. I noticed that alot of those kinds of complaints came from the same individuals who were there to 'buy fitness'. They see getting in shape as something they have paid for and something the club must provide. Other complaints came from the very dogmatic (the lighter side of OCD) lifters who have a very specific routine they follow that they understand systematically but not conceptually. You, it would seem, see getting in shape as something you're going to do, you know many ways to do it, and a club merely provides tools. If your hammer breaks you'll use a rock, but there will always be some people that will give up if they don't have a nailgun.

I once had a guy interrupt me when I was with a client to tell (not ask) me to unplug the speakers in the cardio room because he didn't like the music. I told him that I was very sorry but I wasn't allowed to do that. but if he wanted I could flick the lights on and off and turn it into a dance party. He turned me down, even after I offered to rustle him up some glowsticks. Seems like a similar mindset.

Good post....

Is improvision a character trait or a learned skill?

karky · 03-29-2007, 08:28 AM

I try to improvise to do the exersice im supposed to, however, if that would be dangeoraus or too hard, i just find something else.

Like if i have to do front squats without a rack, ill probobly just clean it first.

vuduchyld · 03-29-2007, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

John, if you look deep enough, I think you'll find that, under the surface, that gym-goer has an empty space that no amount of treadmilling has been able to fill. A festering burning feeling that radiates from within, as hot as it is cold. empty. alone. That was a cry for help. Do you hear it? Are you, Trainer Man, listening? Which is broken, John, the treadmill? or, the gym-goer?

Right...the real question is not necessarily what kind of gym-goer you are...it's what kind of person you are.

If anybody has ever dealt with a loved one with BPD (Borderline Personality Disorder), you know that EVERYTHING can be taken as a personal affront by some folks. Other folks think the glass is usually half full...nothing really bothers them all that much.

I think if I ever found myself THAT irritated by what was happening a the GYM for goodness sakes, I would probably just check myself in somewhere and ask for the straight jacket.

The gym is FUN time! It's not STRESS time!

I. Kay · 03-29-2007, 08:44 AM

For many gym-goers, especially the "cardio machine" addicts, the gym isn't so much a place to get healthy as a place to relieve stress: to get away from work/kids, to stop thinking for a while, to go into auto-pilot. As someone above mentioned, habit comes into play here as well.

The anger stems largely from the interruption of their "mindless relaxation time". Even this minor irritation, this moment of switching machines, is a blow to their personal time.

We all have something similar: "This is my time to watch Gilligan's Island and toss down a couple Killians." If something interrupts that (there's only ONE Killians left!) it's just NOT the same.

It's not right/wrong, necessarily, it's just a human reaction.