Gym Trainer Logic

**joe d** · 10-25-2010, 01:01 PM

I was db pressing today and witnessed a training session where the trainer had his client doing db shoulder shrugs with a forward rolling motion for about 6 reps then a backward rolling motion for about 6 reps. a few sets into it the client told the trainer that since he had started these he was having pains in the surrounding area. the trainer replied that he needed to keep doing them to work out the kinks.

after my set i told the guy in front of the trainer that i didnt want to be an ass but that advice was terrible.

the trainer walked over to their station and complained to the other staff then he got on the phone probably to call his manager lol. gotta love the y.

**TPT** · 10-25-2010, 01:38 PM

I got too many stories about this topic. It is irritating.

**MeatHead4Life** · 10-25-2010, 02:18 PM

ugh!!!!!!!! I saw a trainer tell her client to perform alternating overhead DB presses while jogging on the treadmill . . . . this woman looked absolutely ridiculous and looked like she was a step away from crashing down and killing herself . . .

The trainer, btw, had to be 350 lbs. Anybody ever WALL-E where humans evolved (or devolved) over the years to a point where they were 85% body fat and their bones shrank... and they forgot how to walk. . . . this is was the trainer.

This is also at the Y

**retwa** · 10-25-2010, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by MeatHead4Life

ugh!!!!!!!! I saw a trainer tell her client to perform alternating overhead DB presses while jogging on the treadmill . . . . this woman looked absolutely ridiculous and looked like she was a step away from crashing down and killing herself . . .

lol...the trainers always love combining exercises that have no business being combined...using balance balls with weights, and using those bungee cords with handles instead of weights. Basically the idea I'm getting is...by doing anything 'new' and 'non-conventional', they hope to convince their clients that they must have a trainer who's really with it and up to date on all the latest secrets...

**bigjavs** · 10-25-2010, 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by retwa

lol...the trainers always love combining exercises that have no business being combined...using balance balls with weights, and using those bungee cords with handles instead of weights. Basically the idea I'm getting is...by doing anything 'new' and 'non-conventional', they hope to convince their clients that they must have a trainer who's really with it and up to date on all the latest secrets...

I always laugh when I see a trainer making a client do some crazy combination of moves. You swear they were playing Street Fighter with all those combos.

**MITM** · 10-25-2010, 03:53 PM

Originally Posted by joe d

I was db pressing today and witnessed a training session where the trainer had his client doing db shoulder shrugs with a forward rolling motion for about 6 reps then a backward rolling motion for about 6 reps. a few sets into it the client told the trainer that since he had started these he was having pains in the surrounding area. the trainer replied that he needed to keep doing them to work out the kinks.

after my set i told the guy in front of the trainer that i didnt want to be an ass but that advice was terrible.

the trainer walked over to their station and complained to the other staff then he got on the phone probably to call his manager lol. gotta love the y.

Good fuckin deal! I'm glad someone has the balls to help the poor client. I have wanted to do that for ages, but I always whimp out -- especially at places like the Y.

Do you know that many of their 'trainers' aren't even certified? And many of the class (cardio-based) instructors are out of shape? How many people would want to take direction in an Insanity workout from a guy that looked like Milton from Office Space?

**crossbellas** · 10-26-2010, 10:22 AM

We have a "cross fit" gym here that has sent numerous soccer moms and punk assed boys to the er. They have them doin stuff like you see at the wsm contests. (I.E. tire flips, sledge hammer swings, etc) It is packed to the gills with dumb ass peeps that pay double the cost of a real personal training session, All because of "the biggest loser" show.

**statenis33** · 10-26-2010, 09:46 PM

how about the one i saw who had his 200 lbs female client squatting 75 lbs while he balanced her by holding her "hips" as she stood on a blow-up crunch ball.

**MITM** · 10-26-2010, 09:58 PM

Originally Posted by crossbellas

We have a "cross fit" gym here that has sent numerous soccer moms and punk assed boys to the er. They have them doin stuff like you see at the wsm contests. (I.E. tire flips, sledge hammer swings, etc) It is packed to the gills with dumb ass peeps that pay double the cost of a real personal training session, All because of "the biggest loser" show.

Oh don't even get me started on the "Biggest Loser Show," I just read Muscle & Body (the GNC magazine) and Kim Lyons (one of my all time hero's [Gunter Schlierkamp] gorgeous wife) said that:

(1) the Low Carb diet is essentially a fad and that the only diet that stand the test of time is the crappy Food Pyramid we've all been taught; however IN REALITY this is a stepping stone for obesity.

(2) She knocked cabbage ang GRAPEFRUIT JUICE has not having fat loss properties. She's nuts. I don't do Ketogenic but I'm not far, I'm greatly influenced by it and keep carbs very low (only I don't do the cheat meals). Anyways... grapefruit juice on an empty stomach is a fitness tip i got from Ms. Olympia Yaxeni Oriquen and IT WORKS.

Suddenly Kim Lyons is like the next big guru -- only she's saying a lot of mainstream/status-quo friendly stuff that's really not true -- at least not in my own personal experience.

And as far as what YOU'RE saying -- you are totally, unequivocally, 110% right about how foolish people are with their $$$ and how gullible people are as far as gym trainers go.

I was telling my friend Amanda that I was thinking about getting certified to maybe help my guys in StrengthAddicts out a bit. I told her MAYBE I might take on some clients for cash, charging them maybe $20hr , keep it kinda competitive.

She was floored. She told me with the certification I wanted (the best one by the way NASM) that at her gym in Grand Rapids the trainers charged $80hr. EIGHTY F*CKIN DOLALRS AN HOUR?!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's insane.

So dude.. 110% agree w/ you. People aren't stupid, but why they dumb themselves down like they do -- beats the hell outta me!

**Legend** · 10-26-2010, 09:59 PM

This kind of stuff has been really gettin on my nerves lately for some reason

**The Big Sexy** · 10-26-2010, 10:06 PM

That's why a good trainer will just throw his client on a machine and say do 15 and then start texting.

**retwa** · 10-26-2010, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by statenis33

how about the one i saw who had his 200 lbs female client squatting 75 lbs while he balanced her by holding her "hips" as she stood on a blow-up crunch ball.

The exercise ball squats are the worst...I can't understand why anybody would do these. Either focus on balance, or work on strength. It's another instance of trainers combining two different things for no reason, while increasing the client's risk of injury.

**MITM** · 10-26-2010, 10:21 PM

Lambs to the slaughter. I think some clients would sit in a shopping cart and get pushed into oncoming traffic by Johnny Knoxville if their trainer told them the impact would get them tighter glutes.

If you gave a dime to some of these trainers for their credentials in fitness you'd get nine cents change.

I'm not tryin to be a hater -- everyone needs to make a living these days --- but like you guys are sayin -- where's the friggin logic in some of these exercises.

**Gaoshang Xiongshou** · 10-26-2010, 10:47 PM

Worst trainer I ever saw is an independent trainer at a Y here. His people would come in, and do the same thing everyday. He would instruct them with bad form, talk on his phone while they trained, and preach... yes, give a full pulpit style sermon (not to all, but some) of his clients.

My absolute favorite was this one guy who would come in, gloves on, belt on, sit on a bench, grab his dumbbells, go through the motions, and proceed to tell the trainer his life's story, or whatever else was on his mind. And he had done the routine for so long (for at least the two years that I went to that gym, and possibly longer), that he would finish one thing, and just move on to the next exercise. The trainer never bothered to add anything, change anything up... just stood there, talking and laughing. That guy did not make ANY kind of change the whole time I was there.

**retwa** · 10-26-2010, 11:47 PM

Originally Posted by Gaoshang Xiongshou

My absolute favorite was this one guy who would come in, gloves on, belt on, sit on a bench, grab his dumbbells, go through the motions, and proceed to tell the trainer his life's story, or whatever else was on his mind. And he had done the routine for so long (for at least the two years that I went to that gym, and possibly longer), that he would finish one thing, and just move on to the next exercise. The trainer never bothered to add anything, change anything up... just stood there, talking and laughing. That guy did not make ANY kind of change the whole time I was there.

I've noticed that some people seem more in need of a friend than a personal trainer...they're at the gym for therapy, not exercise.