speak up?

[sumdawgtwigg]

A week or so ago, while at the gym, i saw the worst thing. A guy was training his friend and giving the worst advice/lessons. He had him benching weight he could barely do 3 reps. The bar stayed diagonal trough every lift. He almost failed the last rep and his "trainer only had one hand on the bar. So, if he did drop it, then there would of been a hospital visit coming his way. The same sort of thing happened on every other exercise he "taught" him.

I wanted to say something before the guy gets hurt but wasnt sure how to go about it. Maybe if i see them again i can pull him to the side and voice my concerns? Or should i leave it alone ( dont think i should)

[Max Power]

Yeah that's kind of a touchy thing for some people. Did the friend training him act like he knew what he was doing or did both of them seem new to it? If they're both new to lifting, then yeah, I'd say offer to help them. Otherwise if you see the guy working out by himself you can offer to spot for him and then give some constructive criticism. Or if you see them again and it's looking really bad, maybe you could steer somebody that works at the gym over that way.

[bigm141414]

Touchy indeed. My best advice would be to go up to both of them and be polite. Just ask nicely if they want any pointers before they end up hurting themselves. Sometimes you just have to be that guy in the gym.

[sumdawgtwigg]

It seemed the guy training him just had no idea how to start his friend out. He did his own workouts fine.

[Yoshi]

I've been surprised at my college gym by how many guys are actually very receptive to legitimate advice and constructive criticism. [Not that I'm the one giving it.] But I feel like people who really want to make positive changes in their lives will be open to reason. If not, then they were bound to get injured anyway and there's really not much you can do. I think it's great that you're genuinely concerned though.

[sumdawgtwigg]

Well, yoshi, i just feel bad for the guy. He really seemed pumped to get started and the more it went on the less he was in to it. Hopefully me, or someone else, will het a chance to give tips before he gives up.

[cline]

I have a different take - I HATE when people do it b/c usually, IMHO, they don't know what they are doing either or don't know my plan, my progress, etc. Maybe this guy's buddy said no matter how lousy my form, I want to push the weight. Example, I had a dude (trainer) come tell me to get out of the squat rack b/c I'd be better off on the smith machine. I had to tell him to leave me alone twice. My form, honestly, was really good and my trainer specifically said not to use the smith machine. Another trainer tried to tell me the weights were too heavy for me to load and unload (after I'd been DL'ing). I also had a guy tell me I'm better off with the EZ curl bar than doing pushups. Seriously?

So, keep in mind that for every well intentioned person correcting someone else, there is some dingdong doing the same thing.

I might suggest trying to strike up a conversation versus going over while they are working out. Nothing irks me more than being bugged between sets unless someone legitimately wants to work in (I'm usually focusing, relaxing, visualizing, critiquing). But if you could be friendly, you could ask "hey, been bench pressing long? I'm working on the press and struggle with form?" etc etc. Might work. I'd be much more open to someone just working out having a chat with me than someone trying to correct me - however well intentioned.

and, sometimes, I gotta figure it out on my own. I'm kind of snarky (can you tell?)

[Hermione Gainser]

I have a different take - I HATE when people do it b/c usually, IMHO, they don't know what they are doing either or don't know my plan, my progress, etc. Maybe this guy's buddy said no matter how lousy my form, I want to push the weight. Example, I had a dude (trainer) come tell me to get out of the squat rack b/c I'd be better off on the smith machine. I had to tell him to leave me alone twice. My form, honestly, was really good and my trainer specifically said not to use the smith machine. Another trainer tried to tell me the weights were too heavy for me to load and unload (after I'd been DL'ing). I also had a guy tell me I'm better off with the EZ curl bar than doing pushups. Seriously?

So, keep in mind that for every well intentioned person correcting someone else, there is some dingdong doing the same thing.

I might suggest trying to strike up a conversation versus going over while they are working out. Nothing irks me more than being bugged between sets unless someone legitimately wants to work in (I'm usually focusing, relaxing, visualizing, critiquing). But if you could be friendly, you could ask "hey, been bench pressing long? I'm working on the press and struggle with form?" etc etc. Might work. I'd be much more open to someone just working out having a chat with me than someone trying to correct me - however well intentioned.

and, sometimes, I gotta figure it out on my own. I'm kind of snarky (can you tell?)

This is exactly my issue with advice. Both receiving and giving. I see tons of men and women in the gym (yay for seeing women in the weights area!) doing things incorrectly. For the women especially, I want to go over and offer them advice or point out little things that will help but how do they know I know what I'm talking about? How do I know where they are in their training? And how many times have I received annoying advice from someone who needed to mind their own business? It is very touchy.

I like the idea of striking up conversation and seeing where that leads.

[sumdawgtwigg]

Well, i just dont want the dude crushing his chest. Lol

I like your idea of it being a friendly convo. Instead of just walking up and saying "hey, you are doing that wrong". If he would rather be left alone and the bar one arm at a time, then fine

[Guest Snake McClain]

Here's what i would do (and have done). I walk up nicely and casually say, "hey do you mind if i offer a little unsolicited advice?"

And then from there I play it off like "maybe it's just what i'm seeing but it looks like you're curling your back end when you squat." Try to keep your butt back and if you do it right you get..." and so on. Then i always end it with, "again maybe it's just what I'm seeing but try it and see if it doesn't help."

Something really passive like that people tend to take well.

[sumdawgtwigg]

Good advice bruce, thanks!

[katscratch]

I'm with Bruce and cline, I'm a really direct person and that doesn't go over very well with strangers I tend to go along the lines of finding something I have trouble with to establish I'm not a know-it-all out to prove them wrong, then depending on reception go with either a "this is just something i observed you doing" ala Bruce, or "I just had someone point out to me xyz-form-tip the other day and it's really helped my bench".

Not that I'm offering form advice yet, but I have 10+ years of training people and managing strong personalities to get the results my teams need

[AustralMoonBear]

If you're worried about safety I'd say it's legitimate to quietly grab a member of the gym staff (depending on the style of gym it is) and ask them if they could "help out" with some advice.

[Pat G]

hmmm... I've also come across this on the squat rack, 3 people stood by watching 2 fellas squat their lower backs to pain.... They were younger, so perhaps we could have said something (respect for elders, respect for muscle).

actually.... *thought*

Showing good form by example perhaps? Ask if you can train with them and show proper form that way without making personal trainer overtones. And then perhaps you could offer advice.

[wildross]

"I just had someone point out to me xyz-form-tip the other day and it's really helped my bench".

I think this is a great way to approach it.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

[sumdawgtwigg]

I'll def put some of the tips to use if I see it again. The gym employees wouldn't be able to offer any advice. They just ran the tanning salon part of the gym and that's really about where there knowledge ends.