Gym Slackers

[Stepper86]

Okay you guys.... since I have been doing Cathe's tapes, I have increased the intensity of the step classes that I teach at the gym. Only one of my step students like it..... the others say they sweat too much, don't like to work that hard, etc.....
In my body shaping class, if I even mention low ends, they say afterwards that they don't like my class because it is too hard....

Do you gym-goers see this at your gym too? People just going through the motions? I never noticed it really, until I started working hard with Cathe.....}( :7 :+

 

[Boybert]

it depends what classes. There are fave instructors that people really get into, so I always see a handful that are....uh...extra boisterous in class. Yet there are always a handful that look like they are just spacing out and waiting for the torture to end


"you miss 100% of the shots you never take"

Debbie

 

[nice on ice]

Well they'll just find a different class to attend.
I see slackers all the time with cardio sessions. But especially in lifting, don't always confuse "slacking" with someone who is timing their sets, etc. with up to 2 mins between sets. There are lifting regimens that call for that amount of rest between sets. Hopping around and running to and fro from machine to machine doesn't necessarily equal a good workout.

 

[Maximus]

I don't instruct, but I'd say probably 50-60% of those who go to my club are what you might call slackers. They're not really there to get in shape, they're there to socialize. Or to just be able to say to their friends that they work out. I swear the primary muscle most used in my gym is the jaw muscle. Most people there don't really like me b/c I'm really quiet & focused while I'm working out, which I suppose is interpreted as snobbiness. But the truth is I used to be really social, & ended up being there for like 3 hours at a day. I just don't have that kind of time anymore.

And then you have the guys whose main goal is to lift as heavy as they can, to heck with form. I can't tell you how many times a week I want to say to a guy "when you're doing lat pulldowns your a$$ is not supposed to leave the seat for pete's sake." Or "when you do bicep curls your body is not supposed to rock back & forth like a stinking bobble head."

 

[carmenelectra]

haha funny Maximus. My bf is one of those people that goes to the gym to talk. When I used to go with him, I would peer through the separator glass during an aerobics class where I could see all the people doing machines and pretty much 99% of the time he'd be talking to someone. It used to aggravate me so much, I would always say something to him about it. When those same people that he talked to started to try and engage me in conversation everytime I saw them, I lost it. I really really hate that.

 

[meatlessinca]

Yes, I have seen alot of slackers and whiners in class at my gym. I always wonder why the heck they're in the class for if they think it is so awful! As a matter of fact, since discovering Cathe I don't even like to go to the step class at the gym! The gym class is too easy mainly because she takes it easy for the whiners! So, I vote to keep up the intensity in your class for the one trooper and just have the slackers modify if they are "too sweaty".


Thomasina

 

[maxwells]

LauraMax --

How can someone NOT like YOU?!?! I used to be the same way (quiet and focused) at the gym I go to at lunchtime. But now that I've been there a while, I spend a lot of time talking to the regulars. So now I'm going to a different gym at night to finish whatever I didn't get to do at lunch! I'm avoiding all eye contact at this new gym in an effort to focus on my workout and avoid the conversation trap!

But back to the slackers thing...it really depends upon the "feel" of the gym and the time of day when it comes to classes. I've worked at several clubs and I've seen a wide variety of different gym cultures. One I worked at recently was very much a meat-market-y type place...but those people WORKED out HARD in class! If they weren't half dead by the time class was over, they were upset. The harder the better...even to the point of being dangerous! I've also worked at a place where the people came to class -- and that's all they wanted to do...just show up. They were happy with that and trying to push them into a high-intensity workout was just not gonna cut it. I try to teach at the level of the majority. If most people want it hard -- I'll make it hard (tee, hee...sorry...diry mind). If they want to slack -- hey, I'm fine with that too.

Shonie

 

[ivorygorgon]

When I am at the gym I always want to go up to the women and tell them "put some weight on that thing!!" I see people doing chest presses with 20 pounds and lat pulldowns with 20! Use some weight dang it!

People at my gym do tend to be a little bit more serious. I mostly see a bunch of regulars who are there to get fit or to stay fit. It's nice that way. Everyone just minds their own business and goes about their own workouts.

I haven't been to a step class at the gym (my gym doesn't offer them,) but when I went to class years ago, everyone seemed to work hard. I know it was hard for me then, but it probably wouldn't be now.

 

[andtckrtoo]

I think it also depends on the time of day. I'm not an instructor, but when I go to the early morning sessions, the people are there to work out and work out hard. The noon classes are a little more relaxed. I take a noon level 2/3 step class (it's a nice relaxing workout after Cathe - no blasts!) and I'd say only one other woman was there to really work hard. The others kind of moved through the routine like sleep walkers.


Now I did take a sport conditioning class where the instructor was a 6 foot tall woman in incredible shape, and she put us through sheer torture (great class!). There were often people who drifted in and out of the class, but few stayed. The people who did got a killer workout. But that was at a different gym.

But Stepper - I want to take your class!! I'll do low ends with you!

 

[dhcsim]

Wasn't their reason for joining the gym "to get into shape" in the first place? You can't get there w/out working for it. Personally if my instructor wanted to "kick it up a notch" I wouldn't complain. In the shape I'm in I think I would be thanking her profusely.My friend got me in on a 2 week pass at a gym and I saw a lot of women sweating their a$$ off, but yet their make-up was perfect. Go figure! I don't have the $ for any kind of gym. I kind of like making my faces and grunting in the privacy of my own home.

 

[Stepper86]

Thanks Christine! You can take my class anytime..... I'll throw in a couple extra low ends for ya!!!

I think I just want to share the experience of working hard with my class..... I used to think that just showing up and walking for 20 minutes on the treadmill was enough, but then I experienced what it was like to push the heck out of myself and how great it felt....
The first time I did a Cathe video, I nearly died, but I felt amazing. I know I am not going to change the way the participants in my classes think, but I am hopeful that maybe they will like the way they feel at the end of class after I kick their butts and they will come back for more....