Gym instructor rant

p-nut

I joined the gym across the road there the other day and when i was joining the said i needed to book myself in for an assessment with one of the gym instructors. I was a member before and i already knew how the machines work and im about 4 weeks into a decent weightlifting program but i thought id give it a shot to see if he had any good advice.

So i went down this mornin, done the usual first assessment sh1te, tick the boxes, get measured up, sign sumthing and tell him what i want to achieve. So I told him I have been already following a plan and want to bulk up and gain strength.

Now i dont know if he actually wasnt listening to me or just has a program learned off that he gives everyone but he said we start off with this and introduce more each week. He told me to do 5 minutes on the rower to warm up, 15 minutes on an interval program on the arc-trainer and a 5 minute walk on the treadmill to cool down. WTF??!! Is the cardio section the first place you would go if you were trying to gain muscle??

On the plus side tho,at least i got my measurements done:o

Leon11

5-10 min cardio to warm up (get you heart pumping etc)

After you finish your weights by all means do some cardio if you feel like it. If you don't wanna do it don't, but always stretch down after a session.

On the subject of gym instructors fill out a comment sheet if you have them there and tell them that you were not satisfied that the instructor listened to your needs.

empirix

Is this westwood in Clontarf? I am convinced they give you a set routine to everybody unless you take out one of those one to one sessions with them, some of the instructors there are muck, one or two seem to know what they are doing, most of the instuctors are really only interested in doing classes, Body combat etc

mickoo

some gyms-deliberately break the program up into parts for new people to make sure they get used to the gym, in ours it would be warm up and weights on 1st day, then cardio the next day you book in! works well for our clients-once your settled its full program every time.
What gym are you going to?

p-nut

Ah its probably best if i dont name the gym, just in case;) Its not in dublin tho.

I can understand if they like starting people out slowly to get used to the gym, but i told him i was a member for almost three years before last year and quit cos i thought i would not have time to use it. Also told him that i have been doing weights since christmas, with rest periods after each six week rotation. but he still told me that if i want to bulk up, he will put me on the cross trainer for 15 minutes. no situps, no nothing.

J.S. Pill

Next time you sit down with him, just ask him what the rationale behind his approach is. Don't ask the question like you're questioning his knowledge, just say its for your own information, try get him to be as detailed as he can.

If you're unsure about a given approach or if you have any questions just post it here to get a second opinion.

BTW, what sort of nutrition advice (if any!) is he giving you??

p-nut

J.S. Pill wrote:

BTW, what sort of nutrition advice (if any!) is he giving you??

Thanks for your opinion. He is not giving any nutrition advice whatsoever, but i wouldnt listen to it anyway cos im fairly sure my diet is 99.9% spot on;)

personaltrainer

Not all gym instructors are bad, I work as a fitness coach and personal trainer and love my job, instructors need a passion for the work in order to b gud at it

cowzerp

Agreed.

StormWarrior

I used to be a fitness instructor, and it sounds exactly like the kind of induction me and my colleagues would give someone when we were feeling lazy and couldn't be bothered to do it properly. You can complain to the manager and they should get a different instructor to give you a proper induction. It should always include weights, especially if you told them you are trying to gain muscle.

littlepixie

How long did you spend with the instructor sounds like a half programme from someone who was rushed for time. Or the instructor could be lazy or uninterested

uberwolf

I joined a gym once to use the weights sections as part of an already comprehensive training program for cycling.

The instructor advised me to use of the treadmill...

despite me telling him I had two coaches and knew what I wanted.

The Davestator

1 of the better known gyms does half programs over 2 days to ease new people in to the gym-maybe they started the wrong half for you, the gym im refering to is only training there staff on this new system so maybe he was unsure what to do on day 1. weights is 1st then cardio 2nd in this gym, or at least it should be if done as its taught..