An Annoyance

[OakLeaf]

That may be true for people working on their own, especially in a space without enough mirrors, or with an instructor who gives them only cursory attention, but from V's description, her trainer knows what she is looking at and does appropriate corrections.

That's a lot of why I was getting fed up with group ex even before my injury. In every class the *majority* of people didn't care about their form, and no matter how many times and how many different ways I tried to guide them, they continued to pay very little attention, do the moves in enormously dangerous ways, substitute exercises they obviously learned off TV in the '80s if they didn't like the way I was teaching, and refused to *try* to do things with proper form once they'd decided that doing it wrong "hurts."

Most people just don't care.

/rant

[Crankin]

Oak, I echo your statement. While the instructors at my gym don't do anything egregious, there is not attention paid to people who need to be shown modifications. It gets my blood boiling, because people often end up doing stuff that is either harmful, or not enough. And, there's the thing about warming up and cooling down. At 5:30 AM, everyone keeps to the time schedule, but warm up is often compromised. The spin instructors see the one hour as an hour of spinning. They all go over time, starting the cool down when the class should be over, or say to do it on your own. Yesterday, the instructor (boot camp) said, "I know I should stop at 20 after, but I just can't help myself!" Oy, the class is for the people, not you. What's so hard about keeping to a schedule? I never had any issues with this. But, they get away with it, because as you said, most people don't care!

[Kathi]

The comments on this thread or the reason why, besides a cranky SI joint, I've not jointed a gym and gotten involved in group exercise classes or worked with a trainer. When I did aerobics many years ago and a few spinning classes, the instructors reminded participants to arrive early enough for the warm up and not to leave before the cool down and stressed the importance of both. Occasionally there were late arrivals or early leavers. Sometimes it couldn't be helped and often the instructors were informed as to why. In the weight room and in the aerobic classes good form was stressed. An aerobics instructor once told me that many people don't have a sense of where there body is, i.e. they'll get others space or not know how to move arms and legs and not realize it. We ski with a friend like that. He'll cut too close or almost run into you but doesn't seem to realize it.

From the bloggers I read many people don't have the basic movement patterns to perform an activity successfully and trainers don't have the training to assess what activity is appropriate for a person to be doing. So they use a one size fits all mentality. My latest PT thought lunges and squats were appropriate for me but he kept telling me to keep my hips "square". As much as I focused on squaring my hips it just wasn't happening. When I got tested it turned out that my "trunk stability" is dysfunctional. It means that I have an inability to control my spine when moving. Because my PT didn't look at my movement patterns he didn't spot this. My exercises now consist of planks and half kneeling to restore my trunk stability.

In addition to clients not caring maybe trainers could do more too. This article spells out what trainers need to do to get better responses from their clients. http://breakingmuscle.com/coaching/t...ry-and-freedom. If I could find a trainer like this guy I'd hire him in an instant.

I also don't think the majority of people are lazy or uncaring or else they wouldn't show up. They just may not have the passion for using their bodies efficiently and are willing to take the easy way out.

[Catrin]

There are many good trainers and coaches out there, it just takes doing one's homework to find them. Personally I've seen far more improvement working with my strength/conditioning coach than I ever did with physical therapy. That doesn't mean that I am anti-PT, just haven't had much luck with the ones I've worked with in recent years.

[OakLeaf]

Oh, totally agree, which was my point actually. From everything V's said, her trainer is one of the good ones. Which leads to the inescapable conclusion that the person who was dissing her just didn't care to do it right, not that they didn't know how.

[Catrin]

Yes, which brings us back to the original point. The people being trained must care as well as the coach or trainer they are wprking with. Many do, some don't. Still shocked that anyone would call Veronica a quitter!

[Kathi]

I know there are lots of good trainers. Denver is kind of an odd place. The trainers I'd like to work with are either downtown or on the east side. I'm in SW Denver. Until I resolve the SI joint issue I'm reluctant to work with just anyone. Besides, I ski 3-4 x's a week and with traveling between home and condo I'm reluctant to commit to a gym or trainer until I have more time.
I've always trained myself with advice from PT's, trainers and instructors. I went to a wonderful facility in Cincinnati and am disappointed I haven't found anything like that here.
Fortunately, I am committed to the new workouts. I'm expecting them to give me the foundation to move on.

[Veronica]

Oh, totally agree, which was my point actually. From everything V's said, her trainer is one of the good ones. Which leads to the inescapable conclusion that the person who was dissing her just didn't care to do it right, not that they didn't know how.

Yep, for them it was about getting to the time, mo matter what. I think they started off with good form. She's got a picture of us on her website and we all look flat, but when they get tired and the burning kicks in instead of staying flat they either get a hike in their butts, or curve their backs. Personally, I tend to curve when I get tired and I can feel it. If I can't stop the curve, I stop the plank.

But, it's their workout.

Veronica