Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below I watched this dad training his daughter at the gym last week doing shrugs. He was showing her wrong by telling her roll her shoulders instead of just up and down. And I said I am sorry to bother you but have you heard that is really bad on your rotator cuff to do it that way and they said thanks but I hated to correct what the dad was trying to show the kid but I didn't want her learning something that could eventually hurt her. Was I wrong do say anything? And do you say anything when you notice people doing something wrong?
Do You Inform People When You see Them Lifting Wrong?
- Thread starter curling
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sublime35
New member
curling said:
I work out at home so I don't run in to that. But I don't think you were wrong. I probably would have done what you did, or said something when his daughter wasn't there or pulled him off to the side. Don't want to make him feel like you were trying to impress her, or make him look like an idiot. Know what I mean?
silver_shadow
New member
sometimes if it is a young person (totally new to the gym), then it's a good thing. if it's someone who has been around a while and they are still doing something moronic, then 9 out of 10 times, they deserve that crappy body/injury that could be coming.
theprofessor
New member
that is the reason i usualy dont say anything... sometimes i want to tell someone so bad because i know theyre making a big mistake...Falklands said:
always tell young kids though early h.s. or younger, they seem to listen to advice better and seem to appreciate help
Lemme set the scene, b/c I Feel there IS a place for when to help and NOT help someone ...
On Sunday I see one of the regular guys, I'll call him R#1 at the gym, early A.M., that trains with R#2 often ... I can see R1 is alone & wincing every so often, I immediately recognize the place he is rubbing/touching/applying pressure etc & I know the injury stemmed from his PR attempts with R2 & poor form + unassisted dips … I can see the imbalances right away … speak of it in brief, about getting a massage, icing, stretching, checkin’ the ego & lowering the weight a little with the R1 vs R2 is well, hurting HIM …. I JUST WENT through this, I KNOW what the issue is, I can say that with assurance … If my suggestions didn't help, THEN go see someone ...
SO, there is trainer ‘off duty’ working out, I KNOW he hears me talking to this guy & see R1 do this (but says nothing) … R1 has a weighted barbell on the floor behind the flat bench… lays DOWN on the flat bench .. McArch’d his back to reach down (like a backbend), feels for the bar to pull it up for some skull crushers … I’m thinking "That's a friggin 70 lb WBB there…" and I could see the weak side dip, strong side overcompensate … but he gets its up … after our conversation about the issue, damage, potential injury, strain etc … some people would have walked away .. not me ...
After he’s done with his set, I walk over and say, “I don’t mean to be a bitch, but I better not EVER … see you grab a weight like that again …esp. after our recent discussion about your injury … no matter how old you are … ”
He thanked me for the help, honest criticism and hopefully next week, I’ll see if he took my advice.
Last night I saw R2 & mentioned R1 … R2 says, “How is he doing?” insinuating he “hurt himself” without me having to say anything…
In this case, yes I feel is it necessary for me to help…
Sorry I had to vent …
On Sunday I see one of the regular guys, I'll call him R#1 at the gym, early A.M., that trains with R#2 often ... I can see R1 is alone & wincing every so often, I immediately recognize the place he is rubbing/touching/applying pressure etc & I know the injury stemmed from his PR attempts with R2 & poor form + unassisted dips … I can see the imbalances right away … speak of it in brief, about getting a massage, icing, stretching, checkin’ the ego & lowering the weight a little with the R1 vs R2 is well, hurting HIM …. I JUST WENT through this, I KNOW what the issue is, I can say that with assurance … If my suggestions didn't help, THEN go see someone ...
SO, there is trainer ‘off duty’ working out, I KNOW he hears me talking to this guy & see R1 do this (but says nothing) … R1 has a weighted barbell on the floor behind the flat bench… lays DOWN on the flat bench .. McArch’d his back to reach down (like a backbend), feels for the bar to pull it up for some skull crushers … I’m thinking "That's a friggin 70 lb WBB there…" and I could see the weak side dip, strong side overcompensate … but he gets its up … after our conversation about the issue, damage, potential injury, strain etc … some people would have walked away .. not me ...
After he’s done with his set, I walk over and say, “I don’t mean to be a bitch, but I better not EVER … see you grab a weight like that again …esp. after our recent discussion about your injury … no matter how old you are … ”
He thanked me for the help, honest criticism and hopefully next week, I’ll see if he took my advice.
Last night I saw R2 & mentioned R1 … R2 says, “How is he doing?” insinuating he “hurt himself” without me having to say anything…
In this case, yes I feel is it necessary for me to help…
Sorry I had to vent …
MrMuscle
New member
I work out at the gym i work at. So i often try to correct people in a friendly way. And I have not yet gotten any heat for it. Well except the guys who says "ive always been doing it this way" well guess what, you have always been doing it wrong.
Sometimes, after correcting the same people about the same thing hundred of times, i can get a bit pissy. Legpress is a classic here. Some of the local heroes see me doing cardio, and load up the legpress like crazy. I avoid watching them, but from the corner of my eye i see them looking my way everytime they do a set. Hoping to impress me i gess. And they do these with a rep range of a limp dick (meaning, not long). So after finishing my cardio, i walk over to them. Say in a high enough voice so the whole gym hears it "You know, if you unloaded 200kg of that legpress you might be able to do 1 correct rep" and walked away.
Sometimes, after correcting the same people about the same thing hundred of times, i can get a bit pissy. Legpress is a classic here. Some of the local heroes see me doing cardio, and load up the legpress like crazy. I avoid watching them, but from the corner of my eye i see them looking my way everytime they do a set. Hoping to impress me i gess. And they do these with a rep range of a limp dick (meaning, not long). So after finishing my cardio, i walk over to them. Say in a high enough voice so the whole gym hears it "You know, if you unloaded 200kg of that legpress you might be able to do 1 correct rep" and walked away.
Tweakle
New member
No, they won't listen and they'll think you're an asshole for doing it. And I enjoy seeing people do stupid shit in the gym
I've had PT's ask me if I was going to man up and do some 'real' deadlifts when I was doing rack pulls, people tell me box squats are cheating because they make it easier (you know, that 'rest' at the bottom), people offer me all kinds of helpful advice thats completely inapproriate to my bodytype
I've had PT's ask me if I was going to man up and do some 'real' deadlifts when I was doing rack pulls, people tell me box squats are cheating because they make it easier (you know, that 'rest' at the bottom), people offer me all kinds of helpful advice thats completely inapproriate to my bodytype
BiggT
New member
Only if they are kids do I offer to help. A lot of times, I have seen high school athletes (and even college ones with obviously either no s and c program or a very poor one) absolutely butcher cleans, so I've shows guys how to clean before. Younger guys who are athletes are usually greatful and will listen.
I don't bother with the older guys who have been at the gym since 1989 butchering the form on cable triceps pressdowns and barbell curls in the squat rack. I just always want to help somebody who wants to work hard and is willing to give it their all, but just needs a little instruction and know-how.....like a kid reverse curling their cleans or quarter squatting etc, they're at the gym to work, they just need someone to give them a clue.
I don't bother with the older guys who have been at the gym since 1989 butchering the form on cable triceps pressdowns and barbell curls in the squat rack. I just always want to help somebody who wants to work hard and is willing to give it their all, but just needs a little instruction and know-how.....like a kid reverse curling their cleans or quarter squatting etc, they're at the gym to work, they just need someone to give them a clue.
Protobuilder
New member
I lift at home, but when I was a junior/senior in high school, I worked out at a gym. I always appreciated someone showing me stuff b/c I had no clue what I was doing and was willing to listen. I still remember this one guy who was very nice and pretty muscular telling me that he thought I could fit 200 on my frame. I didn't believe in myself at the time -- I was 130-35 -- but his saying that still sticks with me today. It was cool to hear someone have some faith in you when you're scrawny, weak, and clueless. LoL
Illuminati
New member
curling said:
with most people, its not worth it. they aren't going to listen. so just shake your head in disgust...
WhiteCastle
New member
I have seen too many people get hurt in the gym.....
I used to never say anything to anyone about the way they worked out because I didn't want anyone to say anything to me.... (I mean, shit, I KNEW EVERYTHING! LOL!) But, as I got older and started learning more and realizing how wrong I was doing some things, and how lucky I was to not be crippled already, I started to try and help SOME people when I saw them doing something wrong/dangerous.
If it is something that is dangerous, i.e. deadlifting with your back, I will say something...... but if it is just something like 'you would get a better workout if you go all the way up', I just keep my mouth shut... because they will get the idea sooner or later.... I know I did.. If they are serious about training, they will do everything in their power to learn what works and what doesn't, and how to do it, and how not to.
I used to never say anything to anyone about the way they worked out because I didn't want anyone to say anything to me.... (I mean, shit, I KNEW EVERYTHING! LOL!) But, as I got older and started learning more and realizing how wrong I was doing some things, and how lucky I was to not be crippled already, I started to try and help SOME people when I saw them doing something wrong/dangerous.
If it is something that is dangerous, i.e. deadlifting with your back, I will say something...... but if it is just something like 'you would get a better workout if you go all the way up', I just keep my mouth shut... because they will get the idea sooner or later.... I know I did.. If they are serious about training, they will do everything in their power to learn what works and what doesn't, and how to do it, and how not to.
Protobuilder
New member
Well, another thing to consider is, a lot of times, people are intentionally doing things that you either (a) think/have been told are bad or (b) have just never seen/heard of. For instance, every gym monkey tells you to do barbell curls without moving anything but your elbows . . . OK, but there are several well-regarded trainers who promote "power curls". Same goes for power shrugs. If I were doing power shrugs, dipping down to the power position in the low hang and then triple extending hard, most gym-goers would "inform" me that I'm "cheating" and it's "dangerous" and I ought to really "hold the squeeze at the top" blah blah blah. That'd just piss me off b/c then I'd have to explain how the power shrug trains part of the clean, which I'd then most likely hae to explain, and then have to describe "which muscle" the clean works, blah blah blah.
Frankly, most people "offer advice" b/c they like to feel smart and superior.
Frankly, most people "offer advice" b/c they like to feel smart and superior.
djeclipse
New member
In the past I have learned that it's just not worth the time to offer a suggestion/help to people. I have done it with people doing deadlifts with rounded back, horrible squats (on balls fo their feet) et. But for the most pert people just don't want to listen or take the hit in the ego and do a lift properly.
But last night at the gym there was this young kid with his friend, both were around 16. She was showing him around the gym and he was asking her where to do bench press. She took him over to the smith machine and told him to grab a bench.
He didn't look to happy with the thought of using the smith machine (it must have giving off it's usual evil ora of entrapment, and he must have sensed it). She walked away while he went to find a bench to set up for the smith machine.
When he came back I said" if you're wanting to do bench press don't use the smith machine, use the bench over there. I brought him over to the bench press, told him to start with just the bar, showed him where to lower the bar to etc. and then explained how shitty the smith machine was and if he could, avoid the smith machine like the plague.
hopefully I saved someone form the wrath of the dreaded smith machine. lol
But last night at the gym there was this young kid with his friend, both were around 16. She was showing him around the gym and he was asking her where to do bench press. She took him over to the smith machine and told him to grab a bench.
He didn't look to happy with the thought of using the smith machine (it must have giving off it's usual evil ora of entrapment, and he must have sensed it). She walked away while he went to find a bench to set up for the smith machine.
When he came back I said" if you're wanting to do bench press don't use the smith machine, use the bench over there. I brought him over to the bench press, told him to start with just the bar, showed him where to lower the bar to etc. and then explained how shitty the smith machine was and if he could, avoid the smith machine like the plague.
hopefully I saved someone form the wrath of the dreaded smith machine. lol
silver_shadow
New member
i've seen the expressions on faces when i do push presses. it's as people think i'm cheating! those are the kind of guys who will then do 1/4 squats on the smith with a pussy pad and a lifting belt with a few coins on the bar and walk around with puffed chests like they pwn you.
WoNderWoMan25
New member
My biggest issues
1. People doing walking lunges. I cringe when I see horrible form. It makes MY knees hurt watching them, and this is the ONLY time I will casually ask about their form and make suggestions.
2. People, mostly male, questioning the weight I'm lifting/pushing. If you don't have a clue in general AND you don't know what my personal goals are, keep your mouth shut.
1. People doing walking lunges. I cringe when I see horrible form. It makes MY knees hurt watching them, and this is the ONLY time I will casually ask about their form and make suggestions.
2. People, mostly male, questioning the weight I'm lifting/pushing. If you don't have a clue in general AND you don't know what my personal goals are, keep your mouth shut.
steig
New member
I never correct form of anybody at the gym except for my fiancee. So many people have bad form and think that it is correct that when you lift with proper form everyone thinks you are wrong...Such at barbell rows and being bent over all the way.
Let me describe a scene at my gym, there are two guys who come to the gym, don't cover up their fat enough and like to throw around the weights. On reverse hypers they swing their legs and body so high that their stomach and low chest come off the pad and their legs are almost over their heads. The day that they officially hurt their back and can't walk I will laugh rather than help them. They also do swiss ball pushups with their feet on the swiss ball. They load 45 lb plates on their backs and rather than bent their elbows to do a push up they just kind of wave their upper body around thinking about all these pushups they are doing. They only use all the weight on every machine and then barely budge the movement.
So these people are the two dumbest guys I've ever seen at the gym, trainers have told them they have poor form and they don't listen but then we find out one of them is a doctor and the other is a physical therapost who had a hip replacement after hurting his hip in the past due to working out. These guys are even dumber than the guys I see getting on an ab crunch machine with a weight belt.
Let me describe a scene at my gym, there are two guys who come to the gym, don't cover up their fat enough and like to throw around the weights. On reverse hypers they swing their legs and body so high that their stomach and low chest come off the pad and their legs are almost over their heads. The day that they officially hurt their back and can't walk I will laugh rather than help them. They also do swiss ball pushups with their feet on the swiss ball. They load 45 lb plates on their backs and rather than bent their elbows to do a push up they just kind of wave their upper body around thinking about all these pushups they are doing. They only use all the weight on every machine and then barely budge the movement.
So these people are the two dumbest guys I've ever seen at the gym, trainers have told them they have poor form and they don't listen but then we find out one of them is a doctor and the other is a physical therapost who had a hip replacement after hurting his hip in the past due to working out. These guys are even dumber than the guys I see getting on an ab crunch machine with a weight belt.
Good thread, I usually don't offer advice unless they ask. I hate it when others offer advice to me. It is usually some pt geek with spaghetti arms trying to inform the world about the new technique he read in a muscle mag.
In the rare case I do offer advice is when there is potential to harm self or equipment. There was an obese guy in the cardio room with a bunch of machines in it. He obviously had no clue waht he was doing. He hoisted the weight and would let the stack crash on the eccentric part of the lift. Not to mention the power grunt he would yell in a room full of girls doing cardio. After each set he would get up and walk in front of the cardio machines and puff out his chest. After the first few times I let it slide, I didn't think he would stick with it. The next day he was back to his old tricks and I told him that he could easily crack the weights and was missing out on the benefits of lifting correctly. The weightroom supervisor pulled me aside and thanked me for pointing out to him that he was doing something wrong. She had warned him repeatedly but he just laughed. She was a tiny little girl so he thought he didn't have to listen to her. After that he was doing things the right way.
In the rare case I do offer advice is when there is potential to harm self or equipment. There was an obese guy in the cardio room with a bunch of machines in it. He obviously had no clue waht he was doing. He hoisted the weight and would let the stack crash on the eccentric part of the lift. Not to mention the power grunt he would yell in a room full of girls doing cardio. After each set he would get up and walk in front of the cardio machines and puff out his chest. After the first few times I let it slide, I didn't think he would stick with it. The next day he was back to his old tricks and I told him that he could easily crack the weights and was missing out on the benefits of lifting correctly. The weightroom supervisor pulled me aside and thanked me for pointing out to him that he was doing something wrong. She had warned him repeatedly but he just laughed. She was a tiny little girl so he thought he didn't have to listen to her. After that he was doing things the right way.
karachi183
New member
Way too many times people think your a prick and trying to show off as opposed to helping out so now i let people learn the hard way as i did. It took me a good year to learn how the majority of movements should be made. For example now i just laugh to myself when i see people flexing there entire upper body and swinging when curling...
I do thank its funny to see this one guy that is a freak in size do messed up reps like the curl and as always in my gym the cable pulldown. Now i'm not as big as a lot of you guys on here but i was told that the proper way was the only way to get big and not get injured.So, I stress this fact to the young kids and my own teens.
Its also funny to watch guys do a swing curl with like say 35's on each side of a e z curl bar and i come up beside them with 25lbs dumbbells and my arms get as big or bigger than theirs but no don't say nothinng to anyone but teens and younger.
it is to much of a lifting match to see who can lift more at my gym so i just go in and do my 45min-to hour and leave.
Its also funny to watch guys do a swing curl with like say 35's on each side of a e z curl bar and i come up beside them with 25lbs dumbbells and my arms get as big or bigger than theirs but no don't say nothinng to anyone but teens and younger.
it is to much of a lifting match to see who can lift more at my gym so i just go in and do my 45min-to hour and leave.
