Giving Gym Advice [Forum Archive]

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Giving Gym Advice

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Posted by: highpockets

My general rule of thumb is to never give advice unless asked for it. I do not want to offend anyone nor appear to be a know-it-all because I am not a know-it-all. There is just too much about training to know everything especially with the plethora of programs and studies available. Besides, on one other occasion I did give someone advice, it came back to bite me in the butt, and they even asked, I did not give it on my own.

I do not like to talk much while working out. I like to focus and bust my ass and go home. We do have a close knit group of guys at our gym and usually there are two or three of us working out at the same time so we can help spot each other and share ideas/knowledge after working out.

However....

...last night there was a relatively new guy at our gym that acts like he knows everything there is to know, struts, grunts and slams down weights even though they're light stuff. He was attempting squats with 115 lbs (you would have thought he had 415 lbs). I say attempting squats because his form was so bad we weren't sure if he was performing squats or good mornings. Anyway, none of us felt obligated to share with him that he was going to screw himself up if continued this way.

In this forum's opinion are we right or wrong? Should I mention something to the gym owner or just continue with my own thing? The guy is a douche bag, but I don't want to see him get hurt. I know this question is difficult because there are other things to take into consideration, such as personality, body language and the whole psychology of reading a person.

Just thought maybe some of you had a similar experience and could advise.

Posted by: Robert D.

I refuse to give unsolicited advice, period.

Posted by: IronAddict

Same here! Unless he asks, he's just going to have to learn the hard way!

Posted by: workhard1

I don't ever give advice either. However, I am VERY tempted sometimes. I don't know everything (in fact I probably know very little) but it et so frustrating when you see someone in the gym on the squat rack with a ton of plates loaded on and squatting with virtually no ROM. This kind of stuff only bothers me if there is no squat rack available and I need one.

Again, I never say anything to anyone, I know it is just not my place. But it is hard to hold my tongue sometimes

Posted by: min0 lee

Ditto, only if asked.
I mentioned this a while back, my help actually led a person to become a trainer.
Now the twit is a know it all.

Posted by: Merkaba

Usually I don't. Sometimes I do with people that have spoken with me a few times and I can feel out their attitude. I gave advice last week to some guys that Ive spoken with a little. They were doing upright rows with a rounded back and all bent over. I told them I didnt want them to slip a disc. They thanked me for like 2 minutes straight. I have a couple of meat head friends that ask for advice and they say yea yea ok...then you see them doing the usual bullshit.

Posted by: P-funk

I don't give advice in the gym.

i do frequently laugh out loud at nonsense though.

Posted by: Merkaba

Oh I lol daily in the gym

Posted by: 629RWHPstang

that was nice of you to help him out man i would have done that same

Posted by: workhard1

Quote:

Originally Posted by P-funk

I don't give advice in the gym.

i do frequently laugh out loud at nonsense though.

I actually use this tactic as well, maybe not to give advice, but hoping the person I am clearly laughing at or slightly shaking my head at will realize they are being dumb and change it themselves. However one day this will probably get me in to trouble when someone gets pissed off. I don't laugh at too much because I don't know everything, but it seems to me like people mess up when training legs more than anything. It just seems like most of the time people fail at utilizing their full ROM with leg work! It frustrates me

Posted by: highpockets

Thanks to all! I just needed affirmation that I wasn't being a dick-head for NOT mentioning to this guy that he was going to seriously screw his back one day.

Posted by: maxpro2

If someone is headed for serious injury if they keep the same course, I would let the gym staff know after I was done working out and let them deal with the situation.

If gym staff intervenes and teaches him the right form, it will be less embarassing for him and he will most likely accept the advice from this "official" source more than he would from a random guy in the gym.

And laughing out loud at people... that is pretty rude. Say something or don't say something.

Posted by: maxpro2

Let me add this:

People on these forums criticize newbies because they don't squat or deadlift... but when they attempt to, these same people laugh at them for their shitty form. Don't be a douchebag in the gym laughing out loud at these people, for they are trying to learn and we all know that we started somewhere.

Intervene or don't intervene, but definitely don't be a douchebag.

Posted by: ArnoldsProtege

My inner altruist is leaning towards politely informing the culprit of his bad form. With exercises like tricep pushdowns or bicep curls, I generally keep my mouth shut. But when someone is deadlifting or squatting completely wrong, and they are a clear newbie, I will chime in (when close by) "hey man, you should be careful doing deadlifts like that, I used to do it similarily and I ended up hurting my back"

When you tell someone you have shared their pain, they are more apt to listen without offense. That being said, the guy I mentioned it to was a nice looking kid who kept to himself. If someone like you described comes into the gym, starts huffing and puffing, dropping weights, leaving the leg press full of his plates, and squatting like a fool, I doubt Id say anything to him. Frankly, I try not to even look at them.

Posted by: danzik17

Never. If asked I will be more than happy, but otherwise it's not worth my time. It seems that since I'm not jacked at 230lbs, my advice isn't taken as seriously.

I've also heard guys bitching about not growing while taking steroids, yet when asked about their diet they have no clue.

Posted by: P-funk

Quote:

Originally Posted by MWpro

Let me add this:

People on these forums criticize newbies because they don't squat or deadlift... but when they attempt to, these same people laugh at them for their shitty form. Don't be a douchebag in the gym laughing out loud at these people, for they are trying to learn and we all know that we started somewhere.

Intervene or don't intervene, but definitely don't be a douchebag.

you can (or at least I can) tell the difference between attempting to learn a movement and being a totally fucking moron in the gym and putting obscene amounts of weight on the bar and performing retarded lifts.

if a kid was legitimately trying to learn the movement and doing so with appropriate weight, I would give them pointers (and probably do so without them asking for help).

patrick

Posted by: DesertFox

On this subject, a long time ago I was doing bench press and a guy came up to me and told me that I shouldn't hold the barbell up for too long and heck maybe he was right. Thing is, I did get pissed cause there where people close to where I was including women and it made me look like a total fool, well at least I felt that way.

Oh this also reminds me of a story from college. See I used to go to Sul Ross State university in ALpine,Texas. Well there is a guy there who came out on ESPN called Mike Flynt because he went back to college to play football at age like 55 or so. Well one night I was in one of the two school weight rooms and Mike Flynt was there and there was also a tall dude which was pretty built and he was with his girlfriend helping her do some exercises. Well long story short, the old man came up to him and told him some shit he was doing wrong and the guy got pissed off real quick. Funny thing is, Mike Flynt, the old man is also a professional trainer and also came out on infomercials cause he actually developed his own training/fitness product.

I guess my point is, if you feel like giving advice and are about to do so...make sure there aren't any hot chicks around.

Posted by: HeavyBomber

I tend not to give a shit about people in general so naturally I don't give advice unless it's pried out of me.

Posted by: min0 lee

Quote:

Originally Posted by DesertFox

told me that I shouldn't hold the barbell up for too long

How long were you holding it up?
Seconds? Minutes? Enough time for someone to place their hat on your bar while they do a set?

Posted by: Elson

My rule: don't speak unless spoken to. I try to keep focus on my workout (sometimes that means ignoring hotties). However I've seen dudes lifting weight clearly too heavy for them, and had to be on my tiptoes to rush in and help them before they dropped the bar on themselves or worse let a weight drop and hurt a bystander. If someone is in danger of hurting themselves its the right thing to step in, even if they're a dick and brush you off. At least next time you'll have an excuse to not help.

Posted by: dumbbell

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyBomber

I tend not to give a shit about people in general so naturally I don't give advice unless it's pried out of me.

I feel the same way.

Natural selection is how the idiots are weeded out of the gene pool. Don't mess with evolution.

Posted by: Moondogg

Quote:

Originally Posted by dumbbell

I feel the same way.

Natural selection is how the idiots are weeded out of the gene pool. Don't mess with evolution.

Welcome to IM.

Great post.

Posted by: Ngordyn

i will help people out long as they're not being douches, if all they are doing is trying to impress people around them by lifting obscene amounts of weight with horrible form well then screw it let them be a moron, but if they are struggling and trying to get the feel for a lift i will give a few tips that will make it easier, but people who are not out to improve themselves in the gym and just impress people piss me off

Posted by: Elson

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyBomber

I tend not to give a shit about people in general so naturally I don't give advice unless it's pried out of me.

hmm that doesn't sound like such a bad idea, now that i think about it

Posted by: DesertFox

Quote:

Originally Posted by min0 lee

How long were you holding it up?
Seconds? Minutes? Enough time for someone to place their hat on your bar while they do a set?

Like a couple of seconds too long.

Also while on this topic, anyone else have that guy they have seen in their gym and hate him without even knowing him? I swear sometimes I see this guy and I just want to sock em cause every time I see him he just acts like he is the sexiest human hes ever seen. Arrgh!

Oh and this other time I was doing cable crunches and I got up to get a 10lb plate to increase the weight and I soon as I got it some other guy just swiftly comes, takes off the black cord attachment I was using, goes to a different place and starts working out with it. I was like....motherfucker..I swear if he would of said anything I would of gone tyson on his ass cause I was just staring at him for the rest of my time there.

Posted by: Elson

^ u got punked

Posted by: DiGiTaL

It annoys the fuck out of me when I have shit faced kids come up to me telling me what to do. I used to give advice to my friends all the time; but they started not liking me for that and they never listen so screw them.

There is this one kiss-ass kid, that honestly Im ready to knock out cold one of these days. He goes upto ANYONE that looks slighty bigger then him and starts asking questions and annoying them. He was talking to me for a bit and his attitude pissed me off. He was telling my brother "I dont care how many reps you bench, do it until fatigue, until you cant breath anymore", I was there and I told him 'who the fuck cares what you think, plus dont go giving shit advice to people'.

one day I asked him what kind of routine he follows and he told me, arms one day, chest one day, shoulders one day. He's in the gym for like 5 hours a day, standing...talking and occupying shit.

sorry had to bitch.

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