Ever Watch Trainers Train?
Maybe it is just me, but I am constatly watching trainers train.
Usually, as I am huffing and puffing for 45-60sec between sets, I like to look around and see what other trainers are doing with their clients and sometimes, you get to see other trainers train themselves. I am constantly amazed at some of the crazieness that occurs in gyms.
Yesterday, as I walked into the gym to workout I noticed a trainer working out (himself). He was doing bench press. He had the bar loaded to 275lbs. I figured I would stop and watch, and see what his technique looked like (I always want to see what kind of example trainers set for members of the gym they work at). I was amazed! He unracked the bar, brought it down towards his chest, bounced it off his chest, and then got his butt all the way up in the air and off the bench and pressed the weight up. He did 5 or 6 reps. It was some of the worst bench pressing I had ever seen. If I were a potential client seeing that, I would never want to train with this guy! Why would you do something so stupid. Stupid not only from a safety stand point, but a business standpoint.
The day before that I got a real treat though. This trainer was working with her client, an older lady about 60+ years old. The did all this work, like lunges and crunches, etc, etc. Then, they walk over to do triceps pressdown on the cable tower. They do one set and then decide to supset it with.....JUMP SQUATS! Sweet! Now, I am all for power training and, it has been documented well in research, as we age we lose muscle mass and the ability to properly fire motor units. But, why would you do jump squats at the end of a workout with a 60+ year old lady, who you haven't even taught to properly land yet? I mean, come on! The lady was landing straight legged and it was getting pretty ugly.
I just don't get what is going through trainers minds sometimes? They are always trying to be creative and do crazy things to "keep the client from getting bored". It is funny, I have never had a client get bored when they were making progress. I try and do basic things and get people to achieve a certain level of proficiency with those basic things, before moving onto more complex exercises. How can you run before you walk? I would really love to see the programs they write and the progressions that they go through with exercises. It is not uncommon to see a trainer have their client attempt to learn how to squat one week and then the very next week they are trying to do step up to a bench. Why not take the time to learn how to perform the squat properly before moving to more dynamic things? Basic things get people results. No matter what the current trend in the industry is, we always come back to the basics.
Well, those are my thoughts for today. Tomorrow I am sure I will have a few more. This is the first in a long list of blog entries. So get ready! It is going to be a wild ride. Welcome to my blog.
Patrick Ward
Usually, as I am huffing and puffing for 45-60sec between sets, I like to look around and see what other trainers are doing with their clients and sometimes, you get to see other trainers train themselves. I am constantly amazed at some of the crazieness that occurs in gyms.
Yesterday, as I walked into the gym to workout I noticed a trainer working out (himself). He was doing bench press. He had the bar loaded to 275lbs. I figured I would stop and watch, and see what his technique looked like (I always want to see what kind of example trainers set for members of the gym they work at). I was amazed! He unracked the bar, brought it down towards his chest, bounced it off his chest, and then got his butt all the way up in the air and off the bench and pressed the weight up. He did 5 or 6 reps. It was some of the worst bench pressing I had ever seen. If I were a potential client seeing that, I would never want to train with this guy! Why would you do something so stupid. Stupid not only from a safety stand point, but a business standpoint.
The day before that I got a real treat though. This trainer was working with her client, an older lady about 60+ years old. The did all this work, like lunges and crunches, etc, etc. Then, they walk over to do triceps pressdown on the cable tower. They do one set and then decide to supset it with.....JUMP SQUATS! Sweet! Now, I am all for power training and, it has been documented well in research, as we age we lose muscle mass and the ability to properly fire motor units. But, why would you do jump squats at the end of a workout with a 60+ year old lady, who you haven't even taught to properly land yet? I mean, come on! The lady was landing straight legged and it was getting pretty ugly.
I just don't get what is going through trainers minds sometimes? They are always trying to be creative and do crazy things to "keep the client from getting bored". It is funny, I have never had a client get bored when they were making progress. I try and do basic things and get people to achieve a certain level of proficiency with those basic things, before moving onto more complex exercises. How can you run before you walk? I would really love to see the programs they write and the progressions that they go through with exercises. It is not uncommon to see a trainer have their client attempt to learn how to squat one week and then the very next week they are trying to do step up to a bench. Why not take the time to learn how to perform the squat properly before moving to more dynamic things? Basic things get people results. No matter what the current trend in the industry is, we always come back to the basics.
Well, those are my thoughts for today. Tomorrow I am sure I will have a few more. This is the first in a long list of blog entries. So get ready! It is going to be a wild ride. Welcome to my blog.
Patrick Ward
It was about damn time. THANK YOU.
Posted by
Ivonne W. |
February 6, 2007 at 8:25 PM