Article Explains Awful Ways Trainers Shame Gym Members And I’m Shocked More Fights Don’t Break Out

I’ve been on both sides of the trainer/gym member relationship. I was once a personal trainer. I’m now just a skinny-fat guy trying to stay in shape.

At no point, in either position, did I ever witness any body shaming or negative talk. I’d never talk down or embarrass a person trying to get in shape and I’d never let a trainer or class instructor make me feel like shit about myself.

I guess I’m not going to the same classes or fitness centers . They see it all the time.

Last November, Anna Berger was three months into an intense weight-loss journey when she signed up for an indoor cycling class in Manhattan. She was a walk-in and was randomly assigned a bike in the front row, where she was the heaviest spinner.

“I remember the teacher being extremely harsh. She said [with her microphone on], ‘You can’t ride in the front row unless you think you’re as good as the instructor,’ ” says the 23-year-old Gramercy resident, who works in advertising. “I almost walked out. She made me feel huge.”

That was MILD compared to the rest of the examples in this NY Post article about trainers shaming clients.

First, there was a woman in California “embarrassed by the instructor for not pedaling fast enough” who then dislocated her ankle after trying unsuccessfully to keep up with the rest of the class. She’s currently suing the gym.

Then there’s this..

Ruth Zukerman, co-founder of Flywheel, recalls the time an overweight friend took an indoor cycling class at a competitor’s studio a year-and-a-half ago: “The instructor came up to her with the mike on, tapped her on the butt and said, ‘Well, I guess we all know where you need to lose weight from.’ ”

Katherine Greiner, a private trainer in New York City who used to work for Anderson, adds: “At classes I’ve gone to, I’ve heard people say things like, ‘Come on, girl. You can run faster than that. No boy is going to love you if your butt’s like that.’ ”

Ouch. That’s hitting below the very large belt AND making a huge assumption about a person’s personal life. I understand some people are into being “pushed around” in the gym to get a better workout but there’s a different between motivating and being a flat out shit face. Getting personal is always a shit face move.

Back to the stories and in the words of the 90s rap group Onyx in their song “Slam”…BU BU BU BUT WAIT IT GETS WORSE!

Christine Yi agrees. A few years ago, the Murray Hill resident mustered the courage to get back to the gym after she lost her leg in an accident a decade prior.

“I was working out at a private gym. I got off the treadmill, and the trainer [there], who saw me every day crying and sweating in pain, came up to me, patted my belly and said, ‘How far along are you?’ I never went back,” says the 40-year-old, who now works out at Flywheel. “I find negative reinforcement to be a downer.”

Jesus…

I wish I could say that was the end, or the worst, but the final story is so bad I’m encouraging violence. If anyone ever says this to you in a gym, or anywhere, you’ve got my permission to find the closest barbell and wrap it around their skull.

But when you’re shelling out $25 to $45-plus per hour, you should be catered to, says Dyan Tsiumis, the director of training at Swerve Fitness. She was exhausted when she stopped for water during a boot-camp class two years ago.

“The instructor screams, ‘No one’s going to f - - k you [if you take a break for water],’ ” says Tsiumis. “My mouth dropped, and I had that moment of, ‘I’m either going to punch you in the face or run out of this class right now.’ ”

I’m all for punching and claiming it was part of the workout. Boxing classes are popular these days.

[via NY Post]