Helping others in the gym??

A

Aztech

Guest
I have this inclination to help others in the gym that have piss poor technique. I mean, db presses that lower the weight three-four inches then back. Bar bouncing off the chest. Rounded back in dead lifts. I don't even need to mention the squat.

My question is, how do you help these guys without looking like a dickhead? I mean, i'm not huge but i can push more weight than most the guys at my gym. I just really don't have the time to stop ym workout to help people out ut i feel some of these guys are either wasting their time or bound for injury soon. I would like some approaches, just trying to be a good guy.
 
Aczech said:
I have this inclination to help others in the gym that have piss poor technique. I mean, db presses that lower the weight three-four inches then back. Bar bouncing off the chest. Rounded back in dead lifts. I don't even need to mention the squat.

My question is, how do you help these guys without looking like a dickhead? I mean, i'm not huge but i can push more weight than most the guys at my gym. I just really don't have the time to stop ym workout to help people out ut i feel some of these guys are either wasting their time or bound for injury soon. I would like some approaches, just trying to be a good guy.
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I thought about this before and I think it would be a bad idea. People think they are doing it RIGHT, and you dont want to tell them otherwise, and even that they will think you're just weird.

If you gonna be inclined to help everyone, you might as well live at the gym because MOST people dont know what they are doing; and MOST are wasting their time at the gym. You'll have a 24hr job.
 
Unless someone asks I go about my business.....for the most part. There have been a time or two I actually stopped a couple of guys doing either a squat or deadlift that freakin hurt my back watching them do it. Both times its been guys that hadn't been in the gym long........which anyone here would have spotted across a gym in a heartbeat. Guys trying to pull 400 from the floor with locked knees and shit.
 
yeh, i've figured it's a bad idea simply cause you're in a testosterone area and no one wants to be told they are lifting wrong. I guess i'll help soeone if they ask for it, otherwise the rest can learn by trail and error.
 
i've had a guy come up to me in middle set while doing front raises to tell me they are worthless..
how does one judge this if they do not know your training program and such?

anyways I rather have someone tell me my form is not right so I don't hurt myself; just make sure they are done with their set first and then just explain briefly..and explain to them you'd like them to stick around the gym injury free..
 
Unless youre wearing a PT shirt(which by no means automatically makes you knowledgable btw) most in the gym probably dont wanna hear what youre gonna say to them. I feel the same way, I wanna help but i just bite my tounge.
 
some people don't want the unsolicited advice. you never know who will be accepting and who won't so i would leave them alone. don't be the dick that acts like he knows more than everyone else.
 
I mind my own business, crank up the MP3 player, and only make eye contact with the hot broads. The last thing I need at 5am is to engage some billygoat in a conversation....then you feel obliged to say "hi" to him the next time you see him in the gym. Before you know it, he is bending your ear about something stupid and wasting your time.

Gumbo
 
i simply have concern for some of the guys with the inquiry prone lifting techniques. I never say anything cause i don't want to look like a "know-it-all-dickhead." I was just curoius if any of you ever thought the same. Thanks for the input!
 
Yeah, I don't want to look like a dickhead too, mainly because I don't think I'm big enough to be giving guys advice, so it would probably come off as preaching. I just tend to look and laugh.
 
I think it depends on how you approach someone. I'm a young guy but I like to think my form is good, alot of the kids at my gym are high school students who are training for sports. A few times I've just approached a few of them and said "hey man, i think you'd be able to lift more if you tried this or that". Some people are approachable, some aren't but thats true anywhere in life. Out of the 3-4 times I've done this over 2 years, only 1 kid wasn't thankful.
 
I don't train in a gym anymore but when I did I really enjoyed to get some advices. As most newbie I had very bad form in several lifts and I was happy to be shown the right way of doing them.

I think the true problem is that:

-people think that weightlifting is easy as fuck, I mean that they are clever enough to lift that stupid weight. So when someone give them an advice they feel like they are retarted, and nobody like to feel that way.
-good form is harder than a shitty one, so you have to go lighter and because of the ego trip nobody wants to decrease the weight he lifts.
 
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If you really want to help people.

first, get a certification. NSCA or CSCS, something like that.

then, when you see a person who is lost. Use some sort of a tactic like this... Approach them all non-chalantly, and ask them if they hurt their shoulder or back or something. They'll be thrown by the question and probably say "no, why?" from there you explain that they way they are DB pressing makes it look like their shoulder is weak or whatever.

then when they ask, who are you to say. you can say, #1 im bigger and stronger than you, and #2 im a certified trainer. so take the free advice while you can.

ppl will respect that for the most part.
 
Only address piss poor technique if it might lead to injury. No reason to address someone who's only going down 4"on a DB press.
 
i don't help people except when they suddenly failed a rep and is on a danger zone, ie bench/squat and the likes, i'd run to them, but i don't help otherwise. i don't give out advises when they're not asking. if they kindly ask, i'll see what I can do.
 
If I see older guys doing improper movements I always stay away, but when I notice a new young guy at the gym who has obviously just started training, I will genereally correct them if I see them doing something wrong. Most of the younger guys generally respect me due to my size, but you still get the smartass ones who know everything but weigh 120lbs
 
getfitdoc said:
If you really want to help people.

first, get a certification. NSCA or CSCS, something like that.

then, when you see a person who is lost. Use some sort of a tactic like this... Approach them all non-chalantly, and ask them if they hurt their shoulder or back or something. They'll be thrown by the question and probably say "no, why?" from there you explain that they way they are DB pressing makes it look like their shoulder is weak or whatever.

then when they ask, who are you to say. you can say, #1 im bigger and stronger than you, and #2 im a certified trainer. so take the free advice while you can.

ppl will respect that for the most part.
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sounds like a pretty terrible way to approach someone, almost as if setting up confrontation
 
telling someone they have bad lifting form when they didn't first ask for your opinion is a bad idea. Usually the people with the worst form are the ones trying to lift heavier weights than they are capable of for ego reasons.

The only thing I'll point out to someone in the gym is if there's a stray dumbbell under the squat rack or a frayed cable on the machine they're using that might be dangerous to them. If I ever have to get someone out of being stuck under the bar, I'll help them out and tell them that everyone in the gym will be willing to give them a spot if they need one in the future. Anything more than that can be taken the wrong way by a lot of people.

I've had people walk up to me before when I was doing good mornings and comment about how bad my squat form is, and I've had other people walk up to me when I was squatting and tell me how stupid I am for burying myself so far below parallel. I usually just laugh on the inside and hope they don't interrupt my workout anymore.
 
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