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Ok so I belong to Fitness World and have for several years...why is it that the staff walk around and see people working out all wrong and they never give constructive cristism. Seems that they are all gung ho to get you to join but the after service suck unless you pay for it in a way of a personal trainer. In my gym they don't even have any reference posters one can go to, to see what exercises one can do to target certain areas.

Fortunately I have taken it upon myself to educate myself....and doing a fine job to:)

Does anyone else find this in their gyms....?

When someone joins a gym in my local area they get fully inducted, that is they are shown how to use the equipment properly. They also have the option of having a programme card made up which can be updated and reviewed regularly. I can see your point but gym staff will not have the time to go round correcting everyone's technique. Even as an aerobics instructor if someone had poor technique the entire class would be shown what to do, it's poor form to go over to someone and tell them they are doing something wrong.

I have seen people over exercise and have thought that gym staff should have intervened then, but again, how do you tell an adult who is paying for a service that they are exercising too much without offending them.

they probably don't correct people because if in our gym for example if an instructor/attendant came up to people and offered them constructive critiscism they would probably be told where to go.especially as most instructors nowadays are still wet behind the ears and have no physical experience of what they've been taught in college so are in no position to advise.
if you want advice they are there to be asked and i'm sure are more than willing to give you advice.i'd suggest asking an older more experienced trainer/instructor who hopefully will of actually tried and used the various techniques they are suggesting.

I would change Gyms..All fitness centres should have an induction lesson to show you how to use the equipment properly, the last thing they want to see is you doing yourself an injury..Health and safety is a must..if they are not doing their jobs properly.. report them!...

My brother works in a gym and I've seen him go over to someone and show them what to do, at their request. When people get an induction it's comprehensive and you can also get a programme card that is reviewed at regular invervals. All the local leisure centres ensure people are fully inducted. But, if you have 2 or 3 staff on shift and 80 people in using the equipment are you really going to see every single person's technique?

Even in aerobic classes, tonight I had over 40 people in my class, I could not see every single persons technique, it is impossible. What you have to do is make sure you reinforce teaching points at regular intervals, break down steps, make it as easy for people as possible, but you cannot be the eyes and ears for every single person there, it's not possible.

Somewhere along the line people need to take responsibilty for their own workout. As I said, I've seen people over exercising in gyms, but where do staff intervene? Someone has paid for a membership and I am not sure where they would legally stand if they banned someone for their own good.

thanks for the replies. I eventually did a lot of searching on the net to come up with basic techniques.

Whoa, a very touchy subject for me. I suggest the next time you go to the gym you ask at the receptionist desk for help, nicely! No one wants to help a rude pain in the azz. Tell them what parts you want to improve on, what your goal is & ask them to help you come up with a good work out plan. Have the person walk you through it & make sure you are doing it correctly. Ask questions & repeat what you are being told so you will understand. The next time you go in ask if someone will pay extra attention to you & let you know if you are doing your routine correctly. Tell them you are serious about getting in shape & want constructive criticism. Do this as often as you feel is necessary until you are comfortable with your routine. If you don't see any results within a few weeks ask for help again. Ask for suggestions or ideas on how you can get to your goal faster. It's your money make sure you are getting what you paid for.

Most places know who has been going to the gym for years & they just assume by now you know what you are doing & getting the results you want especially if you don't ask for help.

I encourage my staff to ask if clients need help or want some suggestions. You got to be very careful cause too many people do not appreciate someone implying they are working out incorrectly.

That's definitely poor service at Fitness World! Every gym that I've ever used had posters up to educate and the staff were always very helpful in teaching proper techniques. Perhaps you should speak to management and see what they say?

it all depends on the type of gym ya go to. At a university gym, for example, you're pretty well on your own. BUT, the thing to do in this case is to ask for advice from someone what has obviously worked out a lot. I did that at the gym at the University of California, Berkeley, for example, and went from puny to pretty buffed out in about 10 months. Why? Because I asked the most buff person there to give me some advice on where to start. After a while, another guy who was as puny as I was was paired with me, by the big guy, and we spotted for each other on the tougher lifts. The big guy kept an eye on us. The big guy, he was also a student, we all became good friends and hung out together and pretty soon, there was a group of about 6 people, all going to the gym at the same hours (couple of women in the group, too -- hooo yaaa!)

At the YMCA type gym, it pretty well works out the same way -- don't be afraid of asking for advice from either the gym attendants or from someone else who looks like he/she knows what they're doing. After a while, people would come to me and ask for advice on how to use a machine or related question. It was, to say the least, flattering, and I've seen very few people who get approached not give ready advice. It's a positive recognition of sorts.

At the "pay gyms (I used Bally's), there tend to be paid staff to answer questions and such, but they're not always around. You can also schedule sessions where the paid attendants run you through a series of machines/weights, depending on how you want to develop your body.

Biggest piece of advice that I've ever gotten is to focus, not so much on getting big, but rather, developing your whole body strength -- the muscle mass will develop but you won't wind up with the torso of "Ahnold" and the legs of chicken, hehe. Also, don't exercise the same body part continuously, like every day. Rather, work on different parts of the body each time, giving the muscles time to repair themselves. Also, don't jerk the weights around, hehe, sure sign of a newbie.