This week I have heard a couple of stories from my clients and wanted to address some things. One of them being RESPECT! 1 Peter 2:17 says you must “show respect to everyone.” Let me first start off by saying we all have different goals when it comes to the fitness lifestyle. You have the people that really do try and go in the gym with a purpose hoping to get something out of their efforts but really don’t know what they are doing. You have those that are really just trying to maintain and say they go to the gym. These people are the ones that only workout and don’t care about progress. As soon as they leave the gym, its back to their every day schedule of eating whatever they want and don’t care about progression. They will eat what they want to in hopes of not gaining weight but don’t necessarily want to lose weight either. I would be willing to say that this is the majority of the gym population. I see people that are very dedicated to the gym and some of these people have been faithful for the past 15 years and actually haven’t made any improvements whatsoever to their physique. Most of them actually look like they don’t even train. Then you have those that really strive for progress. They practice what they preach. They are in there to really make a difference. They eat clean and train hard. Whatever category you are in, it doesn’t matter. They are all great. Everyone has their own goals in life.
Whatever your goal is and whatever category you fit in, shouldn’t make any difference in how we treat one another in the gym. I see it on all sides. Having a platform like Face book, I read daily how others get treated when they are working out. My wife works out harder than most men I know and for some reason when she is in the gym, guys will go up and take her machine and steal her weights, etc. just because she is a female. On the other hand, because I am in there and I compete and people know me, I usually always get asked if I am done or will even leave their machine if I need it. It’s crazy how different we are treated just because of the stereotype.
I had one of my clients who is 48 years old told me that a guy called her an “old lady” this week in the gym. He wanted her dumb bells and she was using them. He then proceeded to say, “Well go ahead old lady!” I guess he didn’t stop and realize she may be an old lady to him, but he was trying to use the same weight as her. Although she said it didn’t bother her, I am sure it didn’t feel good to be called an old lady in front of the dumbbell rack. Most women are very intimidated to even go in the gym and start lifting weights. This behavior doesn’t help. When they come to me, I tell them that we all start somewhere and no one is looking at you and to go in there and do your thing; most of the time that is true, on occasion you will run into behavior such as this.
I would also like to see more fitness professionals treat the newbies a little better. All of us started somewhere. No one started out great. We all had to put in the same amount of work and sacrifice and sweat to get where we are today. Some get the big head and think they are better than others when in reality they started on the same level. Try and help someone and give them a boost of confidence. A smile or a hello will go a long way to someone just starting out. When you see a lady struggling to get the 45 pound plates off the leg press that someone didn’t re-rack, stop what you are doing on your next rest period and go over there and help them. I also saw a post from someone on facebook yesterday that said, “If you are going to plank between sets at the busiest time in the gym, don’t be mad if I step on you or kick you in the face. Okay back to your Efitting or whatever it is you are doing.” I own EFIT so to me this kind of irritated me. I wasn’t mad at the person that wrote it, my heart went out to a possible client that was doing what they were told and then have someone react like this when its none of their business what this other person is doing. If the gym is busy, then you better believe you will have to walk around people planking. You will have to walk around someone throwing the medicine ball. You may have to work in with someone, etc. Just because it is busy, doesn’t mean it’s okay to be disrespectful. Be more aware of the situation and try and work around it without getting your feathers ruffled. It’s just a workout; it’s not that serious to get upset about to have to walk around someone that was doing a plank.
People need to be lifted up and not be put down. Encourage one another. Romans 12:8 says if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Let them see your light shine and they will more than likely pay it forward.
I would like to see that everyone treat each other the way they would want to be treated. I know sometimes we are busy and are in the middle of our lunch break and don’t have the time to mess around but that doesn’t give anyone the right to be plain rude and disrespectful. You may make a tremendous impact on someone and they will thank you for it later. I challenge you to do this today and this week and be more aware of the ones that need the encouragement.
Thank you!
Erik Delarosa
