I taught my Monday afternoon class today and saw a member enter the room who I hadn't seen in a while. Of course, I expressed concern and asked how she was and where she had been. I thought I'd get a reply like, "Oh, I've been out of town." or "Oh, I've just been busy." This was not the case though. A while back, she took one of her regular instructor's classes. Only, that instructor was out and had a sub. This sub was from the north side of town and clearly HATED the fact that she had to drive south and teach a class.
It only gets worse from there. She complained when members were late and said that hers "never were". When class started, she acted as if she were God and everyone had to work their asses off and do what she was doing WITHOUT options. In.a.Body.Flow.class.
Well, the member that I'm speaking of ending up injuring herself in class that day.....all because of an instructor who stared her down and expressed her disapproval and said that she "needed to do more to get results." Ugh. I know that she could have just done what she wanted to do, but she was clearly bullied. And this my friends, is wrong. SO.VERY.WRONG. We are instructors and we should coach our members in a way that makes them comfortable. We are there for them, not vice versa. I always tell my members that they should pay attention to how they are feeling and what their bodies are telling them. They should never push past their limits. That should be how it is in every class at the gym.
This member had to endure 2 grueling sessions of physical therapy. She was away from the gym for at least a month. This is a long time for those that attend regular classes and depend on a class like Flow to improve their well-being. Not to mention that they basically "lose" a month out of their membership.
I don't know who else knows about this incident. I'm going to break my silence and let some higher up's know what happened. I feel like I'm obligated to. I don't want this to happen to anyone else either. And who knows, maybe it already has. In any case, I feel like our Director needs to know what's going on.
I hope I'm doing the right thing....
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Just a place for me to post my thoughts and share them with family and friends.
About Me
- Kim
- I am 31 years old (3.14.77). I am married (6.27.98) to Richard (7.7.77) and we have two daughters, Kyra Marie (6.16.01) and Maeve Elizabeth (4.28.05). We also have two cute chihuahuas named Mia and Zoe. I also teach Body Flow for Gold's Gym. I adore my family, thank God for my friends, am a self-proclaimed "gym rat", and just want to live life to the fullest!
4 comments:
Oh. My. God.
That's DREADFUL!
Yes! Say something! and encourage the injured party to speak up! I don't think your facility or Les Mills WANTS instructors like that representing them. Sheesh!
I called my manager this morning. It's going to be taken care of. She was saddened by it too. Hopefully, it'll be brought up at a future meeting OR a manager/director will pop into her class to see if it's as bad as I heard it was. *sigh*
Maybe a memo circulated to all instructors gently reminding them that they are supposed to be offering options and providing modifications to all body types/fitness levels in their classes? I know even though I consider myself to be mostly advanced, there are days where colder temperatures, or sorness/stiffness from another workout have me feeling limited and needing to back off and do easier versions. I always tell my students: "Every DAY is different, every BODY is different, some days you feel more gung-ho than others, some days you feel more fatigued..." I tell my students to NEGOTIATE with their bodies, and am always harping on them to really listen to what their bodies are asking for, and be willing to meet those needs.
You definitely did the right thing by letting the higher ups know what's been going on.
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