Ahhhh PT Rant

stuie · 14 May 2015 at 14:49

So im minding my own business in the squat rack 2/3rds through my second to last set I dropped a little low and caught the rack catches which dislodged the bar on my lower back a little. Not wanting to quit to re-rack with only 3 reps left I admit my form dropped a little due to leaning forwards a bit too much to stop me falling back, fair enough I knew it wasnt perfect but I didnt want to bail.

Before I'd even racked the bar this pt was stood by the rack basically giving me the whole are you doing that on purpose? youl damage yourself squatting that way, you should let me help your form and teach you better technique etc etc the whole sales crap effectively.

I tried to explain that no it wasnt purposeful but I didnt want to bail, but he just went on and on. Eventually he left me alone but then went over chatting to his other pt guys and I even saw him showing them what I was doing wrong as they all stood shaking their heads.

Eventually I left as it really put me off and made me feel uncomfortable and ruined what was a half decent session with the exception of that.

Why do some of them insist on being total jack asses :mad:

rant over

spoffle · 14 May 2015 at 14:52

Ignore them, most of them don't have a clue what they're doing anyway.

stuie · 14 May 2015 at 14:54

The worse part was the guy in the rack next to me was unloading forwards and only doing half squats with silly (150kg+) weights and they didn't even bat an eyelid at that

spoffle · 14 May 2015 at 14:55

stuie said:
The worse part was the guy in the rack next to me was unloading forwards and only doing half squats with silly (150kg+) weights and they didn't even bat an eyelid at that

Probably because they think going "too deep" will cause your knees to explode.

PermaChanged · 14 May 2015 at 15:18

stuie said:
I dropped a little low and caught the rack catches which dislodged the bar on my lower back a little. Not wanting to quit to re-rack with only 3 reps left I admit my form dropped a little due to leaning forwards a bit too much to stop me falling back

I'd never want to squat without good form, I'd have opted for a re-rack! What sort of weight was this with?

stuie · 14 May 2015 at 15:33

Not massive weight a few weeks back I halved my 5x5 weight so as to increase to 10 reps so only at 52.5kg at the moment trying to improve my stamina and also cut some fat. I was still going to parallel just a little on my toes. I find I have to squat a touch forward anyway due to having legs longer than my torso

Ive also been eating calorie deficit of around 1500 calories (5-700 below maintenance) but ive not been seeing any change on the scales sadly but I am feeling knackered permanently although part of that is the increased golf im playing and the extra outdoor chores im doing like mowing the lawn (big ass garden) and stuff on top of the gym

Ayahuasca · 14 May 2015 at 17:07

You did the wrong thing walking out and letting him get the better of you.

**** him and his joke of a qualification buddies, do your own thing.

nicktay2605 · 14 May 2015 at 19:50

I think the part of that that's really not cool is going over to his colleagues and pointing you out to all of them, I'd be embarrassed if that happened to me too. If I ever get a PT come up to me to give me advice then I listen and take it on-board, particularly with something like squats where it can be hard to notice if your form is slightly out (not that I'm suggesting yours was), but they shouldn't be embarrassing you in the gym. Their job is to guide and encourage people in the gym, and this PT has done the complete opposite of that by the sounds of it.

=XDC=FluphyBunny · 14 May 2015 at 23:13

PT sounds like a tit to be honest. Just trying to drum up business then took the huff and and tried to look clever with his mates.

Also PT's :rolleyes:

ADT · 14 May 2015 at 23:16

should have not let it get to you and continued with your workout

tom_e · 15 May 2015 at 08:38

PT was a tit, but you should have re racked and sorted it out.
It doesn't take much to send your back to snap city.

Jon33 · 15 May 2015 at 11:20

tom_e said:
PT was a tit, but you should have re racked and sorted it out.
It doesn't take much to send you back to snap city.

Totally agree, PT shouldn't be telling his mates in public view.

But he was right to say something, you will end up hurting yourself, rack the bar next time sort the position out and then finish the set.

Darryl_1983 · 15 May 2015 at 11:54

Sounds like he was trying to help out, and maybe he was advising his colleagues on proper form for squating, as it's possible they didn't know.

Even world class lifters need form checks and advise on there lifts sometimes (most seem to record themselves lifting too, partially for checking this), so you shouldn't ever refuse advise. Now whether he was able to help you is another matter, it's fairly well known a lot of commercial gym PT don't know how to squat properly, but that doesn't mean none of them do.

Also it's better to pratice proper form, if the bar gets knocked out of position. It's always better to re-rack and start again. This not only minimises injury risk, it reinforces your technic and movement path

Stick with it anyway, practice good form stay consistant and you'll be warming up with 52.5 kg before long

mrthingyx · 15 May 2015 at 11:55

tom_e said:
PT was a tit, but you should have re racked and sorted it out.
It doesn't take much to send your back to snap city.

Very much this. The only injuries I have sustained in the gym were from me letting my ego get in the way... It is dumb, stupid and will knock you back further than dropping a couple of reps.

jimbaw · 15 May 2015 at 16:34

hi mate, sorry to hear that. sounds like the PT was a **** that thinks he's better than anyone else.
this is absolutely disgusting and off putting. but keep in mind that all it was, like you said, was an excuse to give the old sales pitch. this is one of the many issues with commercial gyms.

how do I know? I am a PT myself and people like that guy give us a terrible reputation.
I used to work in a famous gym chain and decided to leave in january partly because of that.

I am now a strength and conditioning specialist in a strength studio and couldn't be happier.

All of this is basically to tell you that we're not all as bad as that but that guy should definitely go back and get his qualification as that would have failed him his last exam in any reputable training establishment.

keep up the good work mate

spoffle · 15 May 2015 at 17:23

mrthingyx said:
Very much this. The only injuries I have sustained in the gym were from me letting my ego get in the way... It is dumb, stupid and will knock you back further than dropping a couple of reps.

I sometimes have issues with bar pathing when doing bench press, and it can RINSE me if it deviates even only a little bit too far. A CM can be the difference between a set of 3, or a set of 6.

I've not had any injuries, fortunately as I'll re-rack, though I can feel the excess strain it can put on certain areas, like my shoulders if the bar pathing is too far down.