So I had a training assessment tonight with a traumatized woman. She joined the gym a few months ago and injured herself pretty badly while stepping off the treadmill. She's 61 and was already SEVERELY uncomfortable in the gym with all of the "young fit kids" that work out at Premier.
So anyway- she started out really defensive/closed off/straight faced...out of embarassment. But we eventually broke the ice and she was able to see that I was there ONLY to help her. I was pumped when I finally got her to smile and let loose, and then all of a sudden- she started CRYING on me! She said she was just SO appreciative and SO happy to feel comfortable and ABLE. It was so sweet.
That is ABSOLUTELY one of my favorite parts of my job. I LOVE doing sessions with people who feel completely uncomfortable and nervous to be at the gym...so much so that they are willing to risk their health just to NOT be embarassed by how out of shape they are.
This lady 100% needs to workout, and needs a trainer's help to do it, for the sake of the rest of her life! She has probably just heard TOO many times people whispering about "how fat that lady is", "how gross she looks", "how do people let themselves get that way? ew!" blah blah blah...
SAD!!! How about, "good for her! She's trying to make some changes!" So think twice before you comment about someone else that you know NOTHING about. It can be really traumatizing for them. And can have a terrible effect on their health. :( It breaks my heart! And believe me, I've been guilty of it (unfortunately)...but I have become SO much more aware of how ignorant that kind of thinking is. And how NOT nice.
K- that's my soapbox, and I'm off now :)
2 comments:
you're great:)
What a great attitude! I often feel that way about people and want to tell them good for them, but I find it difficult to approach them out of the blue to let them know that.
Anyways, there is a woman who is about 350 pounds, or more, who comes to the YMCA where I work out. I would guess she's in her 20's (so sad). And she can't even walk all the way down the hall to get to the pool where she does water aerobics, she has to stop and sit down to catch her breath like 3 times along this 70 ft hallway. Every time I see her at the gym I want to tell her how amazing I think it is that she's working out, even though its much much harder for her than for other people!
Way to be an awesome personal trainer roxanne!
Post a Comment