Tag Archives: gym

Your Bad Personal Trainer is Ruining Your Fitness Goals and What You Should Do About it

bad personal trainer at gym

Personal trainers are supposed to be the cheerleaders of the gym. Their role is to guide us through our weight loss journey by challenging us to work harder, demonstrating proper technique, answering questions, and giving the all-important pep talk. Unfortunately, they can also be overzealous, insensitive, inappropriate, and downright rude.

If you have a bad experience with a personal trainer but love your gym, it can seem like an inequitable fitness divorce. The personal trainer gets to keep the house (gym) with the pool while you sulk away with your bag of funky sweaty towels and workout clothes.

The Bored Trainer

After the birth of my second daughter I joined a local YMCA to get back in shape and eliminate my “bingo wings.” I was a tired mama looking for a beacon of weight loss hope. Instead, I was introduced to my personal trainer, the apathetic chubby lady babysitter. I talked about my goals. He yawned. I didn’t know how to turn on a stair climbing machine. He told me to get on, pushed all the buttons for me, and then watched Judge Judy on the gym TV while I tried not to pass out. (more…)

Posted on September 25, 2023 by Dani Stone

The Home Exercise Equipment You Shouldn’t Live Without

If you have the time, money, and access to a convenient gym, it’s a great place to get in shape and stay that way. However, with a relatively small investment, you can create your own gym environment at home and ultimately save time, money, and accessibility. All you really need are a few basic pieces of equipment that will focus on cardio and strength training.

home gym

Having a home gym filled with the right equipment can save you hundreds of dollars a year in gym fees, babysitting services, and even cute gym clothes! Let’s face it ladies, most of us have the gym outfit and then the home gym outfit and I’m guessing the home gym outfit is way more comfy.

Clear the ping pong table out of the way and declare that corner of the basement yours. Add the following gym staples and you’ve got your own circuit training course that can be done any time of day, in any weather. Bonus reason for the home gym? If your exercise playlist includes a heavy metal, smooth jazz, country music shuffle, you just take out the headphones and crank it right up.

Must-Have Home Gym Equipment List

Elliptical: Easy on the joints and limbs, this home cross trainer mimics stair-climbing, walking and running. With the touch of a button you can go from slow crawl to an intense workout. You have the power to challenge yourself every time you step on. (more…)

Posted on April 17, 2024 by Dani Stone

9 Signs You’re Addicted to Indoor Cycling

Whether you cycle at the gym or at a cycling specific studio like Soul Cycle or Flywheel Sports, there’s a good chance you’ll go from amateur to addict after a few short sessions. Here are the telltale signs you’ve already made the transition:

cycling shoes

  1. You carry cycling shoes in your purse. Just in case your dinner date cancels/your lunch hour frees up/your favorite instructor announces he’s subbing that afternoon. (more…)
Posted on April 16, 2024 by Jessica Cassity

Choose the Gym That’s Right for You: Big and Fancy, Mild-Mannered or Family-Friendly

If you’ve decided that working out on your old elliptical machine while re-watching Breaking Bad episodes on Netflix isn’t helping you achieve maximum weight loss results, maybe it’s time to get out of the basement and join a gym. While some fitness centers offer bare-bones equipment for an affordable price, others offer a wide variety of amenities, but you’ll definitely pay to play.

LA FITNESS 2

Before you get out your wallet, decide what’s important to you in a fitness center and what you’re willing to pay for, then choose a gym accordingly. Below is a brief overview to help you make your decision. From Mild-Mannered to Big and Fancy, what do you need for your workout experience in 2024?

Mild Mannered $ – Planet Fitness, Anytime Fitness, Curves, Blink

  • Low membership fees and no-hassle contracts mean you can get in shape without taking out a 2nd mortgage
  • Often cater to first-time gym members by discouraging intimidating behavior like grunting, growling and gun-showing in the weight room
  • Easy-to-use cardio and strength equipment, so you actually spend your time working out, not punching buttons and reading the user’s guide
  • No children allowed and no child care. Is that necessarily a bad thing, though? Time away from the kids is OK, especially if you’re getting healthy
  • No high-end amenities like juice bars, tanning beds, steam rooms, or  swimming pools (more…)
Posted on January 3, 2024 by Dani Stone

10 Ways to Solidify Your Fitness Routine

There seems to be a great chasm between those who workout and those who do not. But does anyone really know why that is?

Often surrounded by people who don’t love working out as much as I do (admittedly, I’m an enthusiast), I’ve asked myself this question many times but to no avail. It seems that the path to fitness is narrow and few find it, but I wish that wasn’t so as exercise is such an essential part of a long, healthy life. Not to mention it can be a blast once you find your groove!

Perhaps there are some insider secrets that ‘insiders’ wrongly assume ‘outsiders’ already know. This slideshow is my humble attempt to “crack the code” and unveil those tips, tricks and secrets so that everyone can find their way to fitness and establish a routine that truly sticks.

Posted on November 13, 2023 by Dana

HealthBuzz September 21: 7 Fall Family Activities, Jennifer Aniston’s Smartwater Commercial, and Banana Filled Recipes

Today marks the first day of fall! Before you clock out for the weekend take some time for a healthy dose of news. This week’s HealthBuzz consists of hot headlines from DIR and our partner sites, including Shape, IVillage, and Fitday, as well as some delicious banana recipes from Undressed Skeleton and Thinin10.

Don’t wait until the last day of the week to hear from us! Follow us on Twitter and Pinterest! Also, don’t forget to ‘Like Us’ on Facebook for the chance to win a year’s supply of guacamole from Wholly Guacamole!

Choose the Right Gym For You (So You’ll Actually Use the Membership)

With the fall and holiday season quickly approaching, gyms will be filling up with people wanting to maintain their health and figure for social gatherings and special events. Gyms can be uncomfortable and expensive and there is nothing like wasting money on a membership that you don’t use! Let us help you choose the right gym with this helpful guide.

Seven Fall Activities For the Whole Family

September 21 is the official day of fall! What better way to enjoy the weather then with your family? Stephanie Mansour from Step It Up With Steph shares seven fall activities for the whole family. There is even a healthy recipe for roasted pumpkin seeds! Fall has never been so healthy before. (more…)

Posted on September 21, 2023 by Samantha

Skinny Women Banned from Canadian Gym

I’m sure you’ve heard of gyms that are for women only, but have you ever heard of one that not only bans men but “skinny” women as well?

While going to the gym may be simple for some, it can be a much harder task for others. I don’t necessarily mean reasons due to lack of motivation or lack of time. What I’m talking about is lack of confidence and security.

Body Exchange, a gym chain in Canada, has banned all males and skinny females from using their gym. Their reasoning? To create a “safe-haven” for overweight women where they can workout without feeling insecure or uncomfortable. They want their plus-size clientele to have a place where they can relate and challenge themselves without wondering if the fitness gurus/everyday gym goers surrounding them are judging them or not. (more…)

Posted on July 26, 2023 by Danielle

5 Things Your Personal Trainer Should Stop Doing Immediately

Let me start this post with a disclaimer:

I am not perfect.

I am, however, a professional. I take what I do, as a personal trainer, very seriously. If someone has trusted you with his or her health, fitness and general well being you absolutely should take it seriously.

The problem is many personal trainers do not.

I can’t speak for every gym, but I know the big gyms where I live don’t treat or pay trainers well. When you’re not treated well it doesn’t translate to the best experience for your client. Or many personal trainers are training while they learn to be something else. This isn’t a bad thing, however, it can affect the trainer’s focus. And then there are athletes and body builders who train to support their sport, using their training techniques on clients who have very different goals.

If you’re currently working with a personal trainer, or are considering working with one, here are the things you need to know that a personal trainer SHOULDN’T be doing. (more…)

Posted on July 23, 2023 by Pamela

Tales of Things You Can’t Unsee at the Gym Locker Room

The gym locker room – a room segregated by gender for changing clothes and filled with lockers for storage and safe-keeping of personal belongings. Some may include amenities such as showers, saunas and bathroom stalls. This description might be similar to the one found in a gym’s membership booklet or even the dictionary. But in reality, a better use of words to describe the place would be creepy, embarrassing, awkward and sometimes horrific. In this installment of Tales from the FitCrypt, gossip is all about the OMG locker room horror stories.

On a normal day in the locker room, you’ll definitely see a few not-so-modest people walking around in nothing but their birthday suit (like you didn’t already know). What some of you, and I mean you ladies, might not know about is how men are using the hair dryers on their side of the locker room. It’s not for the hair on their heads if you couldn’t guess, but for drying the hair on their private parts. In order to make sure they’re getting the job done right, many will prop one leg up on the nearest bench, exposing everything they have to offer. While trying to dig up some locker room dirt, this story not only came up first but was also given to me by several sources. I now know what’s at the top of the men’s locker room complaints! (more…)

Posted on July 6, 2023 by Danielle

The Worst Gym Goer Habits that Grind Your Gears

Gyms are where a majority of people go to work on their health and fitness. They’re supposed to be a place where you go to release stress and the only person you really have to worry about is yourself. Though, sometimes when you are at the gym you can’t help but watch other people, and they can’t help but put themselves right in your line of sight.

For this week’s FitCrypt, I asked “What are annoying habits you see at your local gym?” I received an flood of emails from people telling me their stories about annoying gym habits.

The number one annoying gym habit is men making loud obnoxious grunting noises. If you’re in the weight room with even a couple of other guys, then chances are you’ve heard the loud grunting noises right before a guy is about to lift 150 pounds over his bench limit. Its like he is making a mating call to get everyone’s attention directed toward him.

You guys also called out the following as some of the most annoying gym habits: (more…)

Posted on June 29, 2023 by Samantha

Women Only Gyms Cut Workout Intimidation

A new gym in Springfield, Ohio may be on the cutting edge of what women are needing. A gym of their own.

Premier Fitness opened on December 26, 2024 in a former gym’s location. The gym re-branded, went under new ownership, all previous members kept their membership and most things stayed the same. However one major change has been making news. The club contains a new women-only section.

“We really target ladies who wouldn’t go to a fitness environment due to the stigma of what it means to be fit,” said new owner, Wade Gates. “Over the years a lot has been done to make the environment friendly to women who would be intimidated.”

The women’s room is a fitness center within a fitness center. The room has equipment designed for smaller frames and different types of weights, but “The main thing is it’s just an area (women) can go where they aren’t sweating next to guys,” Gates said.

Some may think Wade’s comments are unfounded or demeaning to women, but a lot of women really do care about working out next to men. “It’s really nice to be separate from the men’s, it’s not so embarrassing,” said Christina Butts, who has been a member for a month.
(more…)

Posted on February 14, 2024 by Lacy