Buy Walking VideosWhat I Might Have Done Wrong During The Bosu Incident
It has been a year and a half since The Bosu Incident, where I had a junior high moment with a skinny wench in an exercise class. Finally, I have a glimmer of understanding of why I might have attracted the taunting from that class member. It came from this article from ACE:
There are lots of normal etiquette items that are mentioned like wiping your sweat off the machines after you use them, but the one that spoke to me was number four:
Stay back when starting a group exercise class. When joining a new group exercise class with detailed choreography, stand near the back of the room and let the experienced group workout near the front.
Apparently, the rules are when you don’t know what you’re doing, you should stay at the back of the class “where you belong” instead of trying to get close to the instructor so you can see what’s going on. I broke this unspoken gym rule, so the brown-haired girl thought it was acceptable to make fun of me. She didn’t think I was “good enough” to be at the front of the class. I just wanted to be able to see what the teacher was doing since I had never taken that class before.
It would be really helpful if gyms would post all the unspoken rules. They’d look something like this:
If you’re not a hard body, don’t even think about seeing the instructor. Only the best deserve to be at the front of the class.
You’re safest if you just use the cardio machines and leave as quickly as possible.
You better not show your disgust at the grunting he-men on the weight machines, even if they don’t wipe off their sweat.
Telling the instructor it’s your first time taking their class is just showing weakness. You’re here to get strong, not special instruction.
Ok, I’m finished complaining. It just makes me mad that the brown-haired girl felt justified in making fun of me when I was just doing the best that I could. Gyms are anything but nuturing environments. I wonder why I keep paying the monthly membership.
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November 18th, 2005 at 6:26 am
Reading that part that you pointed out annoyed me, too. What am I supposed to do, lean over to try to see the instructor around other people? Hope I can get a reflection in the side mirror?
I always park myself near the front if I can.
November 18th, 2005 at 5:32 pm
I’ve seen this unspoken rule in aerobics classes before and the oddest part is that when I asked a trainer at the same gym about any “helpful tips” that I should know before taking such classes to avoid embarrassment, I was told to talk to the instructor before class to let her know I was new and to stand in the front close to the instructor in order to see what was going on. ugh… suffice to say, once I got in the class, I could tangibly feel that the front of the class wasn’t the place for me and set up in the back and prayed not to fall over anything (including my own feet) or pass out from exhaustion at any point.