Horsham-based female personal trainer, Becky, shares some examples of positive gym culture from her experiences…
In the social media era, bad news travels fast. There are daily rants about negative interactions in gyms, and some are sadly justified – harassment and bullying are completely unacceptable. Whilst I’ve experienced my fair share of conflict and discomfort, I’ve also had some brilliant positive experiences, which I’ve decided to share via this post…
When someone listened to what I had to say
More than once, I’ve taken on the fight of telling someone to put their stuff away. I always aim to be calm and polite, and am often met with an unpleasant response, even though I am simply enforcing one of the main international gym rules.
On one occasion, the person using the neighbouring squat rack and lifting platform to me completed several sets of deadlifts, and then abandoned their loaded bar on the platform. I finished my set of hip thrusts, wriggled out from under the bar, and chased him across the gym.
The man was startled at having been held accountable, and wasn’t particularly impressed that I stared him down, but he returned, unloaded the bar, and left again. He still goes to the same gym, and treats me with a different attitude now!
When I challenge people on this behaviour, I always hope that they will go on to become an ambassador for a tidy gym. I was glad that this person listened to my request (not everyone does).
When someone demonstrated that they’re a safe person
During a particularly busy morning at the gym, I gathered the equipment I needed and carved myself out a small space in an area of the gym I wouldn’t typically use for the exercises I wanted to do. It was so busy that I had very little choice, and I cracked on with my workout.
There was someone using the cable machine nearby, and I noticed that, on his second set when I was also in the vicinity, he turned to face away from me, rather than towards me. I had an inkling as to what he’d done and why, but I’m nosy so I asked him.
I was right: he’d turned around as he was worried that he might make me feel uncomfortable. Even though he’d been there first, and I’d seen which way he’d been facing when I chose my spot, he went out of his way to make a complete stranger feel more comfortable. It was a lovely moment, and showed me that sometimes, strangers do genuinely make an effort to help others when they truly don’t have to.
When someone was a great help
I wanted a spotter, but there was nobody I knew around. In fact, the gym was fairly quiet. I spent some time building up to the set I needed help with assessing the crowd – I needed someone who was strong enough, and who I thought I could trust.
The person I chose was using a piece of kit further away, but I felt that he would be the kind of person I was looking for, so I nervously waited until he wasn’t busy, then went to ask him. He immediately agreed to help, and came straight with me to assist. He did what all great spotters should do, and asked me how much help I wanted before I started – I’d made a great choice.
The set went smoothly, the stranger was a brilliant help, and gave me a genuine compliment afterwards. In my moment of need, a stranger who was busy with their own session had paused to support me, and I was very grateful.
Positive gym behaviour – the lesson
It’s important to call out negative behaviour, whether we are the victim or we see someone else doing something unacceptable. Gyms and fitness spaces should have safeguarding and harassment policies that all users can access, and a clear process of how complaints or issues are dealt with.
It’s also good to be able to highlight positive interactions – we need to hear good stories as well as bad, because it’s helpful to show what sort of behaviour is desirable, as well as which actions are undesirable.
Happily, these aren’t the only positives I’ve experienced: I’ve had strangers ask if I’m feeling ok, because I’ve looked like I’m having a hard time; I’ve made a friend when someone complimented my outfit; I’ve had someone approach me and tell me that they think that my form is good, and much more besides. You will almost certainly experience both situations, if you stick around for long enough.
If you’d like to train with someone who accentuates the positives, get in touch with me!