Knuckle-heads at the Gym: The Sneering Section, Expert Witlesses, and Personal Drainers

Gyms are not welcoming places

As a novice weight lifter, if you spend any amount of time in the gym, you will encounter criticism or outright ridicule. There are a small minority of guys in any gym who seem to get a kick out of tearing other people down. They’ll home in on you as a new guy and try to establish their dominance over you, either by belittling your training methods, scoffing at your current level of achievement, or bullying you outright.

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory or defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt

Fortunately, the vast majority of gym-goers are decent sorts who are there to better themselves and couldn’t care less about what other people are doing.

How do you deal with the inevitable knuckle-heads who want to put you in your place? Read on.

Be self-assured

When you set foot in the gym for the first time, you’ll probably be intimidated by the culture of exclusion that often manifests itself in the various cliques and in-groups. The preening bodybuilders have their own practices and rituals. The grunting powerlifters keep watch over their favorite pieces of equipment like buffalo at a water hole. And some ex-high school jocks try to hold on to fading glory by doing their best to create a social hierarchy where none need exist.

You might have had grand plans about hitting the weights and bulking up, but the first time you dip a toe into the sea of unfamiliar equipment you might be tempted to pull your head between your shoulders like a turtle and head for the first empty treadmill you can find. That would be a big mistake.

To avoid feeling like a fish out of water, you need a plan. Fortunately, this website is all about giving skinny guys who want to bulk up all the information and motivation they need to get the job done. Don’t wander into the gym with nothing but vague ideas about what you are supposed to be doing. Instead, be a man on a mission; state your purpose to yourself and then carry through with it until you succeed.

People who scoff and ridicule are a tiny, but vocal minority of gym goers. Don’t let this sneering section change your behavior for you. The truth is: only you can change your behavior. You already took the first step towards improving your body; don’t allow others to derail your progress. Those people don’t matter; you’re in the gym for yourself not for them.

On the other end of the spectrum are the overly-solicitous do-gooders who would rather spend time lecturing you than taking care of their own business. These expert witlesses will tell you that your form is all wrong, your diet is holding you back, and your workout clothing is the wrong style. You can recognize these people because they’ll start interrogating you about workout plans, all the while letting you know how much of an expert they think they are as they talk your ear off for a half hour. Again, they don’t matter. As long as you have a plan that you are committed to, do your own thing and don’t let them create the seeds of doubt that will grow into a setback for you and your goals. If you stick with the program, you’ll pass them soon enough.

Finally, be wary of the so-called personal trainers who see you as nothing more than a big walking dollar sign. The usual modus operandi of these personal drainers is to try to make you feel bad about yourself; like you somehow don’t belong unless you engage their services. Often, they’re in league with the sneering section.

Here’s a tip: if these personal drainers are not qualified to teach gym class to 2^nd graders, they shouldn’t be strutting around a gym dispensing advice to adults who have a myriad of issues that these trainers are unqualified to address.

Obviously, this is not to disparage the many excellent personal trainers who make a career out of giving sound, personalized expert advice to their clients. It’s meant to warn you about the personal drainers who hang around gyms like ambulance-chasers at an accident scene. They use high-pressure sales tactics to get you to sign up for something of little value that you really don’t need. If you really feel like you need someone to show you how to do a bench press, ask the biggest powerlifter you can find for some tips; he’ll probably be happy to show you for free, without trying to make you feel insecure. 

Don’t deviate from the misison

Don’t let people change your behavior for you. Odds are they don’t have your best interests at heart.

If someone offers advice or criticism, judge its value based on your own knowledge and experience. If you are unsure of the value of their advice, research it in your free time. But always be sure that you are changing your ways because it is in your best interest, not because some member of the gym’s sneering section wants you to.

There is a ton of misinformation out there; some of it is common knowledge and most of it seems sensible and believable. Take nothing at face value. It is your responsibility and your duty to figure out what is best for you. Once you make a well-informed decision about how to proceed on the track towards your goals, don’t let anyone else derail your plans.