I’m not a gym rat or a super fit person. Yes, I go to the gym on a regular basis, four to five times a week, depending on my work schedule. So I guess I fit in the average crowd.
I don’t think it is a bad thing taking your kid to work out with you. However, sometimes I think, fathers want their kids to grow their muscles way ahead of what I would consider normal.
First of all, I believe a ten year old child should be doing things that are more appropriate for their age, like playing soccer, basketball and all that great outdoor sports.
Yes, I’m suggesting you to go play with them instead of bringing them to your world. For that you will have a better time.
Okay, let me explain my why I’m talking about this. I was working out at the gym yesterday and I couldn't miss this big guy doing his routine exercise right in front of me. He was working out on this shred shoulder machine and he had two forty five pound on each side. He had his kid with him, a cute sweet looking skinny boy, probably 10 or 11 years old. No more than that.
I’m 5.1 with 105 pounds, so I’m not a big girl. That boy was shorter than me and I don’t need to say his weight was way lower than mine. His father, on the other hand as a tall guy, I’m a bad guesser but I would say that if I get close to him my head would probably fit under his arm if he extended his arm on a 90 degrees angle, so you figure his height and I’m not going to guess his weight as I would never get it. He was not fat but he was not that fit either.
When he finished his set he instructed the boy to remove one of the 45 pounds free weight and leave one on each side.
Then, for my surprise and disbelief it was the boy’s turn. I was in shock. Seriously, I really was. That skinny boy was going to do his first set with 45 pound on each side of the machine!
No, that was not possible that that father wanted his child to do a shred shoulder with that much weight on it.
The boy positioned himself and could barely reach the two handles and his proud dad was there instructing him how to place his feet, his body, etc.
Another girl passed by them and looked at me and rolled her eyes and shook her head. I return the head gesture.
The kid made an extreme amount of force to lift the weights and his little body was all shaky in the first attempt. I was almost jumping from my machine and grabbing the father’s shoulder and throwing him out of the gym. That’s what I wanted to do.
The body of the boy was all over the place. He shredded in a weird way for three times and couldn’t do anymore.
When he literally dropped the weights down he put one little hand on his back and another on the back of his neck. My heart broke instantly and although I’m not a mother I had a mother instinct right there and I wanted to run to him and hug him and tell him that he didn't need to do that, that he didn't need to please his crazy father and that he would get stronger in the appropriate time, at with the right age, not working out in the gym, not now.
I can’t stop thinking about that poor kid and I regret I didn't break the rules of etiquette. I should have talked to the father but I was concerned I was going to do something way out of line. Perhaps I should talk to my friend Elaine about this one.
How could his father not realize that that was too much for his kid, for any kid for this matter?
When I go to the gym I see all kinds of people doing their routines without any knowledge of what they are doing but to I see a father pushing their child to an extreme like this it’s not acceptable.
I think gyms should have age appropriate rules for machines or at least someone from the gym should be watching this discrepancies and approach whoever is doing an exercise incorrectly and help out.
Gyms here are different from Brazil. In Brazil when you sign up in a gym, you are assigned to a professional that will put a program together for you and go over the exercises and machines with you and then you receive a workout sheet marking the order of the exercises, how many times, how much weight you should do, etc. You will stick with that program for a certain period of time and then when it is time to change they will come to you and go over the new exercises and machines and so forth and so one. And whenever you have a problem or doubt you just check it with them or they come see you on a regular basis to correct your position etc.
It is probably like what they do here when you hire the personal trainer. But in Brazil it is a standard.
I can’t say how many times I see people wandering around the gym trying to figure out the machines. Some give up and go to another machine, some manage to figure it out and do the exercise, but I wonder if they know what is that for, what benefit they will get from it. No wonder why most of people that go to the gym can’t get the results they expect. They don’t have any instruction. It’s all a guessing game and that’s probably the reason many people give up after they go for a couple of months.
I don’t think it is a bad thing taking your kid to work out with you. However, sometimes I think, fathers want their kids to grow their muscles way ahead of what I would consider normal.
First of all, I believe a ten year old child should be doing things that are more appropriate for their age, like playing soccer, basketball and all that great outdoor sports.
Yes, I’m suggesting you to go play with them instead of bringing them to your world. For that you will have a better time.
Okay, let me explain my why I’m talking about this. I was working out at the gym yesterday and I couldn't miss this big guy doing his routine exercise right in front of me. He was working out on this shred shoulder machine and he had two forty five pound on each side. He had his kid with him, a cute sweet looking skinny boy, probably 10 or 11 years old. No more than that.
I’m 5.1 with 105 pounds, so I’m not a big girl. That boy was shorter than me and I don’t need to say his weight was way lower than mine. His father, on the other hand as a tall guy, I’m a bad guesser but I would say that if I get close to him my head would probably fit under his arm if he extended his arm on a 90 degrees angle, so you figure his height and I’m not going to guess his weight as I would never get it. He was not fat but he was not that fit either.
When he finished his set he instructed the boy to remove one of the 45 pounds free weight and leave one on each side.
Then, for my surprise and disbelief it was the boy’s turn. I was in shock. Seriously, I really was. That skinny boy was going to do his first set with 45 pound on each side of the machine!
No, that was not possible that that father wanted his child to do a shred shoulder with that much weight on it.
The boy positioned himself and could barely reach the two handles and his proud dad was there instructing him how to place his feet, his body, etc.
Another girl passed by them and looked at me and rolled her eyes and shook her head. I return the head gesture.
The kid made an extreme amount of force to lift the weights and his little body was all shaky in the first attempt. I was almost jumping from my machine and grabbing the father’s shoulder and throwing him out of the gym. That’s what I wanted to do.
The body of the boy was all over the place. He shredded in a weird way for three times and couldn’t do anymore.
When he literally dropped the weights down he put one little hand on his back and another on the back of his neck. My heart broke instantly and although I’m not a mother I had a mother instinct right there and I wanted to run to him and hug him and tell him that he didn't need to do that, that he didn't need to please his crazy father and that he would get stronger in the appropriate time, at with the right age, not working out in the gym, not now.
I can’t stop thinking about that poor kid and I regret I didn't break the rules of etiquette. I should have talked to the father but I was concerned I was going to do something way out of line. Perhaps I should talk to my friend Elaine about this one.
How could his father not realize that that was too much for his kid, for any kid for this matter?
When I go to the gym I see all kinds of people doing their routines without any knowledge of what they are doing but to I see a father pushing their child to an extreme like this it’s not acceptable.
I think gyms should have age appropriate rules for machines or at least someone from the gym should be watching this discrepancies and approach whoever is doing an exercise incorrectly and help out.
Gyms here are different from Brazil. In Brazil when you sign up in a gym, you are assigned to a professional that will put a program together for you and go over the exercises and machines with you and then you receive a workout sheet marking the order of the exercises, how many times, how much weight you should do, etc. You will stick with that program for a certain period of time and then when it is time to change they will come to you and go over the new exercises and machines and so forth and so one. And whenever you have a problem or doubt you just check it with them or they come see you on a regular basis to correct your position etc.
It is probably like what they do here when you hire the personal trainer. But in Brazil it is a standard.
I can’t say how many times I see people wandering around the gym trying to figure out the machines. Some give up and go to another machine, some manage to figure it out and do the exercise, but I wonder if they know what is that for, what benefit they will get from it. No wonder why most of people that go to the gym can’t get the results they expect. They don’t have any instruction. It’s all a guessing game and that’s probably the reason many people give up after they go for a couple of months.
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