I used to. The one time it bit me was when a piece of shit, cell phone talking, trainer badge wearing, bleached hair, ass-clown, of course in clown pants, low cut sweatshirt, wife beater underneath, walked away from someone. I was in the rack next to her.
I said aloud, “the only way your getting your money’s worth is if you are being trained for free.” I thought it was funny, so did two strangers. It was her boyfriend. It made for an interesting conversation with the ILS suffering “crave to be”, but I was right.
I have only offered unsolicited advice a few times.
Recently, I told a small fry to strip the bar he’d been deadlifting after he left it lying on the floor and moved on to something else. I asked him “Are you done with that?” He said yes, and I asked him politely to put the weights away, saying “you never know who might use it next. If it is a woman she might hurt herself.” That seemed to appeal to his chivalrous T nature, and he responded well.
The other time I saw two skinny guys doing deadlifts with an incredibly rounded lower back. I was seriously worried they would hurt themselves. I told them about using proper posture to avoid an injury, and the guy says “There’s more than one way to do it…” and ignored my advice. Whatever, man, enjoy the blown disc.
I do like it when I get approached and asked questions. I was doing cleans yesterday and a young guy came up and asked me what muscle I was working. I guess cleans didn’t fit his bench and curling schema of lifting. We had a great conversation, he was very open to learning. I love that.
(A-Dog, I can’t take my eyes off your avatar; “Very nice” -Borat)
I too hold a B.A. in Psychology, and I can tell you that it’s about as useful as toilet paper. I find myself giving advice to the younger kids at my gym, but I will conceed that my demeanor and interaction with them stems not from some B.S> degree., but from years spent in the weight room, and probably coupled with the fact that I teach high school, and have to deal with the fact that you never know how sensitive someone may be, and you best be prepared to tread gingerly.
As stupid as it sounds, when I started teaching, the advice I was given was to always preface something negative with something positive, and its a great piece of advice. I just competed in a strongman contest, and as the only ‘bodybuilder’ there,. I knew I was out of my element. The experienced guys were totally cool, complimenting me on what I was able to do considering my background, and then (after the compliment) proceeded to dole out advice and suggestions. I truly felt welcome and welcome the assistance (and I certainly dont think of myself as a newb -lol)