I’ve never been a big “Personal Trainer” basher (and won’t start now).
But the this show is downright PAINFUL!
I would imagine that just about every negative thing that epitomizes what a lot of people consider negative in the Personal Trainer field is seen in these trainers; everything from half-assed workouts; to catering to their own egos.
Now, in all fairness to the trainers on “The Gym”, they do seem to point out more often than not that they are “giving the client what they want”.
Has anyone seen this show?
Any thoughts?
PLEASE “TIVO”/record it on “FitTV” if you haven’t so we can discuss it!
My favorite segment had to be when the bald guy and two younger guys were doing a “squat” workout. Either that, or when the Chritian Slater look-a-like says “the rope is for sculping, but whenever you see this[as he holds up the triangle tricep pushdown attachment], you know we’re going for strength and mass.”
I caught an episode about a month ago, while traveling. I don’t get Fit TV at home, and saw it at a hotel.
First off, I don’t like reality shows (although I’ll be damned if I don’t suckered into them and have trouble changing the channel). I think reality tv has a lot of editing, scripting, directing, and showing off, making it far from real. Reality TV means you just pay the actors less.
That being said, THE GYM caught my eye. I am much more interested in a show like this than I would be Road Rules. It was kind of fun to watch, and I enjoyed the fact that I could watch most of the trainers and point out so many mistakes they were making. Also, maybe this is a positive direction for our couch bound society where fitness is working it’s way into entertainment.
I’ve never seen the show, but at least Nancy says her favorite workout involves heavy weight, low reps.
And at least Matt is built, and in his video dispels the myth that a muscle bound guy isn’t in any kind of cardiovascular shape, promotes squatting and covers the importance of consistency to get results.
Matts little trailer is hilarious. “If I come to Repo your car in the middle of the night, you better be in good cardiovascular shape…Cause I am, and I’ll run ya down.”
It was painful. I saw the one where Matt trys to train the comedian… absolutely rediculous. They both acted like they were 8 years old.
I know that trainers have to cater to clients’ wants to an extent, but some of the things they do and recommend… absurd. Part of a trainer’s job is to educate the client as to what is best, find out their wants, and meet a common ground.
I do give Matt props for telling the little guy to squat lower, though.
That said, the head guy Steve seems to know his shit. Coming from Muay Thai (where a lot of guys abhor weightlifting, saying it gives you heavy legs), he drops this quote on that bio page:
“Q: What part of your body do you like best? Least?
A: I like my butt the best, I do a lot of squats, lunges, and stiff leg dead lifts to keep it tight, and I also like my quads and hamstrings. I dislike my calves, no matter how I’ve worked them they just wont grow. I’ve even done 1000 pound calf raises! They have great shape and are defined but they are my genetic betrayal.”
[quote]zdrax wrote:
I caught it last night, and I felt some of it was pretty scripted. [/quote]
I saw it for the first time last Friday night. I question how real “reality” shows are. I think that the on-screen personalities are encouraged to amplify the drama. Keep in mind this is Hollywood where being phony is taken to a whole new level, and rewarded.
The blow-up between big Matt and co-owner Steve reminded me of the repetitive, asinine arguments on Orange County Chopper, only with a lower decibel level.
Every time the trainer Ben told his little twinkie client that he was helping to sculpt him, I cringed.
I don’t think I’ll be wasting my time watching that again.
Q: What song really gets you in the mood to work out?
A: My favorite song? Well, my favorite artist of all, period is Van Morrison. His music will tremble and shutter through my soul. And I’m talking about his recent stuff here. However, for my EXPLOSIVE workouts, I like HARD-HITTING, SEX-GRINDING, dancing at an after-hours bar that you know you shouldn’t be at, PULSATING TECHNO DANCE MUSIC. The dirtier and naughtier, the better.
[quote]Bulldawgcountry wrote:
Q: What song really gets you in the mood to work out?
A: My favorite song? Well, my favorite artist of all, period is Van Morrison. His music will tremble and shutter through my soul. And I’m talking about his recent stuff here. However, for my EXPLOSIVE workouts, I like HARD-HITTING, SEX-GRINDING, dancing at an after-hours bar that you know you shouldn’t be at, PULSATING TECHNO DANCE MUSIC. The dirtier and naughtier, the better.[/quote]
Q: What’s your favorite workout?
A: My favorite type of workout is exactly what I prescribe to my customers–HIGH INTENSITY CIRCUIT-TRAINING. I always begin with a warm-up. Sometimes, I’ll even jog/walk to the gym. Once there, I’ll begin with an upper body move. Then, I’ll move to a specific arm exercise like a bicep curl. After that, I go immediately (no resting you freaks) to an explosive cardio move like jumps or step-ups on a plyo-box. Next, I start the whole thing over and repeat 3 to 4 sets. ROCK ON!
[quote]edgecrusher wrote:
My favorite segment had to be when the bald guy and two younger guys were doing a “squat” workout. Either that, or when the Chritian Slater look-a-like says “the rope is for sculping, but whenever you see this[as he holds up the triangle tricep pushdown attachment], you know we’re going for strength and mass.”[/quote]
I saw that squat work out. The Christian Slater looking guy was the only guy who used good squat form The other guys stunk.
After watching that segment, I found out that these guys were all personal trainers. I wouldn’t learn lifting from any of them for free.
MUCH better episode this week (interestingly enough, Matt wasn’t on this episode!)
Boy, did I ever feel the pain of Gym ownership from Steve this week (or probably just ANY buisness ownership). There is certainly nothing “fun” or “easy” about being your own boss. In fact, it’s probably harder.
Ethelda put a couple of her clients through some pretty good workouts. She talked about form, etc…and seemed to really push them.
I think Ben is Ben; and he is EXACTLY what his clients need. It’s apparent that many of his clients really need a social/personal connection, with training just being a “back drop”. And Ben does that well.
Nancy is cool. I haven’t really gotton a good idea of how good a trainer she is. Seems like she may have picked up a few things in the 80’s and 90’s, and hasn’t modified it much since then. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her training clients.
I still am impressed with how long some of these clients have been with these trainers.
But I’ll be glad to download some pirated copies if anyone is nice enough. 