Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Biggest Loser and Big Bad Trends

I've noticed that one of the new fitness trends is for trainers to scream at and belittle their clients ala "The Biggest Loser." The lovely and talented Moardy over at A Motivated Notion has even seen this phenomenon in yoga classes. (Go read her account of this yoga experience. It's freaking scary.)

And maybe it works for some people. As Moardy says, "The class was packed and the studio continues to bring in new students with the promise of helping them lose weight."

But for me, not so much. If my trainer talked to me the way the trainers on "The Biggest Loser" talk to those people, he'd be drinking his Power Bars through a straw. And I'm not the only one in my workout group who would give him whatfor.

I don't find yelling motivating. If you're yelling how hot I look, OK, sure, that's motivating. But I don't want my Boot Camp fitness workout to feel and sound like a real Boot Camp. I've joked about my trainer being an "evil drill sergeant" but I wouldn't have stuck with this workout program for nearly a year if he ever made me feel bad about myself.

You know, I can belittle myself just fine without having to pay someone else to do it. I want my trainer (and especially my yoga instructor) to tell me I'm doing a great job and encourage me to push myself a little harder. Tell me I'm lazy or weak or that what I'm doing should hurt, and I'm out the door.

3 comments:

Lisa said...

Excellent points!

And yeah, it would be pretty darn motivating if someone were yelling at me how HOT I am. For now I just have folks yelling in wonder at why the hell I take my monster dogs out in public. They set my walking pace, which is really more of a run, that's why!

And no, people don't really yell at me about the dogs, although I'm sure they've considered it!

Pammeey said...

Ooh! Doggy Boot Camp! Great idea, Lisa! :)

moardy said...

I'm glad I'm not alone in this - I was kind of freaked out that everyone else didn't think anything was wrong :)

And I totally agree - I'd be fine if someone was yelling about how hot I looked. Maybe I should try that in class tonight - 'YOU GUYS ARE FREAKING AWESOME! THOSE DOWN-DOGS LOOK SEXY!' lol