OK Move To The Next Station by Jess Casteel

“Ok, move to the next station” by Jess Casteel

Today was a good day with the exception of into my third set of complexes I had a sudden stop due to my loss of attention causing me to slightly misalign my spine and put a slight enough pull I'm my left lat muscle to cause breathing to feel like a pinched nerve. I returned home from my chiropractor who fixed my spine up to some discomfort in the muscle so I will take tomorrow off since Saturday is lower back and legs.

So as I limped my way back to the facility where I operate from, which in itself has a lot of potential for growth and profit and is a pretty cool place to work. It does have however one quirk which I strongly disagree with and it just so happens that almost daily this "quirk" turns potential members away from signing up. That is beside the point though as I am sitting here next to my power rack which is the only free weight machine in the building other than various dumbbells that rarely get used by anyone other than the clients of the trainers who work here.

Back to the point I was trying to make about the before mentioned "quirk" I was wanting to touch on. One half of the building is one of those cheesy circuits like curves where there is that constant pshhhht ffftttt sound of pneumatic and or hydraulic cylinders that have the strength curve of a balloon and roughly 0% eccentric resistance causing absolutely no strength gain. I personally hate these circuits to no end but the vibe is cool here and I am grateful to have a facility to operate out of a mere 2 blocks from home.

The core of this message is not the ineffective nature of these machines which the other trainer and I are dead set on weeding out and replaced with decent free weight machines and multi stations but what I witnessed while waiting on a client to show up and while gasping for air from my back hindrance. I actually sat and observed a lady use this circuit and I paid close attention to a few things as I do with my clients who come in daily and sling the iron I moved in with me. I watched for loading parameters, intensity, endurance, or mostly the lack thereof and the most telling of all, the client’s attitude towards the workout.Ill describe what I observed further in order starting with loading parameters.

This one got me laughing inside because even though you can pretty much set these machines at 9 and sip margaritas while using them she didn't bother to set any of the resistances before use. It wasn't her fault because I'm sure that annoying voice on the stereo that says "OK please move to the next station" that blares out of the speakers every 30 seconds that most people turn on and don't use was rushing her. It makes sense that if the voice gives you 30 seconds to move then why burn 2 seconds making an exercise you are paying for actually hard enough to get an ounce of soreness?

Next was intensity and I can easily sum the intensity up with one simple example: Go to any funeral and you will see more action by the person in the casket. She literally spent 5 second or more strolling from machine to machine with a bored to death demeanor and near emotionless look on her face. As far as endurance goes, the most endurance involved getting on one of those squeaky ass trampolines that remind me of a few mattresses I have destroyed in my time. This is where I had to giggle because if you watch the people when they get on these and you literally want to shake them and tell them if they aren't going to get on them and actually use them then don't bother. I mean her feet never came off the damn thing and she looked like an epileptic bowling pin.The biggest contributing factor to this session for the lady wasn't the sub optimal machinery or the country love songs she was listening to in an attempt to drown out my boom box pumping some good ol up yours punk rock by the casualties. It was the the attitude of the lady that was causing this session to have absolutely no effect on health, performance, or whatever goal she had set if any at all. It dawns on me as I sit thinking about all the people I see walk through the door day in and day out as well as all the people who fall into a certain mediocrity that seems to follow many people around ready to step out in front of them at any point and block any new experimentation or pioneering spirit to expand on current knowledge or failed technique.

The status quo syndrome has killed the drive and motivation for most people and there are the people who don't care about what exercise they are doing or why they are doing it but those people will come in to a training session day after day and still trust a trainer to guide them and will perform any exercise at any set rep range without question. They typically have family, work or whatever issues but what most fail to do is think about what they are doing regardless of what implement they are using to exercise with is prolonging their lives through exercise. I'm not a fan of certain training methods but anyone who is exercising no matter what they are doing is using exercise to blow off steam and prolong their lives. We all have goals and aspirations sure but we should attack our training with some enthusiasm.

I am not a fan of people getting ripped off by instructors that are only interested in money but as long as the person they are working with is getting some kind of exercise it is going to positively do some good. If you want the most from a program it is true that you need a good trainer to progress you and know what he or she is doing but even with a bad program you should approach each session with a will do attitude. Truth is that exercise will add years to your life and life to your years as long as you approach it with the attitude of your life and the length of it does depend on what you make of your training. All of the aesthetic physique changes are secondary to living a long and healthy life.