A few friends have asked how I get on instructing fit,strong guys or even flabby beer-gut guys. Another asked how I cope with guys who have an attitude problem, that is, they do everything super fast and badly and they certainly aren’t going to be told what to do by a female instructor.
One friend, who knows me well, said, “I bet that’s the ones she likes the most!”
That’s right. Guys with an attitude problem – bring it on!
I really enjoy working with them to create win-win vibration training sessions. They win when they leave the studio happily exhausted after training hard-out on the machines, maintaining excellent form, correcting, and not losing it as the timer counts downs. I win when I see them position perfect (as all must be) and I gain their respect when I insist on this and don’t allow them to rush through, neglecting form.
I had such fun one afternoon when a regular customer brought in a friend for a trial session. Both guys are kickboxers and they had just completed a 10km run.
While the regular guy went through his program I instructed the “newbie” who had no idea what to expect from a vibrating machine and after the first 60 second basic squat was both laughing and moaning. The feeling in his quads from the vibrations was intense. Position 2, the push-up, he maintained excellent form with a full push-up and I was impressed. We continued working through the Vibra-Train Safety Program and he quickly found form. He said he was amazed at how powerful the machines were. His friend came and watched for the final positions as the laughter and groaning, plus my stubborn refusal to allow his mate to fail, brought him from the back room. Doing 2 x 60 second superman squats on Level 3 was the “killer” and showed how effective Vibration Training can be for top athletes. No attitude problems from this newbie. He enjoyed it and will continue to vibra-train.
Just a few of the guys who come in have type “A” personalities combined with “attitude”. One who comes in infrequently tries to rush in and rush out, jumping onto the machine not caring about correct position, and telling me to go away. I don’t! I stay, even turning off the machine if he just wont get it right. His last session was amazing – totally win-win. I gained his respect as I would not allow his attitude any longer. He’s supposed to get a quality session, afterall he’s paying for it! I was determined he would leave feeling he’d really worked out. We have two models of Level 2 machine in the studio so I moved him to the one he had not used before. The difference: he no longer had side handlebars to hold, to help support his weight. He had to rely on his strength and use his attitude positively. His pride was not going to allow him to fail!
The result: he maintained excellent position and completed the 60 second superman squat so well that when offered the handlebar machine for his second 60 seconds he refused. An incredible win-win situation. Walking out the door he actually thanked me.
Oh how I wish you were in the USA! Congratulations on toughing it out with your clients!