@dreamer6424 Thank you, I really appreciate the gym owner perspective on this. There’s a company email and phone line I think I’ll send an initial email to make sure I’m talking to the owner directly and then voice my concerns.
@cepha Please let them know: their answer may be that they have a certain clientele who looks for “BootCamp Betty” Tuesdays at 5 and direct you to their other classes. If they don’t at least suggest a specification of the “intensity and language” of the class in a published schedule or have the instructor welcome people to the class with an intro of what to expect, they should at least sincerely apologize.
“Hi, welcome to BootCampBetty’s Bike Beatdown. I’m Betty and for the next 3 minutes, I want you to prepare yourself for a intense and aggressive fitness class as we really dig deep to push ourselves to our absolute limits. The language will be rough and I will be tough, but in the next 27 minutes, you will be in The Beatdown.”
If I walked in to a class and an instructor came at me with that, I’d be gone before they got another blink in.
@cepha Chiming in with support and to say I'm sorry you had to work through that class! I'm sure I would've also been crying if I had to deal with that. Best of luck as you talk to gym staff about the instructor and try to get some resolution!
@cepha Something EXACTLY LIKE THIS happened to me once!!!! I am also ultra sensitive to screaming and was so off put I wanted to leave my gym. Blessedly, we have an anonymous member survey each year and it was coming up so I just waited, avoided her classes, and gave an honest and constructive reply. After it was over, they addressed her specifically in the results! She basically was like ‘hey I hear you, I’ll be better’ and from then on she has truly been calm and kind. It’s amazing! I’m assuming you don’t also have a survey like that — is there a manager you trust that you can talk to? I really recommend saying something. Screaming triggers a lot of people — she could really set somebody off if she doesn’t tone it down.
Also the other member who berated you too REALLY needs to...not. That’s so unnecessary and rude. I can only assume they have no power in their normal life and need to have it somewhere??
Overall, I’m so sorry this happened. It’s incredibly unfair and inappropriate.
@cepha WTF this is verbal abuse and I would totally report it. This is not how a spin class is supposed to be, and if this is her 'normal', well she needs to know it shouldn't be. EVER.
I can handle rough love, but this, in a class setting especially, is unacceptable. Sorry you've been through this. Even a bootcamp class shouldn't be like this. I've been to hundreds of classes in my life and never went through something like this. This teacher has issues she needs to address outside of class.
@cepha You don't want to hear this but just sweating won't do shit. Unless you have superhuman willpower you need someone up your ass and around the corner to make meaningful progress. Progress isn't comfortable and it isn't nice, it's tearing you down so you can be rebuilt stronger
@mamuka okay but screaming at the class that they suck is not the way to do it. believe it or not, it’s not constructive or motivational. there’s a fine line between firm encouragement and making somebody cry
@mamuka I’m just in the class to stay fit. I don’t want to change my body or anything crazy, just get some weekly exercise. And even so, I go to CrossFit as well where workouts are insanely difficult and uncomfortable for me but the coaches are highly motivational without being mean.
@cepha I AM a spin instructor and I can tell you this is NOT how it's supposed to go.
If it was a theme of class and she followed the promised outline, maaaybe - but even then, any group fitness professional is trained to make the exercise something you feel good about and want to come back to. Report her to her manager, but make sure you really talk to the manager and he/she listens. A lot of the time, if it's a 'leave a comment card' thing, it won't be dealt with.
@cepha Did other people seem to be regulars? I was a spin and pilates instructor pre-covid, and there is actually weirdly a market for people who are kind of assholes. There was an instructor like that in each program at one of the gyms where I worked, and they both were very popular. So every now and then I'm sure someone complained about them, but I'm also sure our manager never did anything about because they were filling their classes with their following. It seems very short sighted, but it's a thing. Not to say that it's okay.
@farmkat Everyone else was very quiet, but they seemed to know what they were doing. After the class one girl said to her friend “I wasn’t cheering because I was pushing so hard so I wouldn’t get yelled at”.
@cepha I’ve had some horrible experiences with class instructors, especially when it comes to cardio. Think it is one of the many reasons I dislike doing cardio at the gym and classes as well.
She sounds very unprofessional. instructors who behave this way is why many people stop attending gyms & give up. It is embarrassing and demoralizing. You should talk to management about it. So many people fail to speak up when they have been openly shamed by instructors and the behavior can continue.
@cepha I do hate "Coaches" like this. Why is it they always seem to be able to attract at least one syncophantic toadie as well? They both sound pretty creepy.
I guess that's how nature tells us to avoid them. Sorry she made you cry.
@russty Her friend was the most bizarre part of the whole class. Never in my life have I been bitched out by another student. She has no idea what my fitness level is so who tf is she to say I’m not trying? I was stunned.
