Whenever you chose to be a client or a customer of any business, atmosphere is a huge part of why you stay or leave, whether it’s a conscious decision or not. I believe sometimes we don’t consciously think of how the atmosphere of a workout program can affect you and your results.
I’d like to share with you an experience I had while operating my own gym that really touched my soul and made me think.
One afternoon I had 4 body fat tests scheduled. They wanted to be present for each other’s composition assessments, which I have no problem with as long as everyone was ok with it. Through testing the first three ladies I had learned that one of them was the trainer of the other three and they all participated in a program that encouraged competition with other people.
They did compete THE ENTIRE time I was testing and repeatedly made derogatory comments about themselves. “My legs are bigger than yours,” “Yeah well my body fat is lower.” “OMG I’m so fat.” “Is my butt bigger than hers? What are those measurements again?” Mind you they were all in good shape and none of them had excess/unhealthy amounts of body fat.
I got to the last woman and she stated that she would rather do her testing in private. As I’m getting started she starts apologizing to me for not being as lean as the other ladies. Mind you this woman looks great. I wondered why she’s apologizing to a complete stranger. All of the sudden she starts crying.
This woman had moved back to the states from overseas because her 3 year old son died 3 months ago. She had apologized because with the grief and stress of the move she had gained weight. I was SO SHOCKED. All I could do was hug her. I’ve lost close family members before their time (and I have been extremely overweight) and she was breaking my heart. Then it dawned on me that these were her workout buddies.
In the midst of grieving, and adjusting to a new environment, she was encouraged to compete and compare herself with other people, everyday. That was her choice but it left her crying in the arms of a stranger when her three “best friends” were right outside the door.
When Complete Fitness Results opened, the goal was always to make people feel welcomed, no matter their health and fitness status. Our goal is to boost confidence but not at the expense of another client’s.
It is important to focus on positives. Most people don’t enter a gym because they already are focused on the positive. They are looking to change something they view as a negative about themselves. Now you take a person that might have gained some excess fat due to life happenings and tell them they aren’t as good as someone else. Does that make sense?
At Complete Fitness results we encourage you to strive to be better than last week’s version of you. You vs You is the main event. We celebrate victories with each other and all of our contests are centered around a universal goal such as “Drop a Dress Size”. We are proud to have created an atmosphere where everyone is worried about being better than they were the day before, an atmosphere where you don’t have to be in shape to come to a gym, and an atmosphere where everyone has the universal goal of being healthy AND happy.
by Sarah Spaulding