And by "women gyms" I mean LUCILLE ROBERTS.
For starters, let me say, I’ve never been that girl, that’s been all about “Girl Power”, and female bonding. It’s not me. Too much estrogen can be a bad thing! (I would know, especially having PCOS) But there is something to be said for women understanding women. Women knowing what other women are going through at any phase of their life, and having the compassion to communicate on respectable terms.
Don’t get me wrong, cancel a Zumba class, or have a bad instructor, those ladies can be ruthless. (Just kidding). But for the most part, it’s not about “showing off” or trying to come off as better than what we really are.
A moment happened TONIGHT. After having sat in traffic, and being late for Kelly’s Bootcamp - although I did get to have my very own version of the bootcamp afterwards, I got in my car and drove an hour back home to the gym, Shapes to Come, that is a mile from my house. Why am I going there? Well for the sole purpose that they offered yoga, and I can’t afford my yoga studio that I LOVE going to anymore. As well as, on days that I can’t get to Delran or Audubon, I could go on the treadmill or elliptical, and not feel guilty about not getting a work out in.
So, I walk through the door at 7:10, having thought that I missed the beginning of yoga, only to find out that it was at 7:30. So I had some time. A nice man, named Warren, approached me about this AOS Kettlebell personal training that they were offering. Now as it’s not the gym that’s offering it, it’s an outside contractor - Team Hesh, that is doing it within the gym. Although it’s definitely not something that I can do at the moment, nor afford, I heard him out. He was sweet, and asked me questions, and listened to me. I told him that “You know what, my husband hurt his foot, but this might be something he is interested in.”
I told him how I had personal training, with Lucille Roberts. That I was very happy with it, the support and the results that I was getting, etc. He then took me over to the “Assistant PT Director” - Tom Best.
6 foot tall, Pauly D spikey hair, and the cocky attitude to go with it, which I found out in about 5 seconds flat. He goes, “Now why is it you can’t do this”.
I said “I’m currently with a personal trainer at Lucille Roberts. I am also involved with their Blogger Makeover”
He goes “What? Blogger?”
I said “You know a blog, online.”
He goes “Yeah I know what a blog is, but what does that even have to do with anything. Who is this Lucille Roberts anyway? I mean come on, I know what it is, but really?”
He then proceeds to riducle me in public by saying “Well how much do you weigh?”
Internally my thought was “ARE YOU SERIOUS??? He is really going to ask me that, in the middle of a gym lobby, with several people around, and on top of that with 2 other personal trainers standing on top of me”
But I said “193. But I’ve seen great results with my personal trainer so far and I’m really happy.”
He said “ Okay, well what are your results?”
I said “I’ve already lost 6 pounds, and several inches.”
He said “That’s all water weight, they aren’t doing anything for you. I can make you loose 25 pounds in a month”
At that point, to say I was INSULTED was an understatement. Who the heck does this guy think he is, not only is that INSANE for me personally, given my medical history, but no way is it HEALTHY for you to loose that much weight in that amount of time.
I looked at him and said “That’s nice, but you know nothing about me? You have no idea about my medical history, nor what my name even is?:”
He said “Why are you getting so defensive?” of course with his cocky undertone, that he couldn’t have possibly been completely and utterly disrespectful to me.
I said “Because, if you took the time to know me, you might find out that I have PCOS. Which makes weight loss a bit difficult given the metabolic, hormonal, endocrine nature of the disorder?”
His response, the kicker - “You have all those “symptoms” because you are overweight!” Not only did he say those words, but he said it indignantly. Looking down upon me as some weak woman, pushing 200 lbs, that couldn’t possibly work hard enough to legitimately loose weight while at a Woman’s Gym, that I needed his kettlebell and hardcore exercises, because that was the BE ALL and END ALL of all fitness exercies, weight loss, and routines.
At this point, I’m in tears, and probably had been for about a minute. Poor Warren, kept trying to get Tom to shut up at this point. Warren kept telling me, “it’s okay, it’s okay”.
While that was sweet of Warren, and I could tell that he genuinely felt bad for what a jerkoff Tom Best had just been, it doesn’t erase the manner that Tom treated me. It was NOT OKAY.
At this point I walked away, and tried to find where yoga was. As Tom Best had told me that it was upstairs, proves yet again, he didn’t know what he was talking about because that was actually where Zumba was being held at 7:30. I did turn around, go back and say to him “It’s actually that behavior, and that mentality why I’ve left this gym in the past, it’s because jerks like you have no idea what you are talking about, or who you are talking to.”
I then proceeded to not only text my husband, because I couldn’t believe that it was happening, nor could I stop crying at this point. But I also texted Nicole, my trainer, because I couldn’t believe that anyone would act that way in this field.
I waited for the cardio class that was upstairs to be done, only to find out from other women, that were there to take the Zumba class. Not only that but they knew exactly who the jerk was because of his personality. That’s how he acts all the time, and no one really cares for his attitude.
By that time, I figured that I would go and find yoga. So I go back out front. Someone else, Ryan, from Team Hesh was out front, who also saw the whole incident earlier. I asked the owner, where the Yoga was, and it apparently was in the studio that this new AOS Kettlebell training was, and the yoga instructor wasn’t there yet.
At this time, my husband was walking through the front door, furious, demanding to know where the jerk was. He spoke to the owner, and the owner went looking for him, only to find out that he had left for the day.
The owner asked me what happened, and I proceeded to tell him what happened. Another member, Alyssia, (I’m sorry if that’s not the correct name) and her mother, heard what we were saying, and even interjected to tell the owner that he treated them the same way, and is rude to them all the time. Not only that, while the girls grandmother was in the hospital, Mr. Tom Best continued to stalk her trying to convince her to sign up for the AOS Training. For 3 days, and finally she was like “Please stop calling me”.
She even told us how another girl was hurt because they pushed her too hard in the training. So that right there proves to me that, that kind of behavior leads to reckless and dangerous training.
The owner said that he’d of course speak to him within the week, but we’ll see what happens. It wants me to stop going to the gym completely, and I do expect an apology at some point from the jerk. As far as I'm concerned, he should just stay as an "entertainer" at Club Risque as his profile says, because his mannerisms certainly are about only good for that.
What would you have done? How would you have reacted? How would you have felt? You asked for some more personal posts... there you have it, just another day in the life of Me - (at least that seems to be the theme lately - nothing but bad luck)
For starters, let me say, I’ve never been that girl, that’s been all about “Girl Power”, and female bonding. It’s not me. Too much estrogen can be a bad thing! (I would know, especially having PCOS) But there is something to be said for women understanding women. Women knowing what other women are going through at any phase of their life, and having the compassion to communicate on respectable terms.
Don’t get me wrong, cancel a Zumba class, or have a bad instructor, those ladies can be ruthless. (Just kidding). But for the most part, it’s not about “showing off” or trying to come off as better than what we really are.
A moment happened TONIGHT. After having sat in traffic, and being late for Kelly’s Bootcamp - although I did get to have my very own version of the bootcamp afterwards, I got in my car and drove an hour back home to the gym, Shapes to Come, that is a mile from my house. Why am I going there? Well for the sole purpose that they offered yoga, and I can’t afford my yoga studio that I LOVE going to anymore. As well as, on days that I can’t get to Delran or Audubon, I could go on the treadmill or elliptical, and not feel guilty about not getting a work out in.
So, I walk through the door at 7:10, having thought that I missed the beginning of yoga, only to find out that it was at 7:30. So I had some time. A nice man, named Warren, approached me about this AOS Kettlebell personal training that they were offering. Now as it’s not the gym that’s offering it, it’s an outside contractor - Team Hesh, that is doing it within the gym. Although it’s definitely not something that I can do at the moment, nor afford, I heard him out. He was sweet, and asked me questions, and listened to me. I told him that “You know what, my husband hurt his foot, but this might be something he is interested in.”
I told him how I had personal training, with Lucille Roberts. That I was very happy with it, the support and the results that I was getting, etc. He then took me over to the “Assistant PT Director” - Tom Best.
6 foot tall, Pauly D spikey hair, and the cocky attitude to go with it, which I found out in about 5 seconds flat. He goes, “Now why is it you can’t do this”.
I said “I’m currently with a personal trainer at Lucille Roberts. I am also involved with their Blogger Makeover”
He goes “What? Blogger?”
I said “You know a blog, online.”
He goes “Yeah I know what a blog is, but what does that even have to do with anything. Who is this Lucille Roberts anyway? I mean come on, I know what it is, but really?”
He then proceeds to riducle me in public by saying “Well how much do you weigh?”
Internally my thought was “ARE YOU SERIOUS??? He is really going to ask me that, in the middle of a gym lobby, with several people around, and on top of that with 2 other personal trainers standing on top of me”
But I said “193. But I’ve seen great results with my personal trainer so far and I’m really happy.”
He said “ Okay, well what are your results?”
I said “I’ve already lost 6 pounds, and several inches.”
He said “That’s all water weight, they aren’t doing anything for you. I can make you loose 25 pounds in a month”
At that point, to say I was INSULTED was an understatement. Who the heck does this guy think he is, not only is that INSANE for me personally, given my medical history, but no way is it HEALTHY for you to loose that much weight in that amount of time.
I looked at him and said “That’s nice, but you know nothing about me? You have no idea about my medical history, nor what my name even is?:”
He said “Why are you getting so defensive?” of course with his cocky undertone, that he couldn’t have possibly been completely and utterly disrespectful to me.
I said “Because, if you took the time to know me, you might find out that I have PCOS. Which makes weight loss a bit difficult given the metabolic, hormonal, endocrine nature of the disorder?”
His response, the kicker - “You have all those “symptoms” because you are overweight!” Not only did he say those words, but he said it indignantly. Looking down upon me as some weak woman, pushing 200 lbs, that couldn’t possibly work hard enough to legitimately loose weight while at a Woman’s Gym, that I needed his kettlebell and hardcore exercises, because that was the BE ALL and END ALL of all fitness exercies, weight loss, and routines.
At this point, I’m in tears, and probably had been for about a minute. Poor Warren, kept trying to get Tom to shut up at this point. Warren kept telling me, “it’s okay, it’s okay”.
While that was sweet of Warren, and I could tell that he genuinely felt bad for what a jerkoff Tom Best had just been, it doesn’t erase the manner that Tom treated me. It was NOT OKAY.
At this point I walked away, and tried to find where yoga was. As Tom Best had told me that it was upstairs, proves yet again, he didn’t know what he was talking about because that was actually where Zumba was being held at 7:30. I did turn around, go back and say to him “It’s actually that behavior, and that mentality why I’ve left this gym in the past, it’s because jerks like you have no idea what you are talking about, or who you are talking to.”
I then proceeded to not only text my husband, because I couldn’t believe that it was happening, nor could I stop crying at this point. But I also texted Nicole, my trainer, because I couldn’t believe that anyone would act that way in this field.
I waited for the cardio class that was upstairs to be done, only to find out from other women, that were there to take the Zumba class. Not only that but they knew exactly who the jerk was because of his personality. That’s how he acts all the time, and no one really cares for his attitude.
By that time, I figured that I would go and find yoga. So I go back out front. Someone else, Ryan, from Team Hesh was out front, who also saw the whole incident earlier. I asked the owner, where the Yoga was, and it apparently was in the studio that this new AOS Kettlebell training was, and the yoga instructor wasn’t there yet.
At this time, my husband was walking through the front door, furious, demanding to know where the jerk was. He spoke to the owner, and the owner went looking for him, only to find out that he had left for the day.
The owner asked me what happened, and I proceeded to tell him what happened. Another member, Alyssia, (I’m sorry if that’s not the correct name) and her mother, heard what we were saying, and even interjected to tell the owner that he treated them the same way, and is rude to them all the time. Not only that, while the girls grandmother was in the hospital, Mr. Tom Best continued to stalk her trying to convince her to sign up for the AOS Training. For 3 days, and finally she was like “Please stop calling me”.
She even told us how another girl was hurt because they pushed her too hard in the training. So that right there proves to me that, that kind of behavior leads to reckless and dangerous training.
The owner said that he’d of course speak to him within the week, but we’ll see what happens. It wants me to stop going to the gym completely, and I do expect an apology at some point from the jerk. As far as I'm concerned, he should just stay as an "entertainer" at Club Risque as his profile says, because his mannerisms certainly are about only good for that.
What would you have done? How would you have reacted? How would you have felt? You asked for some more personal posts... there you have it, just another day in the life of Me - (at least that seems to be the theme lately - nothing but bad luck)
Disclaimer - This situation happened hours ago, the thoughts are my own.
That's nuts. What an a$$. I wouldn't have given him the satisfaction of knowing my weight or my troubles and honestly would have said I'm here for yoga and left. Sucks that you have to deal with that and if you don't get an apology or satisfaction, I wouldn't go back. My dollars and my husbands aren't going to support a company like that.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry you had to deal with that jerk.
ReplyDeleteI never even walked in the door of a gym and was turned off - I bought the LivingSocial deal for the Aquatic & Fitness Center, thought it would be good for me to get my foot in the door. The deal included a month free, no membership fee and an appointment with a personal trainer. I called to make the appointment and was completely given an attitude like "what kind of loser would buy a gym membership deal." I don't remember exactly what he said, but I ended up having to miss my appointment due to a conflict and I never made a new one because I didn't want to deal with the attitude again... That was a waste of my money.
Unfortunately most people look at "us" (women who are heavy) as lazy but what they don't see are the reasons why we can't work out the way that they do. Doesn't matter to them that you PCOS. Doesn't matter that my knees hyper-extend which makes it very painful to do any heavy cardio activities. Just do it. No pain, no gain.
Hang in there. Breathe. He's not worth your time. {{{HUGS}}}
Good for you, Jenn, for staying strong and giving him a piece of your mind! His behavior is totally unprofessional and unacceptable. I'm so sorry you had that experience, but I'm also glad to hear that you feel more comfortable in a women's gym. That's what we're here for!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this, I was just so ticked off. First, I am sure the owner has received many complaints but continues to have this dumb-bell moron represent his company, which doesn't speak highly of the owner or his concern of customer satisfaction. I noticed on their facebook they promote Tom Best and also put disgusting pic of "chin-balls" http://www.facebook.com/shapestocome?sk=wall.
ReplyDeleteIf you check out their website, the owner is so cheap uses the free hosting and horribly website, which represents a "I don't care about my image" attitude.
Unfortunately, this all means that Tom Best with big "L" on his forehead will continue to work there. Tom Loser obviously is extremely ignorant, lacks any compassion or true concern for people, Shallow and dumb (combo) he would never be successful in any career but jiggling his arse as a male stripper or street corner pickup, imagine a washed up party dancer. (ugh, the visual is awful)
Anyway I have vented, but still pissed off and so sorry to hear about your experience.
HOW RUDE! Honestly, I'm glad you all reported the behavior to the management. I would have felt horrible. There is no reason to disrespect someone like that.
ReplyDeleteAnd WAY to go on your 6 pounds! I'm glad to hear it!
As a female also trying to lose weight I am sorry that you were made to feel the way you did. No one has a right to make someone feel the way that the self righteous Pauly D character made you feel. Just know not all multi-gender gyms are that way. I go to a gym owned by a man, and with many body builder men, and I feel very welcomed and encouraged by the owner.
ReplyDelete