Utterly Confused by the "Gym Mentality"

I have been working out at the same Planet Fitness for over two years now. They boast that they don't judge, which in the case of my gym is true. I don't even think the "Lunk Alarm" actually works. I am actually okay with that. For grown adults to have to patrol grown adults seems immature to me.

The rub though is that in those two years, I have seen the need for such a device. Personally, I go to the gym to get fit. I want to put on a lot of muscle and shed my fat. Sounds about average right? My goals though are above average in my gym. I want to be able to leg press more than 1,000 lbs. I want a bench press over 350. I don't want to get huge, but I do want to be that freakish monster in the gym that is incredibly strong. But that is my journey.

The gym should be a personal journey with the support of a community. Everyday that I step through those doors I am making the statement that I am going to change. I want to be healthier. However for some, it seems their statement is "I am here to lift weights, posture and judge people like an elitist douchebag."

I started noticing this more after watching a video on YouTube that was a rant by a well known bodybuilder. I won't name names because I don't like to put negative on people. (If he reads this and has a change of heart, awesome. I doubt he will read this but who knows.) In his video he was going off about a guy who jumped in to do a set and didn't know what he was doing. Rant, rant, rant and it boiled down to him saying that if you don't know what you are doing you should get a trainer. I don't disagree there.

What I have issue with, is that this person, who has a wealth of knowledge made it sound like he allowed the person to do the exercise wrong and possibly get injured. That is not community to me and this unfortunately is not a localized event.

I have seen on numerous occasions boys who are younger (teens to early twenties) who openly mock other gym goers because they don't understand what the others are doing. They then turn around and do their set and end up doing their routine wrong. I have stepped in and helped a few fix what was wrong with their routines but most I try to stay away from. I have also been approached by an older gym goer and asked about my routine. I gave constructive advice on exercises because he said he suffered from lower back pains. I do this because I realize we are all in the gym for the same reason. Fitness.

When we start making people feel inadequate in the gym, that is the moment we start them down the road of giving up. Whether you do so in person or in an open public forum. So I put a challenge out to those who read my blog. If you are in the gym, and you see someone doing something that could potentially hurt them, help them don't mock them. Let that person know. Give them some tips and point them in the direction of good consultation if needed. Don't be the catalyst for someone's failure.