Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Gym slackers revisited

Continuing my previous rant about gym slackers...

I don't doubt that some of them are just doing the best that they can. Some of them may have joint problems, for example. Given human nature though, it's a safe bet that many of these folks are in bad shape precisely because they don't push themselves very hard. That's why instead of jogging around when the instructor tells them to, they just go for a slow an leisurely walk. Or why they just sit around and gab when the instructor runs late, as opposed to working out while waiting.

That's the key. If it was just one or two people who were "working out" at this minimal intensity, that'd be something to expect. When virtually the entire room is working out at such a low level though, it's hard to believe that they're truly putting in a major effort.

Just today, we did this drill wherein we were supposed to throw some medium-tempo jab and cross combinations. Virtually nobody was throwing a proper punch, though. Several folks just kinda moved their arms around a few inches while swaying their booties from side to side. It was painful to watch, and even a bit demotivating. I couldn't help but think, "Folks, even when I was in bad shape, I still pushed myself hard. Yet here you are, just coasting through. You're cheating yourselves, folks, and you shouldn't expect to see any results."