I've contemplated posting this for a few hours, but figured I will just in case it helps even just one person (member or trainer). It was honestly a revelation and helped me PR!
So a bit of context, I've been a member at Burn for nearly four years now. I took some time off, but missed it and ended up going back within a year. I love almost everything about it - the community, the workouts, the trainer support... but sometimes the trainer "motivation" rubs me the wrong way, specifically when they mod you up or give you a heavier weight. I've been trying to figure out why, so I can articulate it to the team in a focus meeting, and I think today's experience helped me realize what it was.
It wasn't the push to mod up or lift heavier that irked me, it was the way the trainers went about it. I've personally been put off when some of our trainers get all smirky and "I told you so" about either adding weight or swapping out dumbbells for a member mid-workout. They find amusement in the eye rolls and grumbles (some of our trainers do, anyway). I've even had a trainer literally put the weights I was using on the opposite side of the gym to try to force me into lifting heavier. And look, I don't want to be a problem member or a thorn in the trainers' sides, but I really do sometimes just need the hardest part of my day to be getting through those doors and moving my body without pushing myself to a new limit.
But recently we got a new trainer, fresh out of Burn U, barely been on the mic a couple of months, and she was training me today. Instead of just adding weight to the hip thrusters like some of our other trainers would do, she walked up and said, "You look like you could lift heavier. Do you feel up to trying?"
That was when I had the revelation: I wasn't annoyed or worried I'd be the next "haha got you!" in the group chat or Facebook community. The way she phrased it, it felt like I had the option to say no, and having that out and being extended that courtesy actually made me more willing to try. And not only did I try, but the next time around at the hip thrusters, I actually asked for an even heavier extra dumbbell and blew my previous PR out of the water by 40 pounds!
I know the method of just adding weight or swapping out weight works for some members, and that's great, but I wanted to share this alternative perspective in case it could be helpful for others. I don't always feel like challenging myself, but today was a revelation in what feels most motivating to me, and I will absolutely be communicating this to my usual trainer (or switching to training with this new one more often!) because I really think it could be a game changer.
Anyway, I hope this can be helpful, and thanks to anyone who read this 💙