I agree with that when people can “somewhat keep up,” as Shot from Guns said. Once again though, we’re talking about the extreme case of people who do practically nothing more than walk in place. Does someone need a class to motivate him or her to walk in a single spot? Maybe, but really… that’s a stretch.
It’s one thing to be egalitarian, but this is simply going too far. If you need some motivation for walking (stationary or otherwise), then you’d be better of finding a walking partner or an audiobook. A cardio bootcamp or Hi-Lo class isn’t the place for walking practice.
Admittedly, that’s not always an ideal solution, for reasons that I gave earlier (peripheral vision, classes in which people change the directions in which they face, etc). It’s definitely much better though, and it’s where I’d advise newcomers to situate themselves if they’re worried about not being able to keep up.
There’s a fuzzy boundary between people who might be moderately distracting and those who cannot follow even the basics. If you simply have a hard time keeping up, then I think it makes perfect sense to stay in the back of the class or by the side walls. That’s what I did during my first few weeks of step aerobics. If you consistently have trouble with the fundamentals though, then you’re not going to benefit much from a class that’s too far beyond your capabilities. In such situations, it’s best to get some practice first. (Once again, that’s what I did.)
As for the laughter issue, it’s no different from loud or prolonged conversations during cardio classes. Loud or prolonged conversations are generally considered to be breaches of etiquette, and some gyms prohibit them outright. I’d say that laughter is even more intrusive, simply because it tends to be louder than most conversations between neighbors. The occasional uncontrolled chortle or giggle is fine, but if it keeps happening, then you need to keep it under control, just as adults do in many other social circumstances.
Strawman. I never said that they didn’t deserve politeness. I said that giggling shouldn’t be a huge annoyance, nor should it be considered any more impolite than giggling in the grocery store.
Physical activity can require a great deal of concentration, especially when it’s demanding or when doing unfamiliar moves. That’s precisely why fitness books and magazines emphasize the need for intense concentration during various moves. Gratuitious laughing and giggling tends to break that concentration.
Couple that with the fact that people in the class needs to be able to listen to the instructor so that they can pick up on brief commands and their timing. Under such circumstances, there’s every reason to try to keep the giggling and laughing under control. As I said, some gyms prohibit loud or prolonged conversations during exercise classes for the same reason.
If the “giggling” is so loud as to render the shouting cardio instructor unintelligible, then I would submit that we do not have the same definition of the word giggle.
1.) No one is talking about a little giggling here or there–we’re discussing constant laughing or giggling.
2.) You didn’t directly say they didn’t deserve politeness, no, but that’s what it’s about. You don’t constantly laugh or giggle in an academic class because it’s impolite to distract other students; similarly, you don’t constantly laugh or giggle in a class at a gym because it’s… wait for it… impolite to distract other students. So, if you think it’s inappropriate in an academic class but not one at a gym, you apparently think politeness is required in one venue but not another. If that’s not the case, feel free to explain what you think the distinction is.
3.) The grocery store is a very bad analogy for several reasons. If you’re taking a class at a gymn, you’re paying to be there, and you have no choice but to be positioned closed to other people. At a grocery store, on the other hand, you are not paying to be there, and you are free to roam anywhere in the store you please. And even in a grocery store, anyone making a fuss (yelling, screaming, crying, laughing incessantly) to the extent that they were disturbing other customers would *still *probably be approached by a manager.
I’d say that when someone is making an effort to stifle the giggling, then that’s fine. It’s a sign that they know it’s inappropriate and that they’re trying to conduct themselves with decorum.
When people appear oblivious to the fact that laughing or giggling is inappropriate though, then that’s another matter. One could quibble about whether it amounts to “constant” laughing or giggling, but the bottom line is that mature adults understand the need to keep these impulses in check.
It doesn’t have to make the instructor unintelligible. Even if it’s only enough to make you miss or miscontrue a few of the commands, or even to distract you from the instructor, that’s distruptive enough. Only a grade-A lout would say, “What’s the big deal? You could still hear the teacher, right?”
And when the giggler is in your immediate vicinity, it’s not hard to see how this can happen. The laughter doesn’t have to completely drown out the instructor in order for it to become a nuisance.
No, no, no, stretching is a whole different class.
What qualifies you to know what is better for someone than they know? Are you a psychologist who studies human motivation? An exercise physiologist who works with people trying to start an exercise program? A class instructor? A psychic?
Different things motivate different people - and yes, for some it is that there is a set time and place where a number of people are exercising for a set period of time.
Just how is someone who is moving only slightly more than the stereo speakers distracting anyway? If you are that easily distracted, maybe you are the one who needs to find a different exercise venue.
I agree with 99% of what you say, but this one point makes you sound like someone at Starbucks complaining that another person only bought regular coffee, saying it’s a “waste” to get anything less than a caramel-raspberry venti mocha latte half-caf.
If somebody needs a group in order to motivate that person, then by all means, they should have such a group. That’s why I said that a walking partner might be just what they need. That’s quite a bit different from using a cardio bootcamp class or a Hi-Lo class for their walking program.
As others have said, you need to be able to sorta follow along – not perfectly, not elegantly, and not even without rest. It’s a matter of consideration for the class.
I’m glad that we agree on 99% of these things, and I’m sorry that we disagree on this one point. However, I think it’s pretty self-evident that if walking is all that you can manage, then it’s best to have a walking group instead of doing your walking in a non-walking exercise class. Maybe I’m wrong in this regard, but I don’t think so, and I don’t think that you need to be a psychologist, a physiologist, or a psychic to make this judgment.
The distraction is bad enough, as Shot from Guns explained upon drawing from his/her dance experience. This goes far beyond merely distraction, though. It’s also a safety issue, for reasons that have been covered elsewhere in this thread. (Sometime soon, I’ll relate the story of how two people nearly caused several accidents at my gym because they were doing their own thing instead of following along. This includes walking or twisting in place while everyone else was in motion.)
It’s enough to be an annoyance and I’ve heard others say that it throws them off their game. Unlike some of the other complaints voiced in this thread though, this specific one is not enough for me to want to raise a complaint about it, especially since – as I mentioned in a previous posting – I do recognize that there’s a certain gray area involved. Sometimes people lie far outside that gray area, but sometimes not.
As for the other complaints, it’s become pretty clear that our gym isn’t about to do anything to enforce the rules or proper decorum. It’s amazing what they’ll let people get away with.
If he *were *exagerrating, then it will never reach the level of annoyance necessary for someone to remove themself from the class to be considerate, and you should still have no reason not to agree with him that it would be appropriate in that situation.
Who says this? I always hear this “debunked” but I haven’t heard anyone push women toward the 2 pound weights so they won’t get too bulky in 20 years.
As for the other debate, mileage varies. Personally, I’d find it much more distracting to have someone leave the room because they couldn’t keep up than to have someone marching in place for an hour. But unless someone is flailing about on the floor, I’m pretty ok. (And I’ve taken loads of real dance and cardio aerobics).
Ya know, I’ve always wondered about guys doing this. Ball driers? Clue me in.
I see how this could be annoying, but then I thought, look, if the gym is a relatively white collar gym, I could see how a guy who had an office job might wanna relax and let it all hang out.
Hmmmmm…how exactly do women make a huge issue about their hotness/aloofness? How’s this come up? Details, details…
Oh, God, no. That would mess up the sacrosanct hairdo, too.
That doesn’t bother me so much, as long as they understand that they’ll now be sharing the lane with someone much faster than them. “Sharing” being the operative word – I’m not swimming slower just because they want to, so I’ll be passing, thankyouverymuch.
Of course, at my Y, I agreed to stay out of the “Slow” lane even if it was the only empty one – too many complaints of “too fast for the Slow lane”. Even though I was the only one in the Slow lane.
And by the same slow swimmers who’d get into the Fast lane… and go complain that people were swimming too fast. :rolleyes:
I’m not saying I hear it every day or even every month, but yeah I do hear it, mainly from women who do lots of cardio and unathletic men. Even the instructor who gave me the program with the bicep curl/arm extension said a variation of it. I asked whether it was a problem that I wasn’t working my biceps to fatigue and he said it was only an issue if I was aiming for big biceps. This guy works at the gym. And it’s a good gym where the instructors are qualified and have multiple certificates in the area. Given that sort of information, I find it unsurprising that there are people who believe women should stick to cardio, pilates and pump classes.
I go to a couple of cardio classes a week. It’s definitely dangerous if people are constantly moving in the wrong direction, but if they’re walking on the spot instead of doing jumping jacks I don’t notice. Occasionally new people will laugh at the goofy moves. I’ve never heard anyone laugh through the whole class, but I imagine that could be pretty annoying. Usually the gigglers will get used to it and start working out (with the occasional laugh at a new move), or they find the whole thing too wanky and leave, which is fair enough.
