Ultimately are you at the gym to train, or to make friends? Just say thanks and keep the advice that is actually good and ignore advice that is bad. If they feel you disrespected them and ostricize you then who cares?
I hope this is not out of place in these forums!
I've been to a number of different gyms and it seems people always have something to say about technique, reps etc etc.
Usually I ignore most people in the gym because they are trying to achieve something different. However once my ignoring people's advice (carrying on with my SST) led to a pretty bad atmosphere. I simply said that I am doing strength training, following a routine etc etc. I was never spoken to again by him or most people in the gym.
I am at a new gym now, and today, I got another bunch of advice about squats. Apparently my form is "totally wrong". Now, I thought what they said may have held some truth - there was a lot of strain on my back and I did feel off balance. As I talk about in my other post.
Some of the advice they were giving my, like "keep your feet closer that shoulder width and pointing straight forward" seemed just plain wrong.
So, how should I handle people in the gym if I think their advice is BS without falling out with them?
Ultimately are you at the gym to train, or to make friends? Just say thanks and keep the advice that is actually good and ignore advice that is bad. If they feel you disrespected them and ostricize you then who cares?
Listen to them and try explaing why you are doing it a different way.
If they don't like them they are not worthy caring about.
Fortunately this hasn't happened to me very much, especially lately -- I'd like to think it's because people see the weights I'm moving and realize I must know what I'm doing. But awhile back I had some people try to tell me I was leaning forward too much or something, clearly because they'd never seen a low-bar squat before. I'd just explain, "I'm doing a low-bar squat, so forward lean is necessary." Sometimes this satisfied them, other times I'd just let them say something and then say "thanks" and put my headphones back in.
Once I had a gym trainer come over and give me a long speech about how I was going a good morning and/or my back was rounding -- he didn't seem to distinguish between the two. We got into kind of an argument where I tried to explain what I was doing and he tried to tell me I was going to hurt myself. I was less confident then, so there was a small part of me that thought maybe he was right. He wasn't, though. I ended up printing out Rippetoe's article on high-bar vs. low-bar squats and giving it to him. He brushed me off and claimed he'd already read it. He was a dumbass.
Anyway, like I said, this hasn't happened to me in awhile, but I almost wish it would, because I hate the idiots in my gym and would not hesitate to tell whoever was interrupting my workout to fuck off and die. But I understand exactly what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. If you are feeling less confident/belligerent, just go with the "nod and say thanks and then go back to what you were doing," approach. Anybody who interrupts your workout to give you unsolicited advice is kind of an asshole anyway.
Just start following them around screaming "GET SOME" over and over again, and when they say something insist that it's the only correct way to train. You name is 9pints...aren't you some kind of drinking asshole or something? Fuck em if they dont like you....."Mind your own fucking business....bro......dont you have some curls to do? Or maybe some abs or a tan, Mary....you dont want friends like these...If they where helpful people they would have already been....
Whatever happened to saying "thanks" and then going back to work?
"Not now chief. I'm in the fucking zone."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlU2KUhgMa8
Where's the protein ma?!