uhm...YEP!

I taught subbed a muscle conditioning class yesterday for Brian in which I pretty much killed everyone. Two exercises from the end, one guy stood up and said, “You win. I give up.”

I think my jaw dropped in shock.

I win? How does you quitting mean I win?

I was super upset by the fact that not only did he quit, but he also rejected my critiques of his form during class. He made a nasty retort when I tried to correct his lunge form and he made a nasty retort because he couldn’t handle the intensity of the class.

I was trying to help him and give him a great workout – not make him angry or make him feel bad!

Apparently he was so angry that he walked out of the class and told Candy that “There is something seriously wrong with that woman.” (Of course Candy thought he meant it as a complement, but I knew that it wasn’t based on his reaction from the class. haha)

But I honestly didn’t understand why the guy was so upset. Brian’s classes were always murder – I was just trying to match Brian’s intensity!

I was so upset in fact that I mentioned the incident to just about everyone, including Brian who usually teaches the class. Brian said that the guy had grumbled when Brian had directed him to do push ups from his knees (his form was bad when he did push ups from his toes). Apparently he listened to Brian even though he wasn’t happy about it.

But when I gave him some form advice, he shot me down and refused to follow it. So I asked Brian, “Why did he listen to you but get really upset at me?”

Brian said, “Maybe because you’re a girl.”

Again, I think my jaw dropped.

WHAT!?! He didn’t want to listen to the teacher and TRAINER because of my gender!?! Was Brian being serious?!?

Yep he was. Sadly enough there are some males out there that won’t listen to a trainer because the trainer is female.

Why? Why should my gender matter? What difference does it make that I’m a girl?

The only explanation I can find is that his belief that I shouldn’t be critiquing him came from the belief that women don’t AND SHOULDN’T lift heavy weights and that all they do is run.

In some men’s minds, the weight room floor is still a male domain.

Seriously, can someone of the male species explain it to me? Why don’t some of you men think women belong in the weight room? Why do men shun female advice in the gym?