You Can Take the Coach Out of the Circuit

But you can't take the circuit out of the coach.

I'm a Circuit Coach at Curves Gym. I love it. I've been happily employed at my little gym for nearly a year and a half. There are various facets of my job, one of which is to help our members by making sure they are using the equipment correctly. You may read that as nagging but it isn't.

If you are going to do something, than do it right!

I've earned the nickname, Bull Dog, from some of our more troublesome lovely ladies.

They like me! They really do!

Imagine my surprise today when I walked into a gym that wasn't MY gym and found it to be the polar opposite. We visited a local gym which was in the area of where I was going to run some errands. I figured I'd kill to birds with one stone and get my workout in.

I have heard from various members that not all Curves are created equal and I have always believed it to be true (mine being the BEST!). It's just that I've never had it proven to me. Until today.

The gym we visited was small. Really, really small, but that was okay. It's circuit training. You really don't need a lot of space. The colors were warm and inviting and we were greeted by the lady at the desk in a friendly manner.

She took an entire fifteen seconds away from her phone call to make sure we knew where to sign in.

?

It was nice that the space was small, or we'd never have found where to put our bags.

??

I noted right away that one of their speakers was blown and emitting a fuzzy, static sound every time the voice in the ceiling said, "Change stations now".

???

The gym was only missing one machine, the dip shrug, which I hate anyway, so that was all good.

Now, I'm not certain if the woman at the desk was the owner or an employee, but she was merrily chatting away on the phone for a full twelve minutes.

During this time I noted that the "change stations now" voice had disappeared.

????

For the next ten minutes, I watch the clock and moved at the appropriate time. I noted that other members started following along as Girl and I moved from machine to recovery board.

?????

Finally the woman at the desk got off the phone and helped a very large woman weigh in.

Once the large woman was on the circuit, the front desk lady (or FDL) woke up and realized that music was TOO SLOW and there was no voice to prompt movement on the circuit.

??????

I was annoyed!

The large woman's name was Erin. She was so friendly and outgoing that I almost felt like I was back at my old gym. Erin was thrilled to be wearing a 3X shirt. I assumed that meant she'd lost some weight, so I asked when she joined Curves and she proudly told me October 14, 2009. Nice!

Meanwhile, the FDL had disappeared back to her desk.

???????

I watched Erin across the gym and noted how she was doing several machines wrong. I wanted to correct her. I wanted to encourage her to do things right, mainly so she wouldn't get hurt and so she'd see even better results.

I glanced at the desk...FDL was busy chatting away again.

????????

Girl and I wrapped up our workout and started stretching as FDL finally got on the circuit.

"About time," I muttered.

FDL came over and asked about our club and if we were doing the current promotion. She was a nice lady, but if she'd been my employee, I would have canned her on the spot.

Bull dog....remember?!

As we left the gym I patted Erin on the shoulder and told her that she was doing a great job and to keep it up.

If I had been her circuit coach, every woman in that gym would have learned that Erin had lost another three pounds. I would have celebrated her awesome results, from a 5X to a 3X in just a few months!

Most importantly I would have made sure she did every machine properly.

Today I was reminded of how great my gym is. I discovered that my desire to see others excel is just as strong as it was in August of 08. Most importantly, I saw what a bad circuit coach looks like.

And I don't ever want to be that!