Why do instructors do this?

[BunnyHop]

My brain is apparently wired so that it gets confused when shown the 'wrong' way to do things. It's only really a problem when an instructor insists that you follow along, doing whatever it is, then says, effectively, 'GOTCHA! Don't do what we just did.' It destroys my ability to trust them to lead me, and apparently confuses my muscle memory.

If an instructor wants me to do something a specific way, they should teach me that, THEN mention (without a nagging step by step) what should not be done.

This kind of confusion is the reason I much prefer workouts where the instruction (showing what to do, proper form, common errors, etc.) and the workout are totally separate. (Jari Love's original Get Ripped, for example, does this well. Even if she does goof on a few rep counts and has a few editing errors in the workout I trust her to teach me what I need to know, lead me when should follow, etc. .)

[marya]

Originally Posted by BunnyHop

My brain is apparently wired so that it gets confused when shown the 'wrong' way to do things. It's only really a problem when an instructor insists that you follow along, doing whatever it is, then says, effectively, 'GOTCHA! Don't do what we just did.' It destroys my ability to trust them to lead me, and apparently confuses my muscle memory. If an instructor wants me to do something a specific way, they should teach me that, THEN mention (without a nagging step by step) what should not be done.

I think our brains must have similar wiring, BunnyHop! Like Demeris, I've turned homicidal (or, at the very least, stark raving mad) with the original T-Tapp instructionals, because Teresa does exactly what you describe. A LOT! And I have permanently Joni-O'd Miranda. Just can't go through all that again!

[dianestjohn]

This was one of the reasons I Joni-O'd the original Squeeze, then re-acquired it, then sold it, then bought it again, then gave it to charity. Tracy would often say "We're almost done I PROMISE" and then there would be 47 more reps just on that one side When an instructor keeps saying we're almost done and then goes on and on with a particular exercise I lose trust in them and don't want to even hear anything else they have to say. This is why I love Carrie from Pure Barre; she will say "we have about a minute and half more on this side" and you can trust that that's accurate.

[CoolGirlinFl888]

Originally Posted by marya

Why do instructors waste time (theirs and ours) showing us what NOT to do--the wrong form, etc? It's bad psychology--at least for me. Whenever someone says, "Don't do this," I can hardly keep from doing it! Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and just show the right way!

Teresa Tapp and CS's Miranda are, I think, the worst offenders.

The Firm is good at that too. Jen Carmen does it all the time in videos she leads. Once she did it and it sounded like she said to do this and I remember thinking, well that's horrible form lol!

[imhere2dance]

Originally Posted by muddjeansgal

My gripe is when they show a modification at the end of the set. Cathe does this in some of hers and it drives me crazy. It wouldn't be such a big deal if I did the same video a lot but, you know.

I wish instructors would always start with the modified version and then after a few reps, show the regular (or more advanced) version. That way, everyone could do the move instead of struggling until something easier is shown. After you've done the workout a few times, you can just start with whatever version you want because you'll know what's coming.

[Lurdes]

I mainly work out to Cathe and I love her workouts, but I dislike this ignore-the-beat thing she has going lately. If I'm doing an exercise that allows me to view her, fine, but it's awful when the move requires me to be bent-over, and especially when it will need to be repeated on the other side. I do filmed workouts in part so I don't have to count and I can focus on monitoring my form! It also bugs me because I just have a very strong tendency to entrain to the beat - it's how my body wants to move - so eventually I'm on the beat and probably going too fast for the exercise. (I've noticed this happens to Cathe too, actually.) Why not just pick music that's appropriate? Isn't that part of the point?

Lurdes

[athompson10]

If we're "almost done", I like it when the instructor says how close to done we are. Give me specifics: "3 more reps", "20 more seconds" or an actual countdown "four, three, two and you're done". Because otherwise I suspect the instructor might be an evil liar.

My main workout pet peeve is people who don't mirror-cue. I bought Lastics recently and want to like it, but it drives me crazy that it's not mirror-cued.

[videofit]

I hate hearing instructors say "squeeze the muscle." If I am lifting weights, my muscles will squeeze whether I want them to or not.

[Susan H]

I don't like it when Amy Bento says, "I lied," in All Pump Xtreme.

[marmact]

LOL, mine is kind of related to another one here. It drives me bonkers when they stop and not only show the modification on the last set but also spend five minutes talking about it. Cathe does that in one of the STS upper body workouts, and I always want to throw something at the TV, lol.