Ok here goes! Take a deep breath as I’m about to let go on my top 5 pet peeves that I see happening on a daily basis in my gym.

Fear not, as I have also given you some strategies that can help you to not just look out for these WTF moments but actually become aware of them so you can ignite your training to the next level and get the results for all the hard work you are putting in.

1. Turning up late to Class

This is by far the most irritating of all for a coach, especially when you are preparing a class for a set amount of people and then Mr. “Oh-so-nearly-on-time” arrives in the studio with a stupid grin on his face, shrugging his shoulders and laughing.

Perhaps you think your time is more valuable than everyone else’s? And what happened to good old fashioned discipline and respect?

Unfortunately for you, this only demonstrates to us the type of character you are in real life, so why should we take you seriously? Not a great reflection on yourself my friend.

If your excuse is traffic then set your alarm earlier and get the fuck out of bed.

Are you too sleepy? Go to bed earlier and stop consuming experiences that aren’t serving your purpose. Couldn’t park anywhere? Take public transport.

There is no excuse for being late to a workout—you aren’t late for a job that pays you, so don’t be late for a commitment you have paid for.

2. No awareness or concentration

We are human beings with feelings, emotions, thoughts and the ability to take action. You are not a zombie so do not act like one!

Participation goes both ways. You expect your coach to create a structured and specifically engineered fitness program, but let’s not forget that this relationship also goes requires feedback.

You also have to put in the work at 100%, meaning you have to both physically and emotionally be present. Bring your A-Game every time and be ready to commit your all to the session. That is every coach’s expectation. It is like the first time you have sex with a partner, if we can both bring it then we both go away satisfied and wanting more!

3. Saying and not doing

There are 2 types of people in this world. Are you a “YES” man or a “YES” women? Or do you like to talk a lot of shit and not actually back it up with anything substantial? Which one are you going to be?

You come to the gym everyday, put in the work, get all the advice from your coach, ask lots of questions and talk about the quickest and easiest way to achieve a goal and then what?
You leave the gym and go back to doing the same old shit, drinking too much, consuming too much shit in your diet, disregarding the mobility homework you have been given to do and then bitch about the fact you didn’t get the results you wanted.

Here, you have nobody to blame except yourself as you are ultimately responsible for everything that happens in your life and that includes all your successes and failures.

The strategy here is that you have a simple choice to make either you DO or DO NOT.

4. No clear end goal for your time invested

…aka, clients that come into the gym without a clear goal in their mind. Now don’t take this the wrong way. I understand that not everybody may have a clear understanding of what their potential may be at the start of a fitness journey, but you need to at least have an outcome or purpose to investing any time or energy into anything at all.

My advice is to speak to a professional coach about something or someone that inspires you, this should be something really clear and concise. You should also be able to quickly establish what the reasons are for that inspiration.

Most importantly here is to be honest with yourself, half the time we are all so worried about being honest for worrying about what other people will think of us.

I want to go watch ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at the theatre, am I afraid that my friends are going to call me a girl for saying that? Of course they are, and do I care? Absolutely not because I am being honest and I can beat the shit out of them anyway 😉

5. Forgetting to smile

Now that we have discussed about taking training seriously for the past 4 WTF’s, for number 5, another huge pet peeve is not stopping for a moment to enjoy a good smile.

Life is way too serious everyday and we are all so caught up with worries, concerns, distractions, needs and responsibilities, so why don’t we use gym time to just enjoy ourselves?

By simply cracking a small smile to yourself, if you get something wrong in class or you fail at something have a laugh about it, of course learn from the mistake or the lesson but don’t take it too seriously. Nothing lasts forever and time goes by way too fast not to enjoy every moment you can—even if you’re sweating like a pig rolling around on the floor with a kettelbell!

To Summarize:

You are the end result that you are looking for, and similar to life, business, relationships and your body—whatever effort you put in, you will most certainly get out.

Be organized and aware, focus on your outcomes and purpose, be the person who takes action for the results that you want and enjoy the process and the grind, life is too short not to smile, and kill it with kindness.

On reflection, this could be something that not only applies into the gym but in your everyday life encounters and events. Either way, I know that you know what action to take here…You always do right?! Now go turn those WTF’s into FTW’s.

– Richard Cohen

CEO & Founder The Lab