Overheard In the GYM

(Originally posted on silversneakers.com)

Ever overheard anything memorable at the gym?

If you’re like most of us, when you go to the gym or a fitness class, you hear the conversations happening all around you. Beyond the clinking of weights, the humming of the treadmills and the beat of the music, maybe you’ve overheard something or seen something memorable at your gym or fitness class. Maybe you’ve seen someone playing the air guitar. 

All of the quotes and stories below are from actual SilverSneakers instructors and members. Do any of them sound familiar?  

The “drill sergeant”

SilverSneakers Instructor Donita Brewington Runyon of Kentucky hears something memorable on a daily basis when she leads her classes. “The funniest would be that my class calls me ‘Drill Sergeant.’” 

But even when they call her “Drill Sergeant” she still gets lots of hugs and her students “tell me they love me and love coming to class (and these are the same people that call me drill sergeant!).” Yes she works them hard during classes but Donita knows they are doing more than getting fit together. “We aren't just a group of people working out...we're a family that checks on each other, sends get well cards to each other and loves each other.” 

Five classes a week, one birthday a month

Doris Davis Leek of Ohio is a SilverSneakers instructor who embraces the nickname her students have given her. They mean it in the most affectionate way possible but she says “they call me task master.” She teaches five classes a week and “I love them all.” Even though they call her the taskmaster, her classes have a tradition that really shows the love. “Once a month whoever has a birthday that month picks a restaurant after a class that we all eat at. It truly becomes a family.” 

Story time

Instructor Monica Cervantes of California shares that “when I started teaching SilverSneakers 5 months ago, It was very hard for me to talk to the class at relaxation time, so I started looking for short motivational stories online and read them out loud when we are still seated after cool down. They like the stories so much that they look forward to listening to the story at the end of class. I bring extra copies for them to take home. I love to hear their comments and opinions about the stories. It brings the group together and we all leave class with a big smile.” 

Does your instructor have a nickname? Do you have any gym or class traditions to “show the love”? Are there any “storytellers” in your class or at your gym? 

What SilverSneakers members are saying 

Paul Zinger is a SilverSneakers member in Pennsylvania who says “I listen to rock n roll on my iPod when I walk the track. Every now and then I get caught playing ‘air guitar’ or singing along.” And SilverSneakers member Peggy Welch Johnson of California says “I love to hear the instructor tell us we're awesome!” 

While we love to read about what’s being said in the SilverSneakers community, some quotes just aren’t fit to print.  Diane Lyons-McQueen, a SilverSneakers member in California, says she’s heard “too many inappropriate comments to remember. Especially in the back row.” We’ll leave those comments to your imagination.

What about you? What have you heard or seen at the gym that’s memorable? Tell us all about it.