The trainer pushed us too hard...

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-29-2005
The trainer pushed us too hard...
9
Sun, 07-10-2005 - 8:31pm

I think we wrecked our knees on the large leg press/glut machine. The trainer made us do 6, 45 lb plates. This is in our first month of weight training. In fact it was our second time on the glut machine. This is the machine you lay on your back and press upward on a plate with your legs.

Now my right knee is tweaked and hurts every time even if there is no weight on the machine. My girlfriend's both knees hurt.

Trainer is showing us other exercises tthat will do the same thing like various lunges, etc. BUT I AM PISSED. He worked us too hard too fast and maybe ruined our knees.

Do you think our knees will ever heal? I cant even do leg presses at all now not even on my home gym!

I guess you cannot go by the trainer every time. They are not always right.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Sun, 07-10-2005 - 9:28pm
Definitely be cautious with trainers.





iVillage Member
Registered: 04-29-2005
Sun, 07-10-2005 - 10:20pm

Yes, our trainer told us if we did not do heavy weights that there would be no effects. So the machine itself has about 60 lbs on it's one plate and then we added 6, 45 lb plates to it, three on each side. 4 sets at this weight. I can hardly lift the weights on to the machine.

We start out with one warmup set of 15 reps at 3, 45 lb plates. Now, I cannot even do that much without my knee hurting. It only hurts on that machine, doing that movement not on the spinning or anything else. The trainer feels that we should push ourselves to the max on the weights but it is too extreme.

We told him and he still pushed us. We finally told him again about our knees and he sai to not be on that machine anymore. Great. It was a great machine if he had not had us go so high on the weight.

We have 3 more sessions with him and then we are done. My goal is to not get injured for the last three sessions. We have learned a lot from him but I think he should have worked us up more slowly on that machine. We look young and healthy but we are both 50. We have to go more slowly into fitness.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-15-2004
Sun, 07-10-2005 - 11:40pm

Are you required to finish out your sessions with this trainer? If you're doing this through a gym, your sessions should be good with any trainer and I would definitely switch. A workout with a trainer is a valuable thing (I know as I'm a PT) and your goal should be to get a good workout and learn a few things - not be overly concerned about getting hurt. My job as a trainer is to educate the client and provide a safe environment. It sounds like he did push you too hard and it can be hard to work with another trainer when you've already had a bad experience.

Jean's advice was right on as far as getting your knees better. It's best to avoid anything high-impact for a week or two. Good luck and I hope you get to feeling better.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Mon, 07-11-2005 - 9:24am
I agree with Kel.





iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Mon, 07-11-2005 - 9:45am

my opinion is, if you aren't comfortable with your trainer, don't go back to him again. it can be very dangerous to trainer with a trainer that isn't listening to you when you say you are getting hurt. even if you've already paid for the 3 sessions, ask for your money back.


as far as ruining your knees, they will probably get better, i doubt it's permanent. don't try to do any leg exercises until they feel better. ice them if they hurt. if they don't feel better after a few days rest, go see a doctor. certainly DON'T go back to that trainer until your knees are better.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Mon, 07-11-2005 - 9:58am
Oh, and don't ever be afraid to say "no, I'm not doing that".





iVillage Member
Registered: 04-29-2005
Mon, 07-11-2005 - 10:37am

I will call the club and see if I can get the money back for the last few sessions. It is $50.00 a session! Yes, me and my girlfriend agreed to say NO if we felt it was too much for us. Too bad we went with the heavy leg press weights and did not say no. Our knees were fine for a month at that heavy weight....then it was just too much.

The other thing I did not like was he pushed my heart rate on the treadmill one day up to 165 to show us what "heavy cardio" should feel like. That was OK for one day but I have HBP and told him my Dr said "nothing above 170!" Lucky it was only for a minute or two at a time. The good part is we really pushed ourselves that day. The bad part is I felt it was risky for me!

He told us that "everyone" had pain in knees or whatever and to take Glucosamine! why take supplamemts if you should avoid the problem in the first place.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-11-2004
Mon, 07-11-2005 - 10:45am
that is ridiculous - probably "everyone" he knows has pain in their knees because they do stupid things to their knees like he is trying to tell you to do. i would definitely not go back to him and also complain to the gym about him. he is ignorant and dangerous and the gym should do something about him before they become liable for him injuring someone.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Mon, 07-11-2005 - 1:17pm
He's having you do some really unsafe things.