and they let her teach?

Posted on | December 4, 2008 | 6 Comments

I just finished up a Yoga class I was taking through college and my instructor there is a complete moron. Okay, maybe not complete but she tries to force information into her student’s heads that is unreliable, out dated or just plain wrong.

Each class she gives out a handout at the beginning of class (good thing… potential), but the material she chooses often makes my mouth just drop. Since most of her students are slightly overweight college kids, I understand it is hard to get through to them and you can’t tell them sometimes this is good and sometimes this is bad, but can you at least give the right material when you do?

Last night’s lecture made me furious. It was about holiday eating. At first I thought there might be something to it. She talked about how if you are going to a party, you should eat first so that you don’t eat everything insight because you are hungry. She talked about browsing the entire table and picking up something you really like and rarely get to have, to save your calories for better things than chips and dip. She also recommended drinking wine instead of fruity mixed drinks because they have tons of calories from the alcohol and whatever they are mixed with. Good so far…

Then we got the lecture on how dips are really bad for you because they have sour cream, cheeses and creams in them. Nuts should be avoided- too fatty. Then she talked about how if you mess up and go way overboard, you should compensate for it the next day or prepare for the cheat the day before by eating very low calorie that day. She recommends eating only salads and maybe soups on those day’s. Since when has it become okay to practically starve yourself so that you can cheat the next day? And even more so… Why do you need to compensate? You should be eating healthy everyday so that if you slip up and have a cheat day it really doesn’t matter and you move on with your life.

That was yesterday…. Last week was a kicker too. She handed out a handout that had great body weight exercises you can do anywhere. The handout was good, it talked about sit ups, push ups, pull ups and squats. Prior to her lecture, she has lectured me one on one because my knees were sore (the muscles around them mostly) from doing walking lunges, heavy squats and stair climbing the three day’s before. She lectured that if you hurt after a work out, you’re doing something wrong. (WHAT????? EVER HEARD OF DOMS??) Then she asked me If i was squatting below parallel. Well, yes, of course I am. She proceeds to tell me that it is bad. You should only go to parallel. I knew then that the argument was hopeless. But then she gave us this hand out and in it, my goodness it says “you should always squat below parallel”.

She lectured on these for a while. She talked about how sit ups would give you six pack abs (no spot reduction doesn’t work) and push ups were great for your arms, but try not to do “man push ups” because they’re really hard. (No, working out hard is good for you.) Then she talked about squatting and did not mention how deep. I think that this is because the handout she just gave us disagreed with her and so did I. She ignored pull ups, she didn’t feel they were important.

Those are just the last two weeks in class and enough examples to show she does not know what she’s talking about. She’s good at Yoga yes… but that doesn’t mean you know everything and I don’t feel that a Yoga instructor should be putting out false information to a class that is relying on her to provide accurate information. Can you a least give us some sort of documentation that supports what you are telling us. Or better yet, read the hand outs you’re giving out and maybe even learn from them?

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Category: Critiques and Rants, Uncategorized

Comments

6 Responses to “and they let her teach?”

cmason
December 4th, 2008 @ 2:28 pm

I’d like to point out that while some of our views may disagree with the mainstream training advocates in some areas, this is not one of them.
I have my issues with the programs advocated by the ACSM and NCSA, but they both represent the “fitness establishment”. They both also advocate going “BELOW PARALLEL” on squats, and point out that stopping right at parallel (90 degrees) is mechanically harder on the knees than descending into a full deep squat.

http://www.exrx.net/Kinesiology/Squats.html
Ugh.
Grounded Fitness
December 11th, 2008 @ 1:39 am

I dont know if you meant you were taking a class through a college, or this is an actual college course for you, but either way here holiday eating advice sounds more like dieting tips and tricks you would find in a magazine than professional advice. how about moderation, self control and eating healthy?

Kelly Turner
http://www.groundedfitness.com
Tom Parker - Free Fitness Tips
December 11th, 2008 @ 6:17 am

Some of the stuff she has said is wrong and conventional yes but moron sounds a bit extreme. Why not show her some articles on the importance of healthy fats from nuts etc and see if she changes her thinking?
xxrayna
December 11th, 2008 @ 1:33 pm

Kelly- I completely agree. To answer your question, this is a course I am taking at my college. It is not a required course, but I choose to take it as one of my electives.

Tom- I’ve tried to talk to her, as I’ve mentioned in my post, but she just argues with me. Her own literature she gives out suggests something different than what she’s lecturing on. I also believe that as a role model, you should know your information before you put it on someone else. She almost comes off as the stereotypical 55 year old woman who’s already “learned” in her lifetime more than she believes I or anyone below her ever will. This is mainly the reason I find it not worth it to discuss things with her any further now that my class is over.

Thanks for your comments!
Amy
December 31st, 2008 @ 4:32 pm

Agh, what a tool! Good thing that class is over
Incompetent Teachers Incompetently teaching. | www.raynamcginnis.com
March 12th, 2009 @ 11:22 am

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