Overheard in the gym

Made any gym memories lately?

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 and take notice of memorable moments. Beyond the clinking of the weights, the humming of the treadmills and the beat of the music, maybe you’ve overhead some great conversations or made some gym memories that just won’t fade. Maybe you’ve even been caught playing 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,” she says. “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.’”

Doris 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,” Doris says. “It truly becomes a family.”

Story time

Instructor Monica Cervantes, of California, says, “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?

SilverSneakers’ Member Stories

Paul Zinger is a SilverSneakers member in Pennsylvania.

“I listen to rock n roll on my iPod when I walk the track,” Paul says. “Every now and then I get caught playing ‘air guitar’ or singing along.”

SilverSneakers member Peggy Welch Johnson, of California, says, “I love to hear the instructor tell us we’re awesome!”

While we all love to read about and share what’s being said in the SilverSneakers community, some quotes just aren’t fit to print. Diane Lyons-McQueen, who takes SilverSneakers classes in California, says she’s heard “too many inappropriate comments to remember. Especially in the back row.” What kind of comments? We’ll leave that to your imagination.

What about you? What have you heard or seen that’s made a lasting gym memory? Tell us all about it.