Coaching practices that are NOT ok

Inappropriate touching is NOT OK! Ever.  Got your attention right?

So this just happened.

Texas Woman Burns down Yoga Studio because It’s the Devil’s Temple

When she was arrested and booked for allegedly setting the fire, Duarte smiled brightly for her mug shot because, she said:

“I thought it was going to make me happy… to burn the place that had brought me so much pain and suffering.”

Ms. Duarte says that for years one the former proprietors of American Power Yoga in Dallas, Texas, sexually harassed her and touched her in improper ways:

“He kept hitting on me and kept trying to make me the girlfriend on the side. Even as I’m walking out the door, he kept trying to put his hands on me, and I was like, ‘No!’”
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1. Inappropriate Touching is NOT ok.
Have you ever been to the gym and see the trainer doing THIS to his client?
Has a trainer done this to YOU?

3 seconds after I shot this picture, his face was in her lap. That day he only stretched his pretty clients.

I see this daily at the gym. The sad thing is that the client does not know better. Many clients tell me that this makes them uncomfortable but they think it’s ok.

But he said…
PNF stretching (as seen above)  is also known as contract/ relax stretching.  It does NOT have to be done with a trainer pushing on you. His face does not need to be in your lap.  Clients can stretch with trainers by using yoga straps or using their own resistance. In my certifications and practices over the years, we were instructed NOT to do any PNF because the risk outweighs the benefits.  Safety aside.. you do not need your coach trainer with his hands on your thighs.

Anything that makes you uncomfortable is NOT ok.

Integrity in our industry
In 38 years of training, I’ve have been through many certifications, master classes, continuing education and not once did I ever hear it was “OK” for me to fondle my clients. In fact, we were taught appropriate ways to correct form, that does not involve any sort of inappropriate touching.

Corrections can be made verbally, visually and also with directive touch or demonstration.
If I need a client to raise their head while they are in a plank, I do not straddle them and pull them up. I would ask them to raise their head to meet my hand.
There are appropriate ways in yoga/pilates to correct alignment with touch without crossing boundaries.

Coaches who ask for revealing photos at check in.
If you check in with your coach/trainer by sending pictures, you do NOT have to send
revealing images. I have seen countless threads from women who are asked to
1. Pull their panties into their cracks so the coach can “see the glutes.”
2. Put another color of panties on .
3. Send topless photos.
4. Bend very far  forward while in a back pose.
5.Be naked in photos.

I am appalled, disgusted that this is happening in the sport of bodybuilding.
Bikini shots for contest prep do not need to be revealing or bent forward.
If you feel uncomfortable with what they are asking for, don’t do it.
Coaches do not need that level of revealing images to assess your progress.

You do NOT have to stay with trainers who make you feel uncomfortable.

**full story