Would this offend you?

You're a middle aged woman ( or man), toned, physically in good shape. You're at the gym, using the rowing machine on the highest setting.
A person you've never seen before, (who does NOT work there) walks up to you and says " excuse me Ma'am (or Sir)... did you know that you can adjust the settings on this machine so that it's easier to row? That's what my Mom does to make it easier for her! She puts it on the lowest setting "

Would that offend you?

That happened to me at the gym and I was seriously pissed off. First off, I want a WORKOUT thats going to build muscles and keep me toned...not just sit on there on the lowest setting!
Second of all...just because I am old does NOT mean I am feeble at all.
Third, what business is it of hers what setting I put my machine on?

I was not a happy camper.

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kayoshin · 36-40, M

Most likely you are using bad form from using too high settings. While using high settings is intentional, bad form surely isn't and he assumed you don't know what you're doing if you're using bad form and increasing your chance of injury. I wouldn't hold it against him. Actually when I started out I did get such advice both from staff and random gym goers and 99% of it was useful or at least well intended. It wouldn't offend me at all since it already happened to me in back workouts, although it was a staff member, they thought I didn't know how to set the weight because I was using bad movements to compensate for the weight I chose. When I said I do know how to set the machine he showed me how it affected my motion range and I understood that I was working hard and dumb risking lower back injury just for fast results (that won't come because you add other muscle groups to help using bad posture).

So that's why I would not mind.