Overheard in the gym - Share!

[Georges]

I am so not growing a beard just to powerlift.

[TMedina]

I am so not growing a beard just to powerlift.

 

HA!  

[Estrix]

I'd grow a beard for powerlifting...but I end up looking like a hipster magician

[Squidwina]

There was a classic curlbro-type in the weight room yesterday.  You know the drill: Comically teeny forearms and huge upper arms A full hour of curls in every variation, not a single one done strictly or with a full range of motion.  He was doing hip-thrusts or squat-ettes with every rep. .

 

I was watching with morbid curiosity as he did some sort of franken-curl on a pulley when I noticed he had a rather shapely rear end. 

 

And then it hit me...

 

He wasn't doing a bicep workout!  He was doing a glute workout!  All those hip thrusts and squat-ettes had done wonders for his ass!

 

This was clearly a case of "He's not doing it wrong.  We just don't understand what he's doing."   Clearly I was in the presence of greatness. I felt ashamed of myself for being so ignorant, so judgmental.  He was no curlbro.  

 

He was a buttbro.

 

[Vella]

Can we make buttbro into a thing?  I feel like buttbro should be a thing.

[SpecialSundae]

Not my gym but a friend's trainer posted this video:

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=764204420335888

 

When I queried the reasoning for this, this is the response I got:

 

Hi Rowan and Melissa. Thanks for the question. By introducing an instable training environment using Bosu, uneven load, unilateral exercise, or simply decreasing the width of the base you stand on, will allow for greater development of your stabilizers and postural mechanisms. This in turn will reduce the risk of injury and will lessen the need for weight belts and knee supports when lifting heavy.
In the example of squats on the Bosu, your muscles have to stay in continual contraction, adjusting to the micro movements of the Bosu, not only developing greater muscle activation but also increase duration and intensity of muscle contraction of any supporting muscles, similar to time under tension training. This would be similar to why there is more benefit to using dumbbells for bicep curls than to using a bicep curl machine. 
There is also the sports specific conditioning factor with these two athletes. Part of their gymnastics involves creating human pyramids with a base person, another standing on their shoulders, then another above that. This exercise is designed to reflect the strength and stability they require to perform such a position. 
If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate in emailing me at ross@phoenixpersonaltraining.co.uk or if you are ever passing our gym and fancy coming in for a session with us please do not hesitate in dropping me a line. Ross Paterson

 

 

I'm still waiting for his response with research papers. I doubt I'll ever see one!

[Estrix]

That video up there looks like a fun way to get hurt...probably badly

[Squidwina]

Holy crow.  That looks terrifying.  It seemed like her knees were buckling inward too. Am I seeing that right?

 

 

There's a lady at my gym who does a ton of core/stability/balance stuff with weights, and not baby weights either, but she inspires a "wow, would you look at that" response rather than a "holy crap, that's idiotic" response.  You may think doing dumbbell presses while standing on a bosu ball is silly, but at least she's not putting herself or anybody else in danger. Some of the more difficult balance stuff she does is quite amazing.

[insanity]

Not my gym but a friend's trainer posted this video:

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=764204420335888

 

When I queried the reasoning for this, this is the response I got:

 

Hi Rowan and Melissa. Thanks for the question. By introducing an instable training environment using Bosu, uneven load, unilateral exercise, or simply decreasing the width of the base you stand on, will allow for greater development of your stabilizers and postural mechanisms. This in turn will reduce the risk of injury and will lessen the need for weight belts and knee supports when lifting heavy.

In the example of squats on the Bosu, your muscles have to stay in continual contraction, adjusting to the micro movements of the Bosu, not only developing greater muscle activation but also increase duration and intensity of muscle contraction of any supporting muscles, similar to time under tension training. This would be similar to why there is more benefit to using dumbbells for bicep curls than to using a bicep curl machine. 

There is also the sports specific conditioning factor with these two athletes. Part of their gymnastics involves creating human pyramids with a base person, another standing on their shoulders, then another above that. This exercise is designed to reflect the strength and stability they require to perform such a position. 

If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate in emailing me at ross@phoenixpersonaltraining.co.uk or if you are ever passing our gym and fancy coming in for a session with us please do not hesitate in dropping me a line. Ross Paterson

 

 

I'm still waiting for his response with research papers. I doubt I'll ever see one!

I did find this... if I'm reading it correct. Training on an unstable platform does appear to have benefits from a balance/proprioception, but as expected your max weight will go down. There seems to be a lot of benefit in the rehabilitation aspect as well, where people can't lift dude to inflammation or other injury. The other thing I see is that training on an unstable platform would allow you to exert a higher force when encountering an unstable surface, such as ice, wet grass, mud...etc, which may help prevent injury, which is supported by the section talking about a reduced number of ankle injuries in volleyball players that participated in this kind of training. Also to note is that it mentions basically reversing the unstable floor/stable weight model that a lot of people seem to have issues with, and comparing it to the stable floor/unstable weight (Lifting one dumbbell) that I've seen used in numerous weight plans.

 

From what I can see, it becomes a matter of "What's your purpose?"

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3325639/

[Machete]

I did find this... if I'm reading it correct. Training on an unstable platform does appear to have benefits from a balance/proprioception, but as expected your max weight will go down. There seems to be a lot of benefit in the rehabilitation aspect as well, where people can't lift dude to inflammation or other injury. The other thing I see is that training on an unstable platform would allow you to exert a higher force when encountering an unstable surface, such as ice, wet grass, mud...etc, which may help prevent injury, which is supported by the section talking about a reduced number of ankle injuries in volleyball players that participated in this kind of training. Also to note is that it mentions basically reversing the unstable floor/stable weight model that a lot of people seem to have issues with, and comparing it to the stable floor/unstable weight (Lifting one dumbbell) that I've seen used in numerous weight plans.

 

From what I can see, it becomes a matter of "What's your purpose?"

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3325639/

 

Here's a good one about it:

BOSU Ball: The Good, Bad, and Ugly by Eric Cressey

[SevenofSeven]

I totally get the balance training.......but what the hell with the squats.......with a bar, with weight? Wouldn't a kettle bell or Dumbell be easier to get rid of if the balance came unstuck?

[Sam Ashen]

I totally get the balance training.......but what the hell with the squats.......with a bar, with weight? Wouldn't a kettle bell or Dumbell be easier to get rid of if the balance came unstuck?

 

I generally agree.  Dump the bar and get out of the way, I guess - just like anything.  But what if I am doing goblet squats with a 20 kg kettle ball and I fall over backwards and it lands on my . . . .

[Barfly]

I generally agree.  Dump the bar and get out of the way, I guess - just like anything.  But what if I am doing goblet squats with a 20 kg kettle ball and I fall over backwards and it lands on my . . . .

...goblets?

[SpecialSundae]

Holy crow. That looks terrifying. It seemed like her knees were buckling inward too. Am I seeing that right?

There's a lady at my gym who does a ton of core/stability/balance stuff with weights, and not baby weights either, but she inspires a "wow, would you look at that" response rather than a "holy crap, that's idiotic" response. You may think doing dumbbell presses while standing on a bosu ball is silly, but at least she's not putting herself or anybody else in danger. Some of the more difficult balance stuff she does is quite amazing.

Yes, they're buckling inward badly. She's very lucky that she hasn't got hurt YET.

[SpecialSundae]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3325639/

Here's a good one about it:

BOSU Ball: The Good, Bad, and Ugly by Eric Cressey

I did actually read both of those, although neither exactly fit his reasoning. They also don't address the seriously dreadful form that his trainees show.

[insanity]

I did actually read both of those, although neither exactly fit his reasoning. They also don't address the seriously dreadful form that his trainees show.

That's the same issue as seeing people do anything else... people take a little info and run with it, and we'll always see dreadful form in a gym... :-)

[Machete]

That's the same issue as seeing people do anything else... people take a little info and run with it, and we'll always see dreadful form in a gym... :-)

 

Agreed. For all I know, some Chinese Weightlifters are looking through my posts, making fun of my terrible form and sub-optimal programming. "Hey, Tian! Check out this gweilo. He so stupid." Or Royce Gracie scoffing at my pathetic attempts at what looks like a Juji Gatame.

 

It can be minimized by properly licensing trainers and making it illegal to train people without proper authorization like what the ACSM and NSCA are allegedly lobbying for. It can be good for trainers who happen to be on their side, and potentially devastating to those who are not. It would set a clear nationwide standard, and would be a kind of quality control measure against fitness gurus with no formal education who offer potentially bad advice. However, would we want to deprive someone of the joys of being able to join a local gym/fitness community just because they don't happen to have access to an accredited facility/trainer? Maybe we can take it a step further and regulate the sale of exercise equipment the way we regulate firearms. Or have a government agency test everyone's proficiency in the movement standards by issuing a workout license. CrossFit could require every practitioner to be a CF-L1 before participating in CrossFit, just to make sure they are familiar with the fundamentals and aware of the standards.

 

 

I think we're already sedentary enough as a society. Showing up to work out is already half the battle, shitty form/programming or not. I've been training for 22 or so years. I've probably been training incorrectly/sub-optimally for 22 years. That's still training, and in my mind is much better than spending those 22 years playing Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction.

 

[Trewest]

lol I work out in a thong. My ass eats panties and I figure the less material to eat, the better. God that sounds so awful but it's true.

 

That's why I started to buy men's athletic boxers from Giant Tiger (I think in the states the closest equivalent is Target) that way there is little to no migration patterns. That and they have fun colours. I get snakes and tigers and dragons!

[Trewest]

I over heard this last year just before christmas but I suspect you'll all enjoy:

 

Dudebro: man, that's some nive cleavage, I gotta admit

Brodude: I know, it's almost magic

 

*I look over at this point to try and figure out what poor woman they're oggling so loudly over. They're standing in front of a mirror comparing their own cleavages. I almost died laughing.

[Trewest]

If I may re-share, from a few hundred posts back, the story of:

 

Leigh Lehigh

 

She was the babe on the stepper, the kind that looks like half an escalator, with her back facing the track. She prefered to wear the baggie sweatpants shorts, with the waistband rolled over, jogbra, bare midriff - the whole Brandi Chastain thing going on, of which I am a big fan. I'm not too tall, so her reverse cameltoe was usually right there at my eye level as I went around the track, over and over, around and around. I thought from the big letters on the back of her shorts that her name was "LEIGH," but it turned out she went to "LEHIGH"

 

Yes, her butt had devoured the "H"

 

*dies* Wonderful. Usually when I refer to a hungry assh*le I'm talking about my husband after a week of logging, but I think this might being a whole new meaning to the term.

[insanity]

I over heard this last year just before christmas but I suspect you'll all enjoy:

 

Dudebro: man, that's some nive cleavage, I gotta admit

Brodude: I know, it's almost magic

 

*I look over at this point to try and figure out what poor woman they're oggling so loudly over. They're standing in front of a mirror comparing their own cleavages. I almost died laughing.

[Buff Brogan]

That's why I started to buy men's athletic boxers from Giant Tiger (I think in the states the closest equivalent is Target) that way there is little to no migration patterns. That and they have fun colours. I get snakes and tigers and dragons!

i feel like i need these

[Squidwina]

Leigh Lehigh

 

She was the babe on the stepper, the kind that looks like half an escalator, with her back facing the track. She prefered to wear the baggie sweatpants shorts, with the waistband rolled over, jogbra, bare midriff - the whole Brandi Chastain thing going on, of which I am a big fan. I'm not too tall, so her reverse cameltoe was usually right there at my eye level as I went around the track, over and over, around and around. I thought from the big letters on the back of her shorts that her name was "LEIGH," but it turned out she went to "LEHIGH"

 

Yes, her butt had devoured the "H"

 

Ha!  I just sent that to my trainer, who is fond of saying "If your ass isn't eating your shorts, your glutes aren't tight enough!"

 

 

Would it be out of place to share a nice "interfering guy at the gym" story?

 

Yesterday, I was in the weight room with my 12 year old son.  I was trying to get him to do air squats and get his ass to the grass.  A guy who was in the power rack nearby came over and pointed out (correctly) that my son was just dropping all the way down and not really using his muscles on the way down.  Then he demonstrated a proper air squat and suggested he try wall sits as well.  Then he and I chatted for a couple of minutes about weighted squat depth.  He told my son he was lucky to have such a good role model (awww!) and went on his way.

 

 

In the interest of returning the thread to the snarky status quo, I'll share something a friend of mine said to me:

 

She told me that she and her boyfriend had just set up a gym in her basement.  She said "He's really helped me to understand the importance of doing 3 or 4 different exercises for the biceps."

[Trewest]

i feel like i need these

1- Yes a fellow Furyan!

2- if you're Canadian, check the men's under ware section. It's where I find them. 4 bucks a pair. Super comfy, and double add a swim bottom in a pinch.

[insanity]

I did actually read both of those, although neither exactly fit his reasoning. They also don't address the seriously dreadful form that his trainees show.

I was just thinking about this issue at the gym last night, and I had a thought....

 

Many people have a deloading week in there workouts somewhere. The studies I've been reading on unstable workouts are done in a manner, that has people replacing 1 lift per workout, or something similar. I'd be interested in seeing what would happen if a deload week, was done as an unstable week. Both would have a reduced weight, so it would be a deload...