Overheard in the gym - Share!

[Church]

"Don't worry, it just takes a little practice!"

- My daughter, every time I try one more rep (exercises, music practice, Hardcore DIII character) and fail.

That's priceless man that's really awesome.

And it's good that your little one sees how hard you work. It'll instill a bunch of really positive things in her mind. It's good that you share this with her

[Rurounii]

At my gym the curlbros are actually really friendly and stay in their corners near the dumbells or mirrors except for the guys in the big cages, but they're generally quick. However, what's weird to me are what I've dubbed "Hipster Curlbros." There are these two hipster guys who look as thin as I do, doing curls in front of the mirror with dumbbells. That's pretty normal. The weird part is that they'll grab a set of 30 lb, a set of 40 lb, and a set of 70 lb dumbbells. They'll curl with the 30 and 40 lb guys, but they just seem to like having the 70 lb guys near them, even if they're never used. Then the two guys will stop whatever they're doing and stare at me doing deadlifts. By the time I made it to the squat rack they'd made it off somewhere into the area with the machines.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

At my gym the curlbros are actually really friendly and stay in their corners near the dumbells or mirrors except for the guys in the big cages, but they're generally quick. However, what's weird to me are what I've dubbed "Hipster Curlbros." There are these two hipster guys who look as thin as I do, doing curls in front of the mirror with dumbbells. That's pretty normal. The weird part is that they'll grab a set of 30 lb, a set of 40 lb, and a set of 70 lb dumbbells. They'll curl with the 30 and 40 lb guys, but they just seem to like having the 70 lb guys near them, even if they're never used. Then the two guys will stop whatever they're doing and stare at me doing deadlifts. By the time I made it to the squat rack they'd made it off somewhere into the area with the machines.

Yeah, the curl bris are pretty friendly in my gym too, I never have any problems when I ask the shruggers in the squat rack how many sets they have left.

There's really only one who is kinda douchey, I constantly hear him bragging to his friends that he "Knows EVERYBODY in this gym" as if it's some sort of achievement and thing to be admired. He's never said a word to me and I've never seen him talk to anyone outside of his group of 5 buddies.

[baloo]

I don't do weights but I know that some routines have to do say 8 reps of x lbs then after that 8 of x-10 lbs e.t.c.

I assume with their mirror vanity they have them around so people who walk in think they started their workout with 70 lb dumbells.

They probably stare at you because you're actually working out and getting sweaty, which will put off women at the gym from talking to you. You go there to workout, clearly you're some sort of weirdo

[Church]

I love the contrast between myself and the muscle bound tanks at my gym. They'll stay in there for 3 hours or so and do their workout (very slowly) and the have fairly comprehensive workouts. But I just live how we finish out workouts at about the same time and I come out exhausted and still sweating despite a 10 minute cool down/stretch after a 30-45 minute workout, and they still look fresh and ready to go after being there for THREE HOURS.

Luckily for me they understand that socializing is a big part of their routine, while I'm there to kill it in a hurry and get on with my day, so they have no problem with letting me borrow the bar to do BW rows or the 40# dumbbells to do DB overhead presses. Actually come to think of it, all 8 of them were gathered around cheering me on when I was doing my Tabata set the other day. That was kinda cool, you know, in an "I'd rather not be the center of attention" kind of way.

[smazzon1]

I was in the middle of a super set when these two women started using the cable pull down I was using. They put the weight to 20 lbs and, like, I dunno, had the completely wrong form. The weight was obviously too light and this chick was leaning so far back it was silly looking.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

I was in the middle of a super set when these two women started using the cable pull down I was using. They put the weight to 20 lbs and, like, I dunno, had the completely wrong form. The weight was obviously too light and this chick was leaning so far back it was silly looking.

There's an old asian lady in my gym who starts in the right position but is almost horizontal by the time she pulls the bar to the bottom. Now that's what I call full ROM!

[andygates]

Oh gods, I did one.

Sunday afternoon, outside term-time so the uni gym is very quiet. I'm all alone near the end of my session when Weapon Of Choice comes on the stereo. Of course I dance. You'd dance too. Swinging off the cages and boogieing up the stair of plyo boxes like two Christopher Walkens taped together.

...and then the newbie kid walks in, double takes, and walks straight back out again.

[Timmy M]

it would appear today was calves day for one guy at the gym today, i've seen him before 'posing' after his sets to show off his calves???????? (c'mon you've got a pump, you're an ejit) he starts off with some bodyweight raises, gets a dip belt and works up to 65kg then back down to bodyweight, then moved onto the sit-down calf raise machine, did some BW standing ones in between sets... then went into the squat rack and (when i saw him he may of gone up but i left just as he got to it) did some to parallel high bar squats which i find odd that not only is he daft enough to spend half an hour on calves... THEN squats, and with decent form (compared to most others)

also saw a guy a couple of weeks back in the squat rack curling (even though we've got a curl stand) with a belt on and cheating the shite out of 65kg for a couple of reps, granted that's a lot of weight and he was a big guy but geez, he looked like he'd pop something

EDIT: forgot to mention the calf raiser was wearing knee straps when he went weighted as well...

[ETFnerd]

saw a guy saran wrapping his waist in the locker room after his shower... i guess he wanted to look "good" when he stepped out into town last night... sort of like this...

[EmCee]

saw a guy saran wrapping his waist in the locker room after his shower... i guess he wanted to look "good" when he stepped out into town last night... sort of like this...

There's a woman at my gym that Saran wraps her lower stomach... weirdest ever. The sound she makes when she walks around cracks me up.

[Saoirse]

why saran wrap your stomach?

[Kewilson]

why saran wrap your stomach?

Well you've got to...

*runs hand back through hard*

...keep it fresh, of course!

[Saoirse]

heh.

i have this really bad habit of asking a completely google-able question on a forum, and then googling it. they do it to dehydrate skin to appear as if they have a lower BF%. rubbing your stomach with PrepH and then walking around like a sandwich for half the day sounds awesomely sexy, i might try it sometime.

[silverpeacock]

The only time I've worn saran wrap for any amount of time was just after I got one of my tattoos (needed protection from a bra strap). It was terrible. I can't imagine voluntarily doing anything like that.

Worker harder, don't cheat.

[andygates]

Thing is, it's pretty hard work: it's nasty, and you have to keep doing it. I wonder, is it the fem flipside to guys pumping up their arms and chest before going clubbing?

[Saoirse]

as a girl who doesn't even wear makeup, it's pretty bizarre to me. but i suppose whatever floats your boat. the downside to the preparation H thing is that the cycles of dehydration age your skin quite quickly.

[TurtIe]

There's a 17 year old kid at my gym who repeatedly loads up the bench press only to do the shallowest, weakest reps possible. Then he sits up and looks around like he's mighty tough and does it again. Yesterday he was telling a group of young girls his age that he would teach them to bench 'properly', it was so cringe worthy I nearly curled up and died!

[wildross]

I was watching a couple of 'kids' squat today. Bar on the neck and then look up at the sky (I mean, look straight up). And only squat 1/2 way of course. One of them did 185, then put 225 on the bar and....never lifted it...then did lunges in the power rack (with bad form)...then walked off and left the 225 racked...

[Blueberries]

I was watching a couple of 'kids' squat today. Bar on the neck and then look up at the sky (I mean, look straight up). And only squat 1/2 way of course. One of them did 185, then put 225 on the bar and....never lifted it...then did lunges in the power rack (with bad form)...then walked off and left the 225 racked...

Those are the ones who always leave behind a loaded bar. I watched one do the exact same thing last week.

[TurtIe]

I chased some young kids down and made them unload their bar last week, then, right in front of them I put it all back on for myself.

Just so they know.

[Lachy]

[RescuedRuckus]

Ok, so I'm a n00b to this forum and just sat here reading, laughing and snorting my way through the whole thread. I don't usually hear anything in the open gym cause I have my headphones in playing country, but I may have to start listening. I do get some funny looks from the meatheads/curlbros as I go into the Body Attack cardio class I'm a regular at.

[Hermione Gainser]

Heard today:

Trainer..ehh.. "Trainer" showing girl around the gym. They stop at some machines on the cusp of the weights section and he says, "these are for isolation exercises. you'll want to use them if you don't want to get a lot of muscle." They walk into the free weights section and he says, "These are the free weights. You probably won't want to use them because you'll get more muscle. You get me?" She did not. She looked very confused. That gives me hope.

Meanwhile, my decidedly not MOAR muscley self was in the power cage.. using free weights.. ah well.

He's new to our location. apparently, he doesn't know our gym specializes in awesome.

Perhaps to even things out:

I was mashing some hip bits on the foam roller when one of the definitely awesome trainers came up to me and offered me his lacrosse ball. *sniff* Yes! I declined as I have my own.. but.. I mean, come on. That's great.

[Vian]

I've read through a bit of this thread and have seen squats mentioned here and there, how people think deep squats will injure your knees etc. I'm confused by this. I've always heard that when doing things like lunges and squats that your knee shouldn't go out past your toes to avoid injury, but there's no mention of how deep you should go or not. I frequently squat so that I'm sitting on my heels and balanced on my toes if, say, I need to look at something down low or whatever. And that's even with a bad knee. For about six months I couldn't do that because I'd get excruciating pain through my left knee, but it's healed enough that I can now.