Overheard in the gym - Share!

[chairohkey]

There's something strange about the bench press. To a lot of people, whether they go to the gym or not, the bench press seems to be a sign of masculinity, of "manliness" basically. I know this isn't true, but to some people it just seems to be. I guess that's because the general stereotype of a big, strong guy is the whole big arms/chest/shoulders thing, like Arnold Schwarznegger in his movies. I'm aware Arnie had massively powerful legs too, but for people who don't go to the gym or don't know much about it, the first thing they look at and recognise is his upper body.

 

Pretty much this. Plus its easier than squats or deadlifts. With that said I still ask guys "How much ya bench?" mainly because its a good gauge of upper body strength. 

[Machete]

most recently i've overheard a few concerning things, but my favorite as of late is probably, from this huge guy -upper half at least- explaining to another guy why his upper body is so much larger by comparison. "i don't even do legs man. ya see, my legs are big compared to a "normal" person so i don't even have to work em. the chest is what the women go for"

 

maybe it's just me, but i don't think your forearms should be twice the size of your calves. 

 

Usually the first body part that women look at are your forearms, for when they check if you have a wedding ring on.

 

Had an interesting one last night at the gym. There's a hispanic guy who comes in and lifts every now and again, and today he brought a few of his friends with him to "train" them. He took one guy over to a bench and loaded up a plate on either side. The "trainer" cranked out a few reps to show his friend how it was done and then left him alone. Bear in mind that his friends arms were probably as big around as my wrist. I knew bad things were coming.

 

Sure enough, the guy unracks the weight, gets it down to his chest, and then his legs start flailing. I drop what I'm doing and go over to help him get it re-racked and then explain to him that he should probably start a little lighter. We deload to about half the weight and I spot him through his reps (which he did like a champ, I might add). Then his friend comes over, sees the lighter weight and calls his buddy a maricon (spanish equivalent of fag).

 

I just bit my tongue, gave the little guy a fist bump, then walked behind his "trainer" and gave him 10-12 One-Finger Salutes (stone cold!). Seriously, nothing gets me going more than someone who has no idea how training actually works.

 

Sounds like every conversation I have had with military non-commissioned officers regarding physical training. Macho culture dictates that I won't have some new guy with some fancy degree and a bunch of letters after his name tell me what to do.

 

That conversation does not sound like someone who's into CrossFit. CrossFitters squat. A lot, if they're doing it right. It should be called SquatFit.

 

You'd be surprised at what passes off as "Crossfit" these days, sir. The popularity of something has a tendency to pollute it as a whole. Like a few years ago, when everyone apparently "does MMA" and how you shouldn't mess with them.

 

Pretty much this. Plus its easier than squats or deadlifts. With that said I still ask guys "How much ya bench?" mainly because its a good gauge of upper body strength. 

 

The whole Squat / "functional strength" fanaticism kind of gives Bench Pressing a bad name. It has a tendency to be associated with douchers with tight sleeveless Affliction t-shirts and snapback hats. Humans and their black-and-white opinions.

[Why not?]

Sounds like every conversation I have had with military non-commissioned officers regarding physical training. Macho culture dictates that I won't have some new guy with some fancy degree and a bunch of letters after his name tell me what to do.

Hey now

[Machete]

Hey now

Haha. I was talking about myself, sir. Certified Fitness Trainer, MMA Conditioning Coach, and Performance Enhancement Specialist, working on a Master's Degree in Sport & Health Sciences. But what the hell do I know about fitness, only having 4 years TIS?

[Obitim]

 

 

It's okay. I understand. I know a lot of guys who dead lift more than they can squat and to me, that seems natural, that seems right. For me, it's the opposite... my maximum squat is 120kg, while my maximum dead lift is 140kg. I hope it changes though, I just want to increase both those numbers! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dude, you can squat what I can deadlift!  

[Why not?]

Haha. I was talking about myself, sir. Certified Fitness Trainer, MMA Conditioning Coach, and Performance Enhancement Specialist, working on a Master's Degree in Sport & Health Sciences. But what the hell do I know about fitness, only having 4 years TIS?

Nice. I'm working on furthering my education in the field as well. All I have now is a CF L1, but I'm going to the mobility seminar in June and I'm doing quite a bit of reading in preparation for looking into a Masters in Kinesiology.

[SevenofSeven]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzYTrFdK1hc

ROFL

[Artinum]

Wasn't this the guy who did the shake weight video?

[SevenofSeven]

Finished a second set of single leg squats and was a bit perplexed at lack of balance. Thought it might be because I was using 15 kg on the bar not a 10 kg plate today.

Anyway during rest I started stacking my plates and noticed I was missing a 2.5 kg and 1.25 kg, went hunting for them to no avail, then just before starting 3rd set noticed a slight difference in plates on the bar..........DOH!

Yes I snorted out my nose, scared the dog and LOL'd. Eedjit.

Kinda glad I lift at home.

[Machete]

[Machete]

Seems like a legit WOD. I particularly like the third exercise.

 

[Tomu-san]

I'm an expert at lounges. Could do 'em all day long.

[Guzzi]

I frequently do.

[Raev]

This isn't so much overheard at the gym but overheard about the gym.

 

A coworker has been posting on FB about going to the gym, so this morning I asked him how it was going and what his routine looked like.

 

When it got to him talking about squats he said "I don't see how anyone does that without the pad on the bar, it was painful! My neck is killing me!  I'm never doing those again!"

 

This concerned me.  It shouldn't be painful like THAT.  I asked him where the bar was sitting on his shoulders.  He shows me (on the spine just about 1.5" above where the muscle pad would be).  I showed him where it should sit, gave him a couple of tips that I use when I'm squatting and it seemed to renew his interest in the squat.

 

That really concerns me, though.  How many people are doing it in a painful, dangerous way just because they are uninstructed and don't know any better?  I don't want to see anyone get hurt when they are trying to improve their physical condition. 

[Oramac]

This isn't so much overheard at the gym but overheard about the gym.

 

A coworker has been posting on FB about going to the gym, so this morning I asked him how it was going and what his routine looked like.

 

When it got to him talking about squats he said "I don't see how anyone does that without the pad on the bar, it was painful! My neck is killing me!  I'm never doing those again!"

 

This concerned me.  It shouldn't be painful like THAT.  I asked him where the bar was sitting on his shoulders.  He shows me (on the spine just about 1.5" above where the muscle pad would be).  I showed him where it should sit, gave him a couple of tips that I use when I'm squatting and it seemed to renew his interest in the squat.

 

That really concerns me, though.  How many people are doing it in a painful, dangerous way just because they are uninstructed and don't know any better?  I don't want to see anyone get hurt when they are trying to improve their physical condition. 

 

Before I got smart I was doing that too (only for about a week or so).  Then I realized it was probably wrong and looked up a whole bunch of how-to videos on youtube for squats/deadlift/bench/OHP/etc.  Some people may not realize it's wrong, I guess.....

[Obitim]

Before I got smart I was doing that too (only for about a week or so).  Then I realized it was probably wrong and looked up a whole bunch of how-to videos on youtube for squats/deadlift/bench/OHP/etc.  Some people may not realize it's wrong, I guess.....

 

Or they get bad advice from some bloke down the gym?

 

I was the same with the manpon (love that word!) but then got in tinternet and was able to see what I should be doing, not what the curlbros were doing!

[Cr33g]

When I was first taught squats, I was recommended to not use the padding on the bar. I forget why to be honest but there was a reason for it. 

[Machete]

[I-Jo]

some jack ass was doing seated good mornings in my gym tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

oh wait- that was me. 

[Nefiros]

Not exactly fitness related but just saw a security guard come into my local gym and start chewing out the poor cleaner. Not sure why, he wasn't speaking very loud but he was pointing the finger and the cleaner was looking very shaky. And there's little old me hiding in the corner doing my routine trying very hard to become a fly on the wall lol

[The Swedish Ninja]

My friend to me:

"You have to eat within 20 min after you complete a workout, or else it´s useless"

OK, there is a little truth to this, if you want to optimise, but she was dead set on useless, not just "more beneficial".

 

Or maybe I´m wrong and my current workout was useless since I will eat in 30 min

[Oramac]

My friend to me:

"You have to eat within 20 min after you complete a workout, or else it´s useless"

OK, there is a little truth to this, if you want to optimise, but she was dead set on useless, not just "more beneficial".

 

Or maybe I´m wrong and my current workout was useless since I will eat in 30 min

 

If she's right, I've never actually worked out, even though I've gone to the gym a lot.  I never eat within 20 minutes of my workout.  It take me 20 minutes just to get home.  

 

And yet.  I've seen plenty of results.  Ergo, her argument is invalid.  

[The Swedish Ninja]

If she's right, I've never actually worked out, even though I've gone to the gym a lot.  I never eat within 20 minutes of my workout.  It take me 20 minutes just to get home.  

 

And yet.  I've seen plenty of results.  Ergo, her argument is invalid.  

Agree! I also refuse to believe that our body is of such crappy design that we have to refuel at once after a activity. I have read up on fasting, and even elite athletes (soccer players) didn´t notice any reduction in performance when that hadn't eaten for a whole day ( during Ramadan). 

 

Then again, I don´t listen to her that much: She is of the opinion that nobody other than professionals should do dead lifts (since the "very high risk of injury")

[Oramac]

Well, two fun things to report from today!

 

1) I finally saw Grunting Man in the gym.  This guy would grunt doing damn near everything.  Picking up the weight off the rack, starting a rep, mid-rep, ending a rep, putting the weight back on the rack.  Pretty sure he even grunted while drinking water.  

 

2) Deadlift guy.  I actually had to change my workout because of this, but I don't mind.  It gave me fun questions to ask.  This guy started out doing normal deadlifts.  Then he did them with his feet touching the rack (about 6 feet apart) and his hands hanging straight down to grab the bar.   THEN he does them with shoulder width feet, but grabs the weights at the ends of the bar to lift it!  I didn't even know what to think.  But he was lifting more than I can, so I didn't worry about it much.  

[The Swedish Ninja]

Well, two fun things to report from today!

 

1) I finally saw Grunting Man in the gym.  This guy would grunt doing damn near everything.  Picking up the weight off the rack, starting a rep, mid-rep, ending a rep, putting the weight back on the rack.  Pretty sure he even grunted while drinking water.  

 

2) Deadlift guy.  I actually had to change my workout because of this, but I don't mind.  It gave me fun questions to ask.  This guy started out doing normal deadlifts.  Then he did them with his feet touching the rack (about 6 feet apart) and his hands hanging straight down to grab the bar.   THEN he does them with shoulder width feet, but grabs the weights at the ends of the bar to lift it!  I didn't even know what to think.  But he was lifting more than I can, so I didn't worry about it much.  

Haha,

1) Ohh, I have no problems with grunting man, him I can handle. Worse is the "moaning woman" (no offence, I have never heard a man moan yet ). At the end of her sets, I think I have entered a badly lit ,errmmm, "movie studio"

 

2) I have tried the last one (shoulder width feet but arms to the side) and think it´s called snatch-grip deadlift. The other one is news to me too

 

Sidenote: Score, the 2000th reply!