I count the bar. It would be kinda unnecessary to express my lift if I had to say I lifted 2 plates, a quarter, and a nickle instead of just 285 lbs.
Speaking of getting retarded, not keeping track of the weight on the bar except for 45 pound plates is fucking retarded.
Counting the weight on the bar does not imply that you go around bragging to the half-pound exacty what you lift. It just means you know what you lifted. Does anybody here seriously just lift with 3 plates until they think they’re strong enough to do 4? Somewhere along the line, you’re adding in some smaller plates in between there. I’d imagine that saying 3 plates and a 25 and a 10 is more of a mouthful than “385.”
[quote]slimjim wrote:
I count the bar. It would be kinda unnecessary to express my lift if I had to say I lifted 2 plates, a quarter, and a nickle instead of just 285 lbs.[/quote]
Exactly. But you feel cooler and more superior if you just say the number of plates. Or even better, “wheels.”
I really want to know why the fuck this shit matters? Some people count plates, some people use specific numbers. Get the fuck over it and go lift. I swear, I bet the lot of you even have Microsoft Word imported into Excel on how many specific calories, grams, and shit and still not lifting huge numbers or getting any bigger at a quick pace.
Fuckin’ pathetic.
I don’t count it in my own records, but if someone asks me what I’m lifting, I add the bar weight and tell them.
[quote]Modi wrote:
Typical response. Over the top as usual, but I’ll bite.
My original intention was simply to say it is easier to write down a number than it is to write down the number of plates, if it is not an even 3,4 or 5 plates.[/quote]
Why do you think everyone needs to write anything down? While I have nothing against keeping records, some of the least developed people I see are the ones who do. I have never had any trouble remembering what I am lifting.
[quote]
However, if you think that hitting a PR by 5 or 10lbs is not a worthwhile goal, then we disagree here. I would venture to guess that the majority of people on this site do care about getting stronger, and they don’t just measure it by the number of 45lb plates on the bar, but measure it by how many pounds total are on the bar.[/quote]
That was about as much of a beginner mentality as you could get. I go up in weight, for most exercises, when I can get the previous weight between 8-10 reps. That means there is no need for 2.5 or 5lbs plates in most cases because by the time I can get the weight 8-10 times, I can usually go up by MORE than that. Do you get it now? You actually had the thought that I don’t train for strength? When you wrote this, you believed that someone simply could not be advancing over the course of several workouts unless they were trying to add 2.5lbs to the bar at a time?
[quote]
Aside from trying to get a response out of me, I don’t know why you would imply that I load the bar up with a bunch of 10lb plates. That’s a pretty silly accusation. I want to add 45’s as much as the next person, but if it takes smaller increments to get there, then that’s what it takes.[/quote]
Perhaps it wouldn’t take such small increments if you were pushing yourself more with the weight lifted, concentrated more on that and the way the muscle feels than what you are writing down.
If you use a weight that you can only press 3 times…and then over the course of months can now press that weight 10 times, why would you need to add 2.5lbs to the bar?
Some of you sure are stuck in a severely limited state of mind when it comes to how one can lift a fucking weight.
[quote]jtrinsey wrote:
Does anybody here seriously just lift with 3 plates until they think they’re strong enough to do 4? [/quote]
That is actually pretty much what I did when I was lifting that much.
Whatever melts your butter, but I think tracking weight by counting plates is just bass-ackwards.
For some of us that lift in different gyms, the bars don’t weigh the same. “Four Plates” doesn’t equal 405 lbs on the 75 lbs thick bar.
When you use bumper plates, what the heck do you mean with “four plates”? They’re ALL “plates”. You gotta be more specific, and that means tracking the weight used, not just how many plates on the bar.
Even with standards weights, do you mean 45 lbs or 100 lbs plates? That’s only a difference between 845 lbs and 405. No biggie. Oops, unless you’re using the thick bar. Then it’s 875.
There’s a reason there are numbers stamped on the sides of the “plates”…
Like most others, this thread has turned into another pointless debate.
Of course, if you are a competitive lifter, you will always keep track of poundages. Or if you keep a log. But people need to realize that not everyone keeps a log, nor is weight lifted the sole measure of progress. Is that so hard to understand? Different methods for different goals.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
jtrinsey wrote:
Does anybody here seriously just lift with 3 plates until they think they’re strong enough to do 4?
That is actually pretty much what I did when I was lifting that much.[/quote]
Seems weird to me, but if that’s what’s been working for you then I guess I can’t criticize.
[quote]malonetd wrote:
Like most others, this thread has turned into another pointless debate.
Of course, if you are a competitive lifter, you will always keep track of poundages. Or if you keep a log. But people need to realize that not everyone keeps a log, nor is weight lifted the sole measure of progress. Is that so hard to understand? Different methods for different goals.[/quote]
Let me ask you, how many of these people do you honestly think are “competitive lifters”?
[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
Even with standards weights, do you mean 45 lbs or 100 lbs plates? That’s only a difference between 845 lbs and 405. No biggie. Oops, unless you’re using the thick bar. Then it’s 875.[/quote]
Riiiiiight. And no one could guess via context what the speaker means? If you said, “I lift 4 plates,” I will assume you lifted four total plates, i.e., 225 lbs. If someone who lifts says he lifted 4 plates, I’ll assume it was 405 lbs. If Jim Wendler says he lifted 4 plates, I would assume it was 800+ lbs.
Context is everything.
[quote]CaliforniaLaw wrote:
Riiiiiight. And no one could guess via context what the speaker means? [/quote]
Apparently, here you need crayons, a chalkboard and several visual aids for anyone to have a clue what you are talking about. Amazingly, in several years of lifting this has never been an issue at all…but on this site, it is PARAMOUNT that someone constantly mentions the specific amount of weight being lifted or else they are lost in the details.
Either several of these people have learning deficiencies or the nit-picking has reached a level that should even make most of these guys wonder what the hell they are even arguing.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
malonetd wrote:
Like most others, this thread has turned into another pointless debate.
Of course, if you are a competitive lifter, you will always keep track of poundages. Or if you keep a log. But people need to realize that not everyone keeps a log, nor is weight lifted the sole measure of progress. Is that so hard to understand? Different methods for different goals.
Let me ask you, how many of these people do you honestly think are “competitive lifters”?[/quote]
The funny thing is, when you actually do start to go out and compete, you start to meet other strength athletes and people who actually put themselves out there. And you start to become very good at recognizing others online that actually compete.
I’ve only been to a handful of competitions and I’ve meet and seen quite a few different posters from here and other sites. Yet, on this website alone, there is a huge number of members that would classify themselves as a “powerlifter” or some other strength athlete even though they never have and probably never will compete.
So, to answer your question, I doubt any of the people complaining about you counting plates compete. The ones that do compete could care less how you count it.
I use teaspoons. I can squat over 48,000 teaspoons.
[quote]malonetd wrote:
Professor X wrote:
malonetd wrote:
Like most others, this thread has turned into another pointless debate.
Of course, if you are a competitive lifter, you will always keep track of poundages. Or if you keep a log. But people need to realize that not everyone keeps a log, nor is weight lifted the sole measure of progress. Is that so hard to understand? Different methods for different goals.
Let me ask you, how many of these people do you honestly think are “competitive lifters”?
The funny thing is, when you actually do start to go out and compete, you start to meet other strength athletes and people who actually put themselves out there. And you start to become very good at recognizing others online that actually compete.
I’ve only been to a handful of competitions and I’ve meet and seen quite a few different posters from here and other sites. Yet, on this website alone, there is a huge number of members that would classify themselves as a “powerlifter” or some other strength athlete even though they never have and probably never will compete.
So, to answer your question, I doubt any of the people complaining about you counting plates compete. The ones that do compete could care less how you count it.
I use teaspoons. I can squat over 48,000 teaspoons.[/quote]
LOL!
But what if you have no teaspoons and only have TABLEspoons. What then, huh, Smart guy!? What if you only have QUARTS!?
Fuck, now I’m thirsty.
I love lamp!!!
[quote]CaliforniaLaw wrote:
Riiiiiight. And no one could guess via context what the speaker means? If you said, “I lift 4 plates,” I will assume you lifted four total plates, i.e., 225 lbs. If someone who lifts says he lifted 4 plates, I’ll assume it was 405 lbs. If Jim Wendler says he lifted 4 plates, I would assume it was 800+ lbs.
Context is everything.[/quote]
Listen, I don’t care what anybody calls their weights. It’s no skin off my back.
But why screw around with “context” and just tell the guy you want 405, or 225, or 875, or whatever on the bar?
Why just assume that they’ll get your “context”?
Is it now the cool thing to speak in weightlifting code rather than just track what you lift in pounds?
[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
But why screw around with “context” and just tell the guy you want 405, or 225, or 875, or whatever on the bar?
[/quote]
Dude, most people who would even ask me how much I lift wouldn’t have any real world concept of the poundage anyway. The ones who ask are generally either weekend warriors or people who don’t even workout. I don’t think I have EVER been asked specifically how much I bench by someone who actually looks like a bodybuilder and trains anywhere near as regularly and intensely as I do unless they are trying to see how far they are from it. Further, for the years I trained with dumbbells instead of barbell bench, my response then (and often now) was either, “a lot” or “I don’t bench”.
Small people are extremely concerned with numbers. Why? because they are usually asking so they can rate THEMSELVES by it, not because they are truly that interested in how much someone else is lifting who actually has some size on them.
Anyone I’ve trained with or even respected in the gym (as far as what they have accomplished) has had no problem with speaking in terms of plates used. This thread just points out those who aren’t making much progress. I honestly believe that. Please, prove me wrong by all means.
This discussion has really gone downhill. To a lot of lifters, it is the plate that matters. I’m not satisfied until I add a plate to a lift. To those who question a plate is a 45 pounds weight on each side of the bar.
380 on a bench is just a stepping stone to the next plate i.e. 405. I ctushed myself until I got to 405 on my bench. To be honest with everyone here, the glow was gone the very next chest day. I wanted 495 then.
Some of us strive for adding a plate. I will settle for no less than 495 now, or five plates. I will hit it.
How we measure a lift makes no difference. The real fact of the matter is that we lift, and want a better lift than before.
If someone was to tell me they lifted 4 plates I would assume they were a waiter.
As we use KGs here in the UK the plates and bars are generally multiples of 10kg so it is pretty easy just to tot up the actual weight.