I’m incorporating deadlifts into my workout now. I thought it was very interesting at my gym.
I loaded up the bar and did 2 warmup sets and then put on some real weight. All the other guys are over doing the usual curls and bench presses.
They had looked at me like, what in the hell are you doing that for. However, since I’m bigger than all of them they said nothing.
Then when I did a set of good mornings afterwards I’m sure they thought I was nuts.
It’s interesting in my gym that they have 2 squat racks, 1 smith machine, and 1 leg press. It does have however 4 bench press, 6 pull downs, 4 adjustable benches, you get the picture.
I never go during the peak times like 5-8 PM unless I’m doing legs then the only thing I have to do is kick some guy out of the squat rack doing curls.
Well that’s just a rant I have, I’m trying to convert the guys in the gym to TMag’s website. I’m not sure if any have taken me up on it yet. But I’m trying.
my home gym has 2 smith machines but only one squat/power rack that nobody uses. it also only has 2 flat benches, but 3 different flat bench machines. i also routinely get repremanded for doing cleans, snatches, and goodmornings. ← small rant of my own
makes ya feel good though doesn’t it? when you feel like you know a big secret and noone else does, or at least, they don’t even get it when you explain it to them.
people look at me funny all the time in my gym. and yes, i hate peak times. i have to FIND floor space to do deads and stuff so i avoid that time. plus, more meatheads who stare at me. i get the craziest looks when i start doing chins, esp. weighted chins. gotta love it!
That’s when you know your training right:)
Imagine the looks youll get when you even do more “dangerous exercises” such as OH Squats, Farmers Walks, Turkish Get ups, etc… You’d be suprised the looks I’ve gotten from people when doing some of these lesser known exercises
Deadlifts and especially good mornings are a great way to impress all the townies at most gyms. Standing overhead presses and any kind of olympic lifts will also leave most observers shocked and amazed as well.
Yeah, ya gotta love it. I might be one of a handful of guys who actually use the squat rack for–gasp!!–squats. NO ONE does good mornings, stiff-leg deads, overhead work, etc. And when I pull out my Jumpstretch bands for box squats or rack bench lock-outs, they look at me like I’m drooling and wearing a hockey helmet.
Then again, those geniuses who’ve perfected seven different kinds of curls and do 1/4 squats in the Smith machine all look exactly like they did five years ago, so we all know who the real clowns are…
Thanks for the article on the Turkish get up. That sounds tough. And yes people will look at you like the time Cartman tried to act retarded to win the special olympics on Southpark!
Billy Guns,
I’m over in Muskegon. We have pretty good walleye fishing over here too. Definately not as good as you guys though.
BTW, after I’m done on my 6 week cycle I’ll be Musky fishing up in Canada for a week. Ahh, rest and relaxation at last!
Walleye, the best of both worlds is to do the majority of your non-max-effort squats and deadlifts without a belt. That way you’ll strengthen your core. And then when you go to try for a PR pull/lift, throw on the belt for safety.
Your philosophy is sort of how I trained in the past. Rather than doing 400 on the squat I would do 315 12 times. However, some of the programs here want you to do 5 reps and that sort of concerns me.
Is there a good rule of thumb that when reps drop below 5 you should where a belt?
I was doing a front squat today at my gym (whats with all the metrosexuals taking my dumbells/barbells to do curls), anywho, and this big meathead, who btw is a personal trainer, gave me the oddest look in the world. Not only that, afterwards, when I was doing sumo deadlifts, this juiced up metro kept on gaping at me, in between doing his endless sets of curls.
We need a Testosterone gym. No soccer moms, no metros, just guys who want to really work hard.
walleye, I’d DEFINITELY take JackAss’s advice (over mine – not that I disagree) on this one, as he can push and pull a HECKUVA LOT more weight than I can. (grin)
No pun intended, but I’d probably go by gut feel. I’d use it when I felt I needed it. As your confidence grows, you’ll lift more and more weight without a belt.
Hopefully people will continue to stop by with their thoughts on the subject. This would be a good question to ask on the Powerlifting & Strength forum.
I was in the gym today and a guy was DEADLIFTING!!! I thought I had died and gone to T-Mag heaven!!!
I struck up a conversation with him. WE chit chatted a little while. Then he told me of another exercise to help with deadlifts. Let me know if you’ve heard of it.
You set up the squat rack like you are going to squat from your knees. Your sitting on your shins (your ankles are under your butt, like a kneeling position. Then you take the bar, load it up like you are going to squat, place the bar on the back of the neck. You then proceed to lean forward and back upright. Sort of like a partial rep of a goodmorning on your knees. He said he used it before his deadlift to strengthen his dead lift. Anybody heard of such a thing???