CountingBeans: So, what you’re saying is she needs to play with Legos to find a boyfriend? I … I don’t follow your horrendous analogy
I like to train like the way I drink … alone. No but seriously, it’s just difficult to find a partner with the same zeal and dedication as me. I could care less about strength levels, that can be improved upon; I just care about someone I can trust to spot me correctly and push me past the brink.
I needed a spot on bench a few weeks ago and I asked one of the employees (not a trainer, one of the equipment wipers). I gave him explicit instructions on what I needed out of him. No lift off, just be in there in case I need a nudge on the last set or two (out of a set of 6). So what does the fucker do? Tries to give me a lift off. I say no don’t do that as I’m lifting the bar off the pegs. So right there it kind of throws me out of sync. I get to rep 5 and am grinding it out in the mid way point and he fucking pulls the shit off of me like it was stuck on my chest or something. So right there I just racked it, looked at him with a glare of indignation and thanked him for ruining my set now go away. Horrendous. That type of shit can seriously hurt someone.
If you’re going to work at a gym at least have some useful knowledge for crissakes
I prefer it this way because I know I need to stick to specific programs that I know work for my body type.
Unless I have a training partner with the same goal, size and strength as me and also the same desire and focus, my results will suffer.
Iâ??m really surprised by how many people work-out alone. I thought most had training partners. To me this just goes to show how serious people are on here about training and that they go at it alone because they donâ??t want to lose sight and focus of what they are doing.
On the odd occasion Iâ??ll train with say a relative or friend, who wants to check out my gym, but the workouts are never great and it always reinforces my view that training alone for me is the best way to go!
I prefer to train alone, it’s like meditation for me…When i have a partner it’s not the same. Sometimes my buddies we corner me into training with them because they need me to motivate them. My workouts always take twice as long.
[quote]Cherrymennos wrote:
I train alone cus I don’t have that many friends, let alone friends that train like me (or at all). And I train without music (to facilitate strapping youngs lads to talk to me, however, they never do LOL!). C’est la vie.[/quote]
aww poor thing. not…you’re a pretty chic suck it up and get on with it If you think you have it bad have you ever thought of what it’s like to be an ugly single male with no game seeking somebody? Not that I’m ugly, just saying for others:D…
Also I train alone so I use machines/power/squat racks a lot. No need for a spotter which most suck and no fears of injury. Good enough for me.
[quote]countingbeans wrote:
Cherrymennos wrote:
I train alone cus I don’t have that many friends, let alone friends that train like me (or at all). And I train without music (to facilitate strapping youngs lads to talk to me, however, they never do LOL!). C’est la vie.
Did you ever play with Lego’s as a kid?
You can spend 20 minutes looking for a black flat 6 piece, and pull your hair out, because you know you have like 12, but can’t find one.
It’s only once you start looking for the red 4 cube that you find your black piece.
Finding a boyfriend/girlfriend works the same way; you won’t find someone worth it until you stop looking.[/quote]
[quote]Carlitosway wrote:
aww poor thing. not…you’re a pretty chic suck it up and get on with it If you think you have it bad have you ever thought of what it’s like to be an ugly single male with no game seeking somebody? Not that I’m ugly, just saying for others:D…
[/quote]
Eh, it’s what I do. It’s hard to meet people, for me, as it is.
[quote]BantamRunner wrote:
I work out alone only because my time is limited: Wake at 5a, work 6a-2p, lift 3p-4p, work 4p-7p.
Squat in the rack. If you fail, you fail, just set it down on the bars.
Bench with a good bench rack…pins set just so if you fail you can set it down and roll under it. Or just say fuck it and roll it off your chest, down your belly. It happens. It’s a pain, but it’s what you got to do. OR, KNOW if you have another rep in you are not. Sometimes I’ve just said “fuck it” and tried one more only to have to roll it off me. No biggie. It’s a skill worth learning…
As far as dumbbells go. Poliquin would say something about not being able to kick up heavy dumbbells…maybe you just ain’t strong enough…>:)
Alan[/quote]
What he said.
I have tried getting a couple of people to lift with me so that I could train a competant spotter but to no avail.
I do cardio alone for the most part and weight train with my younger brother. On the few times I did bench pressing alone, I NEVER needed to ask for a spot because I am weak and barely press 225lbs. If I got stuck, I would roll it to my stomach, sit up and put it back on the rack. Obviously for people benching way more than 225lbs, they should not do that.
when i need a spot i get either someone i know from the gym or a random person who speaks english. unfortunately even when someone is fluent in english the words “dont touch the bar unless i say so” get lost
I lift alone. I started with a football buddy after our senior season. Then we went off to different schools and I went through a couple over the last couple of years, but never anyone approaching my motivation, stubbornness about getting in there, or intensity.
So, I go it alone. I wouldn’t turn anyone away if their schedule worked with mine and I felt they could at least somewhat push me.
I am very lucky to have one training partner who never misses a workout, ever. He is a crazy mofo who lifts hard and heavy. When I started lifting with him I was much weaker than him. Training with strong people really helps. Now I am finally getting stronger than him in most lifts.
Training alone is cool too, but sometimes I need someone there to compete with and to push me.
However, I found 2 guys to lift with me for squat/dead day- so once a week.
One is quite a bit older, but offers tons of useful advice and motivation. Plus having squatted and deadlifted 700+ and benched 550+ back in the day doesn’t hurt for helping me out. The other guy is just behind me in weight but provides good motivation to keep pushing it. They never miss a workout.
In fact, they introduced me to the glory that is low bar back squatting. For the taller crowd, it’s simply amazing.
The older fella told me “You’ll do things for your training partners that you wouldn’t do for yourself” …and when you find the right one(s), it’s absolutely true.
Train alone in my basment. Me the weights, music, I can do whatever I want. I spit on the ground…who cares…not me??! lol
That’s why I like it. I have my tub of BCAA’s I sip durin my workout…imagine bringing that shit to the gym haha. Carrying around my tub.
I DO remember though I used to have a good friend of mine (we lost contact) who I trained with in my highschool gym…man we just pumped eachother so much…no music or anything. It was just me and him and an empty gym and we really made awesome gains that school year.
We also hit up a gym after school (summer time) and that was cool as hell too. He’s the only guy that really we both had the same strength and we both were very hungry for increase of strength. That was it though…after him there was no1.
But I have made friends with a guy I met at a highschool PL event…got him on facebook we’ve been talkin for a while and he trains strictly PL. GOnna do a training session with him, he’s hungry…so we’ll see how it goes. I think it’ll be good.
Unfortuantely though, I’m too cheap to pay for a gym membership… :S lol
I train alone because everyone at my gym is a bitch, and my few buds who are big in the iron game live elsewhere.
With how strict I am with rest times and such, I can imagine a training partner hampering me.
I really wish I had a spotter when I bench, squat, and some other exercises which I would like an extra voice yelling at me and some fingers reducing the resistance.
Wow, lots of loners in here. I started training (seriously) a year ago, with my buddy I’ve known since primary school, who is also aspiring to be a bodybuilder. In one year, I went from 155, to 180. I literally doubled my bench in 6 months. In my opinion, after trying it both ways, you just can’t beat a like-minded gym partner. He is slightly stronger than me, so I am always pushing myself to catch up, so I bump the weight, and when I start closing in, he doesn’t want me to catch up, so he bumps weight.
Its a great system, we keep each other motivated, talk about bodybuilding greats, supplementation, make jokes about all the clowns in the gym that particular day, its a very enjoyable way to lift. We don’t make a big deal about time. We walk into the gym with a job to do, and we leave when its done, whether it takes 50 minutes or 150 minutes. I really believe that you will never reach your full potential unless you have a good training partner. A year ago, I would NEVER, EVER have believed I’d be moving as much weight as I do now. But with a reliable spotter, who is constantly pushing you to be better than you ever imagined, its amazing what you can accomplish.
