[quote]Anonymas wrote:
Iron Dwarf wrote:
Last time I checked, every standing calf machine ever made has PADS FOR YOUR SHOULDERS, and I NEVER heard anyone being called a pussy for using that machine.
Hell, why aren’t all benches, flat and incline, made WITHOUT padding? Then NOBODY would have to fear being called a pussy.
This is a stupid thread. We’re bodybuilders, dammit! We fancy a future of standing onstage with other dudes… all dressed in nothing but little posing trunks and a layer of oil… and you guys are having a hard time with a little cushion on a barbell?
Get real!
Sounds like a big pissing contest.
I agree, people should stop trying to act all hardcore by not using training aids, more likely than not the people rubbishing all these training aids do so because they dont lift heavy enough weights to actually realise their benefits
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Says the guy without pics or stats in his profile. The padding is not a training aid, straps are a training aid. Try putting 500 on you’re back with that pad there, it wont aid you, I promise.
What’s funny is, even though I’m defending a lifter’s choice to use the pad, I never use one. I find that even though it’s a thin pad, that little extra height messes up my center of gravity and squats feel awkward.
Perhaps some people aren’t getting it. If you position the bar where it should be positioned you don’t need a pad. If you’re setting it on your cervical spine then you have it positioned wrong.
None of my female clients use the pad (if they wanted too, of course they could, but with proper positioning of the bar you don’t need it)
[quote]Shadowzz4 wrote:
ouroboro_s wrote:
I ventured out of power lifting land to chime in on this one. When I first started squatting I used the pad a few times but it made the bar feel very unsecured on my back and I was afraid to put much weight on the bar.
When I took it off and had the bar directly on my back, there was a better connection and the weight went up much faster. As for the comments about putting meat on your back, I weigh 123lbs and maxed 315. You don’t need a super thick back. You just need to work on bar position. Try a narrower hand width. It forces your shoulder blades together and creates a nice shelf for the bar.
I have a client that reminds me of you, she is 5’2" 105, benches 105, back squats maybe 160, has maxed 190x4 on dead, can dip with a 45lb plate and can do 17 pullups… we are working on her hamstring flexibility, that is the only thing holding her back right now. When that comes around I expect her numbers go through the roof.[/quote]
I have to admit it is pretty fun. However, My point was that at my size I don’t have a huge, muscular upper back and can manage heavy weight just by manipulating my grip. An awful lot of maximizing your numbers is brain work and mechanics.
[quote]Old Dax wrote:
humanjhawkins wrote:
… it would hurt like hell if you had the bar up on your neck.
That’s why you don’t have the bar up on your neck. You put the bar on your traps.[/quote]
Thus, the first half of the sentence you quoted from “that would tend to enforce proper bar position, as it would hurt like hell…”
So, I’ll drop the pad based on the same logic that got me through college… If all these people can do it, I must be able to handle it too. And it would be convenient to get to the point where I could skip the step of putting it on.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Dave Tate… with PADDING!
Oh, the blasphemy![/quote]
THE HORROR!!! I must be sleep still! Not the Pad:(
In all seriousness I think it only SHOULD matter If you are PL’er or involved in a sport that does not allow the pad. Hell, I might have continued using the “Pad” if I had not got into PLing. However,if you are a BB putting up some serious weight in relation to your bodyweight, maybe a little “padding” may help you crunch out a few extra reps.
All-in-all, I have to agree with Ouroboro_s, 315 at a low body weight and was able to handle the weight just by making a few mechanical adjustments. Sometimes it is a matter of using the little bit matter between your ears.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
B rocK wrote:
Iron Dwarf wrote:
The King… using the pad.
You internet tough guys can STFU now.
sure that’s not just a thick bar? (please say yes)
Nope. Sorry
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In response to Iron Dwarf:
Yes these big guys uses padding and you’re right it doesn’t really matter because they got the technique down to a tee.
The problem I see in my gym is college guys trying to learn how to squat. They put the bar so high it’s touching the base of their skull. I tend to look away because my spine/neck hurts from looking at them.
Then when they complain about the pain to their fellow bro, the advice he gives is to put the pad on! And keep the same fucking technique!
Thank you for finally posting those Iron Dwarf. I was sitting here going, don’t these knuckleheads know Arnold used a pad?
This thread quickly turned into a “I’m tougher than you because I don’t use pads/straps/belt/gloves!” thread. You guys talk as much shit as you want, in the end it makes no difference at all. I bet if you got second place in a contest to a guy who squatted with a pad, you wouldn’t call him a pussy. If you squat 285 raw, and the guy next to you squats 585 with a pad, you gonna call him a pussy? With people like Dave Tate, and Arnold squatting with a pad, I think all you nay-sayers can STFU.
What’s funny is, even though I’m defending a lifter’s choice to use the pad, I never use one. I find that even though it’s a thin pad, that little extra height messes up my center of gravity and squats feel awkward.
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I know what you mean. I don’t use a pad, but it’s not a complete test of your manhood whther you use one or not.
Talking about the internet tough guys…it happens here from time to time…go to any thread about some product and someone will act like my dad and ridicule it as being a waste of money or time.
For example, a few months ago we had a thread about Fat Gripz. Sure you can mention that using towels could approximate these things, but don’t act like we’re all stupid dupes for wanting a pair.
Another time I was defending the Blender Bottle, people acted like I was overthinking it; just use a paper rolled up into a funnel and a plastic coke bottle.
