^That was a better comeback than I thought you had in you.
[quote]Quick Ben wrote:
[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:
And what if you have a dollar?[/quote]
Why would you bring dollar bills to the gym? Now you’re just being silly.[/quote]
For a sandwich later? Peace biatches! Out to deadlift.
[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:
Frankly, everyone at a commercial gym pays to be there, whether or not you respect them or their training their money is as good as yours. Follow the rules set out in your contract and outside of that opinions are like assholes. If you don’t like the atmosphere find a gym you like. Put up or shut up, right? General comments.[/quote]
Agree with this, most gym owners are trying to get the most people possible to pay to train there and the majority view of what is proper etiquette is what carries the day for the person who owns the business and makes the rules. Some owners may be exceptions, but that’s their call. Got to find a gym with the type of people where the majority view is in sync with your own. Or build something at home/adapt to jungle gym.
Come to think of it, I think etiquette is defined as doing what is expected in a social situation. That changes from situation to situation.
I agree with Prof X. The truth of the matter is most people will not even make eye contact with a serious lifter who is busting out major sets let alone ask to work in. It’s just human nature…
Oh and there is a gym for people who don’t like this basic fact, its called planet fitness…
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]Ct. Rockula wrote:
heaps of blueberry anthocyanin[/quote]
LOL
Sounds fucking delicious…sort of.[/quote]
I think it sounds amazing minus the blueberry.
Theres a lot of variables at work here, i dont really think anyone is completely right/wrong with the answers that have been given thus far.
Yeah, it would be completely ludicrous if some 130 lb bag of bones approached someone with pro level development and wanted to work in with them. However the first gym i went to about 3 years ago was extremely limited on equipment, to the point where you could not get a good workout in because on any given day at any given time, there was probably someone taking up a key piece of equipment (like the ONE bench or the ONE squat rack) for half an hour at a time. At the time i was just starting out but i was pretty damn serious about lifting, so most people were much stronger than me, but i never let my workouts suffer because i didnt want to be a hindrance to them. Anyone who goes to such a limited gym should expect that other people will want to use the same piece of equipment too, and should try to accommodate.
If youre gym is not this limited, then please leave someone the fuck alone unless you are going to lift the same weights. Luckily for me, there is plenty of equipment at my gym, and theres usually a good handful of some other pretty well developed guys for me to work in with if i need to, so i dont have to work in with someone much weaker than myself.
And the Coleman analogy really doesnt work here. Most, if not ALL of you will never work out at a gym with a guy like that there.
On the off chance that you do, you probably shouldnt ask him to work in on the leg press though.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:
What’s the big deal about changing weights? Is it that hard?[/quote]
LOLZ[/quote]
I must say,
I fuckin’ LOL’d.
That is all…didn’t even read past the 1st page yet. 
screw this noise. i personally wouldn’t go messing with a 300lb mass monster’s shit! just aint gonna happen. unless the person on the rack is within a plate per side range of my working weight, i’m not gonna ask to work in with them.
people with serious size get more respect in the gym, simple.
if that’s not happening in your gym, step the fuck outta planet fatness…
[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:
What’s the big deal about changing weights? Is it that hard?[/quote]
It’s annoying. I dont care to spend double the energy moving plates around when that effort can be put to use in my workout.
If Im using the power squat thing and someone asks to work in, he should expect to move the 4+ plates on and off each time, if he’s only going to use 1 or 2 per side.
For someone spending 30+ minutes on a single piece, you can’t complain if people ask to work in. Everyone pays the same price to use the gym. Im guessing this is why you dont seem competitive bodybuilders lifting in gyms with one barbell.
[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:
What’s the big deal about changing weights? Is it that hard?[/quote]
It’s annoying. I dont care to spend double the energy moving plates around when that effort can be put to use in my workout.
If Im using the power squat thing and someone asks to work in, he should expect to move the 4+ plates on and off each time, if he’s only going to use 1 or 2 per side.
For someone spending 30+ minutes on a single piece, you can’t complain if people ask to work in. Everyone pays the same price to use the gym. Im guessing this is why you dont seem competitive bodybuilders lifting in gyms with one barbell. [/quote]
For someone to ask this question, they have never loaded and removed 18-24 plates from a leg press before.
It is a workout in and of itself. Who needs cardio when you can load/unload 20+ plates.
^Been saying that for years. You can pretty much tell your audience when they act like things like this are a non-issue…because they have never experienced it.
[quote]PimpBot5000 wrote:
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Dude, it isn’t about being scared. Why would someone with sense in their head walk up to the guy benching 6 plates a side unless they were also using close to that much?
The weak guy in that scenario would be the clueless one who was inconviencing someone else.
What is delusional about that?
I posted that pic above of Ronnie. You would walk up and ask to work in? Are you fucking crazy?
Who are you fooling?
What, will you be the one removing the 40+ plates from the rack each set?
LOL Like I said…I know the types who hold that stance.[/quote]
Whether or not somebody is heaving Herculean weight is completely beside the point here, although I will admit leg-press is the ONE station I would never ask to work-in on (nor have I ever been asked by anyone), as the removal and addition of plates is too big a pain in the ass.
[/quote]
Ya kinda destroyed your whole premise there.
It IS about the weight being used. Though, not about the size of the lifter, I agree.
No one minds if its just a pin being moved. But no one wants to do what is essentially someone elses manual labor after or before a full day of work while trying to remain focused on the task at hand.
I had a guy at one of those “family fitness centers” in Florida complain to the guy at the front counter because he said I had taken all of the 45lbs plates for the leg press and he had to walk all of the way across the gym to get more.
LOL.
It is ALL about your environment…and honestly, if you workout at a gym that acts like lifting huge weights is a non-issue and that you should rip off 20 plates in between sets for the 130lbs newb, you should change gyms if you want to see progress.
I never have this problem thankfully because I train at a track and field centre and its full of platforms and racks.
But I imagine a guy who’s “serious” about lifting and knows the “culture/etiquette” (people who does more than their fair share of research and time on things training related) will not bother someone who is pushing 3+ plates.
The only instance I can see this conflict happening is if an office guy, who is only their to get his fitness on has the same mentality as Pimpbot.
Some people just don’t care about respect being earned via physique and those are the people who will pull the “i pay membership dues just like you” card. And that’s very understandable and very valid.
But for some dudes who knows how hard it is to get to where you’re pushing 300+ lbs or to have a head turning physique, they are more likely to abide by Prof X’s said “old school etiquette”.
Either way, I guess both reasoning is valid, but it really depends on the environment sometimes.
[quote]audiogarden1 wrote:
And the Coleman analogy really doesnt work here. Most, if not ALL of you will never work out at a gym with a guy like that there.
[/quote]
You may be right about most, but I know I have worked out around a number of these guys you have seen in the mags over the years. Houston isn’t LA, but we get our fair share of stand outs whether they be from the WWF swinging through (triple H is really tall in person but not as wide as I thought) or competing NPC guys.
I also have no doubt that the people who don’t see anything like that are the most likely to claim they would run up to a heavy weight and ask him and his 500lbs on a bench to work in…even though it would probably not happen in real life.
Coleman lives in texas by the way.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
[quote]audiogarden1 wrote:
And the Coleman analogy really doesnt work here. Most, if not ALL of you will never work out at a gym with a guy like that there.
[/quote]
You may be right about most, but I know I have worked out around a number of these guys you have seen in the mags over the years. Houston isn’t LA, but we get our fair share of stand outs whether they be from the WWF swinging through (triple H is really tall in person but not as wide as I thought) or competing NPC guys.
I also have no doubt that the people who don’t see anything like that are the most likely to claim they would run up to a heavy weight and ask him and his 500lbs on a bench to work in…even though it would probably not happen in real life.
Coleman lives in texas by the way.[/quote]
I dont doubt that you have worked out at the same gym as some pretty impressive looking people. However, working out with Mr. Olympia himself is a whole other story. Especially the biggest Mr. O who’s ever held the title. (of course, im talking size relative to height when comparing him to someone like triple H)
Personally:
- Try not to hog equipment in a busy gym. (Go late/early, change up some exercises, etc.)
- Ask “how much longer do you have?” or “how many more sets do you have?” if someone hasn’t done number 1.
- You can ask to work in IF you are about the same strength level. Try to adjust your workout to the weights on the bar.
Most importantly 4) Don’t be a dick.
[quote]Professor X wrote:
^Been saying that for years. You can pretty much tell your audience when they act like things like this are a non-issue…because they have never experienced it.[/quote]
Bullshit.
I’ve stripped plenty of plates from people stronger than me and plenty of plates for people weaker. It’s never been an issue. It’s never been an issue for anyone I’ve ever worked out with either.
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:
What’s the big deal about changing weights? Is it that hard?[/quote]
It’s annoying. I dont care to spend double the energy moving plates around when that effort can be put to use in my workout.
If Im using the power squat thing and someone asks to work in, he should expect to move the 4+ plates on and off each time, if he’s only going to use 1 or 2 per side.
For someone spending 30+ minutes on a single piece, you can’t complain if people ask to work in. Everyone pays the same price to use the gym. Im guessing this is why you dont seem competitive bodybuilders lifting in gyms with one barbell. [/quote]
For someone to ask this question, they have never loaded and removed 18-24 plates from a leg press before.
It is a workout in and of itself. Who needs cardio when you can load/unload 20+ plates.
[/quote]
If someone is working in, it’s not like they’re going to completely strip it down. They’ll leave half the plates on. Big deal.
[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:
[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:
What’s the big deal about changing weights? Is it that hard?[/quote]
It’s annoying. I dont care to spend double the energy moving plates around when that effort can be put to use in my workout.
If Im using the power squat thing and someone asks to work in, he should expect to move the 4+ plates on and off each time, if he’s only going to use 1 or 2 per side.
[/quote]
And if someone asks to work in but uses more weight? Will you move it all?