Train at a big commercialized Gold’s Gym. I tend to get looks no matter what I’m doing, but some of the biggest triggers have been:
-Cable Rear Delt Flyes
-Forearm twists w/DB’s
-BB Reverse Curls
-Weighted Pull-ups/Chin-ups
-Spider Curls
-Natural GHR
-Reverse Hypers improvised on an elevated bench
-Farmer’s Walks
As well as the usual: BB Squats, GM’s, and my special favorites, Dumbell Squats/DL’s!!!
[quote]WhiteLable412 wrote:
a little off topic
soon i am going to have to join a gym. only been to a gym a few times. where would be the best place to deadlift, hangcleans, and other shit like that. [/quote]
I do these in front of but off of the squat rack. That way if someone wants to squat they can but I can use the rack to unload the bar when I’m done.
Squatting slightly below parralel/onto a box(using a wide stance)
Pull Throughs
Bands/Boards/small arch
Weighted chins(well. i use a homemade weightbelt made of chains and tubing - looks pretty hardcore 
)
Good mornings- especially seated GM- and anything with bands. One kid was jonesin me about banded bench presses, so I asked him for a spot on my last couple attempts. I told him to give it a try- so he does. This guy is a low 300’s raw bencher- flat back, elbows out style- like Ted Arcidi, except 55% weaker. I busted the bar down to 95 plus one set of small bands doubled on each side- maybe about 100 of band tension at lockout. Homeboy just about dumped the bar unracking on rep one and fought for double. Never heard a peep from him again.
When I used to work out at LA Fitness I would get funny looks from doing pretty much all of the above exercises. I’d also get weird looks for doing sets of 3 on squats, deads, overhead presses and bench presses.
Now that I workout at home, I just get weird looks from my neighbors for the weighted GPP work outdoors.
-ton
[quote]HvRv wrote:
People look at me funny when I’m doing front squats, and GOD forbid if I do elevated heals FS… UUUU… Then the kid that works there looks at me funny and asks: “Why are u standing on a plate?”. God damn…
And, don’t laugh, decline bench press…
There’s no decline bench so i put 2 20kg plates and put one side of the bench on it… [/quote]
Do you do all this in your Storm Trooper suit? That could explain a lot of the laughter.
Having trained exclusively in University gyms or a place called “Family Fitness” (years ago), people usually wonder why I squat in the “curl rack”.
Overhead shrugs and one-arm db snatches are also good for WTF(?!) looks.
I have to work out at the YMCA. I read about alternate traiining methods here on T-Nation and the sledgehammer thing caught my interest. So, in the back of the Y (outside) there is this old tree stump, pretty big and really, out of the way of everything and everyone. I took my hammer and decided to hit this thing as part of my work out.
Well, not only did I get funny looks, the management forbids me to do this!! Now I’ve heard that the staff there calls me Hammer and they actually have to watch that I don’t sneak my sledge in…I think it is the funniest shit…
MB
[quote]Logical Lifter wrote:
Train at a big commercialized Gold’s Gym. I tend to get looks no matter what I’m doing, but some of the biggest triggers have been:
-Cable Rear Delt Flyes
-Forearm twists w/DB’s
-BB Reverse Curls
-Weighted Pull-ups/Chin-ups
-Spider Curls
-Natural GHR
-Reverse Hypers improvised on an elevated bench
-Farmer’s Walks
As well as the usual: BB Squats, GM’s, and my special favorites, Dumbell Squats/DL’s!!![/quote]
I want to be shocked at this list, but nothing shocks me any more. I can completely believe people giving someone weird looks for BB reverse curls, spider curls and natural GHR. Lord knows I have had people wonder what the heck I am doing when I do the GHRs.
And don’t even get me started on improvising on reverse hypers. You would think I was working out nude. Well, there was that one time, but I was young and…
[quote]David Barr wrote:
Having trained exclusively in University gyms or a place called “Family Fitness” (years ago), people usually wonder why I squat in the “curl rack”.[/quote]
Given your squats numbers, Dave, I can see how they would make that mistake.
ZING! LOL
[quote]Kuz wrote:
Last night I was in the gym doing lower body and was starting off with max-effort deadlifts (but going for 3-5 reps per set). As I finished my last set (which was a PR for me, actually) I was pulling my hands out of the straps… [/quote]
Kuz, congrats on the PR! Just think, 135 is right around the corner!
BURN!
i get funny looks when i do good mornings at the water fountain.
-i’ve gotten laughed at for doing deadlifts
-zecher GM’s & GM’S
I’ve gotten weird looks and comments from doing:
Face Pulls
Natural GHRs
Cable Pull Throughs
Board Presses
Pin Presses
Rotator Cuff Work
Good Mornings
Box Squats
The people here in Iowa think I’m doing some sort of “trendy” workout from the coast or something.
[quote]Myopic Rhino wrote:
Previously, the only things that got me weird looks were deadlifts - which I’ve only ever seen one other person do in the 9 months I’ve been training at Bally’s (don’t laugh, their equipment is pretty good, and I rarely have to wait). But since I started coming here, the overhead squats and farmers walks I’ve been throwing in have drawn some attention.
But today, I started on CW’s Outlaw program. Let’s just say it’s going to be an amusing 7 weeks.[/quote]
I workout at Bally’s too, truth be told it isn’t too bad. You can’t use chalk, though. I don’t really notice any wierd looks when deadlifting, but I am sure there are some.
Quick list of things I did this week that got strange looks from people.
-Deadlifts
-Hack Squats
-Full ROM Squat (god forbid someone goes below parallel)
-Power Cleans
-Wrestlers Bridges
-Good Mornings
-Push Presses
It doesn’t even have to be a specific exercise as BigMike mentioned 10x3 is a really strange concept to some people. I do however enjoy destroying the hopes and dreams of would be ‘squat rack curlers’ by telling them that I have 9 sets left.
Two years back someone, I forget who, wrote an article about this cool exercise where you take the disc from the top of your protein powder container, put it on the ground, get in a pushup position with your feet on the disc, then use your hands to run forward and backward across a gym floor. Used to get funny looks when I did that one.
When I go out to the gym it’s usually pretty late so I don’t run into a lot of people, but I have gotten looks doing dips (everyone wants the dip tower to do abdominal stuff and they can’t understand any other use), turkish get ups the time I tried them, and last but not least, farmer’s carries. I do them on the stairs and people wander why I keep carrying weights up then returning with them.
When I was in a better equipped gym (more weights) and could do deadlifts people noticed, but they noticed in a curious or complimentary way. Never had any trouble with those being poo-pooed.
pretty much everything that is not flex or musclemag related will get me weird looks, the worst goes out to the clean , never seen anybody doing them here. One of the cooler was the band around wrists speed bench, nobody was getting it except the owner of the gym whos also a competitive bodybuilder he came to me and said man this is cool let try it right now and he join me on my speed bench , that was fun. On thursdays I always piss off an old lady because I do speed squats on the box and she always want the rack to do upright rows with pink dbs. Oh I forgot to mention that I get weird looks because I use a log book and note everything, dudes told me log books are for newbies or dudes that dont know how to train.
one hand barbell snatches… squats… deadlifts… get-ups… well, almost everything that inlcudes more than one muscle-group at a time… 
Not anymore though, my new gym is powerlifters only… quite nice! always someone to help qith technique, always magnesium, a lot of power-racks… and so on:)