Ask to work in. You’re just too young to have experienced the gym days when there was only one squat rack. That was more the rule than the exception.
I’m not young(61) and I do remember those days.
That sure begs the question why you didn’t ask to work in. Did you just wait around until whoever was using the squat rack got done back in the '70’s and '80’s?
Sounds like things were absolutely ACES in the gyms back in the 70’s and 80’s! Except I recall working in gyms in the mid-late 80’s with ZERO training - not even CPR! Someone showed me the machines, and then I, in my colossal ignorance, showed others. I taught aerobics and water aerobics (the latter with an average age of probably 65) and here again - no training, no first aid certification, nothing.
What I did have was a kick ass outfit that made me look super gym-y, and lots of cool sneakers, because the reps gave them to us for free. I was literally sponsored in my ignorance!
Did I have any training at all to do the job, you may wonder? Why yes, yes I did. I was trained in sales. Regularly. Because memberships feed the machine and my boss was partial to fancy things, so my skill set was in providing them for him.
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Nope, i changed it up a bit and worked hams first. I get it they were there first but it still peeves me that they wouldn’t think about others and just use one rack. Maybe it is a generational thing where i was taught to consider others.
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I suppose the pivotal moment of the gym business was “Pumping Iron.”
Before “Pumping Iron” lifting weights was somewhat of an esoteric social sub-culture. During my time in college at NC State (1966 through 1970, the year I entered my first bodybuilding contest) only two of the football players lifted weights. Back then lifting weights was supposed to make you muscle bound.
When I returned to Jacksonville, Florida, there were only two places to really lift weights: The YMCA where Joe Dube had trained Olympic Lifting and had bent about half the bars, and the Sparta Gym on Main Street. I feared even considering walking in that place. And, about that year the Roman Health Spa came to town. They were catering to mostly women (but gladly wrote up contracts to the men too) and had all chrome equipment and rollers and vibrator belts with mirrors everywhere. That was not a place to “lift” weights.
In those days there was an implicit peeking order that ruled the gym. There was limited amount of equipment and very few duplicates. People asked to work in. It was expected and respected. You might get a comment like, “I have only one more set.” But you might counter, “I’ll warm up while you rest for your last set.” Membership grew slowly and that provided ample time for new members to learn the culture. Most were just learning and accepted assistance from the experienced lifters. There were no “TRAINERS” at the real gyms. There was absolutely no money to be made training people.
After “Pumping Iron” the gym culture started to evolve. Some for the better, some for the worse.
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They probably have one of these too…
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This is what I did with all my bars including the SSB. I couldn’t drill into the foundation walls as they are stone. I put 2x6’s from the top wood support and wedged it behind my platform. I got J-hooks from Home Depot. It works well.
I can’t store anything in a vertical stand because we don’t have the ceiling clearance.
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Looks awesome!!
question - how do you like the safety squat bar?
I’ve been thinking of getting one, since my shoulders complain whenever I have to hold on to the bar when I do back squats.
Great for the shoulders. As far as feel, just imagine that when you come out of the hole, your spotter gives you a little push forward right where the bar sits.
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SSBs are awesome, and Titan’s 2.0 is a killer product for the price. However, if you want something a little closer to the squat, I’d go with a buffalo/bow bar. The SSB can allow you to round real far forward and still hit a “squat”, whereas the buffalo bar won’t stand for that.
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Slightly bent bars make low bar back squats much easier. The bar can’t roll down your back. The Buffalo/Bow bar would be ideal.
Agree with this. I have used it for a meet prep in the past (just switched to a standard bar 4 weeks out). It is the closest specialty bar to a standard bar for the squat I have used, and it did enough for me in regards to shoulders and elbows.
Titan’s new duffalo style bar (Yukon bar) looks to be a pretty good value (it is just a rip off of the Kabuki Duffalo for 1/3 the price and free shipping).
@Edgy This. I find them significantly more difficult that a standard bar. Plus I generally squat to a box and do a full stop. Hard af but has helped my squat.
Bear in mind they are all different though. It depends on the position of the handles in relation to the the segments that depend from the end (cambers?) I’ve used some in gyms that aren’t that much different than a standard squat bar. With mine, because the handles and the cambers are in line, when you push on the handles it moves the cambers and plates further forward which intensifies the forward pull.
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I honestly have the opposite effect with them: I have to have the bar higher on my back than I do a barbell for risk of it sliding down. It won’t roll, but will just slide. For some reason, Ironmind didn’t put much knurling on their buffalo bar.
However, I appreciate that element of it, as I find the slightly higher bar position it forces me to take makes me stronger.
Thank you all!
this is good information - I appreciate your input.
It’s hell to get old, but I believe that squatting keeps us youngish.
Sure beats the alternative!
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Thats amazing!!!
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