Tonight I was in the gym and this guy that is a regular. You know the type that thinks he knows everything and walks around with Under Armor on. Thinking he is huge when he is really not and if he was as big as he thought he couldn’t fit through the door.
Well I was in my routine we he just started dropping dumbbells after a set of dumbbell curls. Every set the same thing. Then onto the preacher curl station the same thing.
Normally I wouldn’t say anything and I would go about my workout. Tonight was different because I have had dumbbells break on me while doing a chest press and it was not fun. Any way I was polite and asked him to stop dropping the dumbbells because I have seen to many of them break over the years and explained what had happend to me and I didn’t want it to happen again.
Needless to say he stated that he has been lifting for a long time and never seen that happen before. So he continued on dropping them. I actually wanted to go over and shove it up his backside, but I was polite and he still continued. So I asked the guy working there about it and he said he couldn’t do anything about it. I was stunned at his comment, he even went on to say this other guy throws them worse then him.
I have lifted in 10+ gyms in the past 10-15 years and not one of them ever let you drop dumbbells.
So my question to the T-Nation is am I right or did I do the wrong thing by saying something to him?
I think what you did was okay because you were polite and didn’t make a big fucking deal about it. The fact that he continued doing it makes him a douche.
The guy that works at the gym sounds like a chicken shit biatch for saying he can’t do anything about it.
Obviously you did the right thing about confronting him about dropping the dumbbells. I’m surprised the guy working at the desk didn’t do anything. There is no point in going over to him and pushing him up against the wall just because he was dropping the dumbbells.
People would of saw, thinking you were some type of jerk and you probably would of got thrown out of the gym if the guy saw. I personally feel you did the right thing; I also think the guy at the desk is a jackass though for not doing anything.
How heavy are these dumbells? At any rate, it’s just a matter of time until a dumbell drops onto somebody’s foot or rolls into someone’s leg during a big lift.
in the gym I go to I cant even do floor presses and olympic lifts arent allowed, and you have to do deadlifts in the tiny power rack forget about bands or chains they dont even have a box to squat off of…
if I droped dumbells here I would be attacked by swarms of 130lb long distance runners wearing spandex
Personally I’ve never seen a dumbbell break but I have seen them become loose at the bolt that is supposed to be permanently fixed.
One of the good things about DBs is that you can bail out on them when you reach failure without having to worry about a bar crushing your trachea. That being said, there are very few moves I can think of where you would actually have to literally drop the things without any control.
Any jackass dropping them doing a bicep curl is either lazy or more likely wants the attention.
Either way you are right to approach him politely first and then go to management…both for the safety and equipment abuse reason.
I often drop dumbells when im doing Flat Bench Dumbell Press. The only reason is that i can’t sit up with the weight and put them down gently, and if i try to put them down slowly whilst laying down, it feels lik my arms are going to rip off. Am i wrong?
[quote]medevac wrote:
Personally I’ve never seen a dumbbell break but I have seen them become loose at the bolt that is supposed to be permanently fixed.
…[/quote]
I saw a 25 pound dumbbell break a week or two ago. Only one I have ever been present when it happens but I know of others that have broken.
It sucks because they usually aren’t replaced quickly.
[quote]AdamC wrote:
I often drop dumbells when im doing Flat Bench Dumbell Press. The only reason is that i can’t sit up with the weight and put them down gently, and if i try to put them down slowly whilst laying down, it feels lik my arms are going to rip off. Am i wrong?[/quote]
Easy fix…with your arms in the locked position semi supinate the db, bring knees up until they touch the db, use the momentum of the db falling onto the knees and it will pull you into a sitting position with db’s on knees…then you can gently put them on the floor…all under control.
[quote]scotty144 wrote:
AdamC wrote:
I often drop dumbells when im doing Flat Bench Dumbell Press. The only reason is that i can’t sit up with the weight and put them down gently, and if i try to put them down slowly whilst laying down, it feels lik my arms are going to rip off. Am i wrong?
Easy fix…with your arms in the locked position semi supinate the db, bring knees up until they touch the db, use the momentum of the db falling onto the knees and it will pull you into a sitting position with db’s on knees…then you can gently put them on the floor…all under control.[/quote]
That’s exactly what I do, I do it SMOOTHLY too. Feels really cool when I’m doing it I’ve never seen anyone else do it like that though.
It’s funny the machismo some people have. Sorry to use an outdated word like ‘machismo’…but it just fits.
Why ‘machismo’? Because I see people dropping the DBs at my gym all the time too, and they’re usually the 40s or 50s only.
I’m sure it’s done for attention “Look at me! I’m tuff!”…wait a minute…think it through…if you were so tough, you’d be lifting heanier, and with enough strength to PUT IT DOWN nicely.
I also use the method buddy posted a few posts up on getting back up from DB bench with DBs…the heaviest I’ve ever used is the 95s though.
[quote]StevenF wrote:
scotty144 wrote:
AdamC wrote:
I often drop dumbells when im doing Flat Bench Dumbell Press. The only reason is that i can’t sit up with the weight and put them down gently, and if i try to put them down slowly whilst laying down, it feels lik my arms are going to rip off. Am i wrong?
Easy fix…with your arms in the locked position semi supinate the db, bring knees up until they touch the db, use the momentum of the db falling onto the knees and it will pull you into a sitting position with db’s on knees…then you can gently put them on the floor…all under control.
That’s exactly what I do, I do it SMOOTHLY too. Feels really cool when I’m doing it I’ve never seen anyone else do it like that though.
[/quote]
Me too. Although I do accept the fact that it’s better to drop them than wreck your shoulders in the rare case where you have really gone to failure and just can’t control them.