Sick of Your Gym: GBF

Off Topic
101

[quote]Professor X wrote:
kroc30 wrote:
slimjim wrote:
i don’t know if this is true of other gyms. is monday’s not the worst day for your chest workout to fall on? i have noticed that when the week starts off the gym is super packed with everyone taking up the benches, and by thrusday there’re half the people that started off the week lifting.

Monday and Friday = Chest and Bis - Everyother day is optional for those morons.

The gym I used to train at in Texas was built right next door to a nightclub. The funniest thing is watching guys working out while wearing club shirts or vests just so they could pump up right before they would walk next door and jump in line. Friday nights can’t get much more stupid than that.[/quote]

This I am sad to say takes place in Jersey all the fucking time. I knew guys that did this.

102

[quote]Jersey5150 wrote:

Hopefully RITJared will post what he saw this summer… what I can only call the mysterious box squat and the stradle bench press spot. [/quote]

I’ll bite.

#1: We’ll call this the “Elevated Box Squat”

I’m doing weighted lunges over by the power rack. I look over and lo and behold there’s a guy setting up to do box squats. Glory be! I was very excited to watch and was crossing my fingers that this guy knew what the fuck he was doing.

Well he puts 135 on the bar, unracks it, then STEPS UP ONTO the box, proceeds to do a set of 8 decent squats, then steps down from the box and re-racks it.

To this day I still can’t figure out what the box was for, and not asking him to explain is one of the 7 things in my life that I regret.

#2: The Very Upsetting Spotting Technique

I was going through my TBT workout this summer and watching these two clowns do their “Chest” workout, which was a conglomeration of awkward flye movements and dumbell bench lockouts. I say “dumbell bench lockouts” because they were only really utilizing the top 5-6 inches of their range of motion. Anyway, last but not least, barbell bench press.

Let me just prefix this by saying that I think EVERYONE knows basically how to spot a bench press, and if you don’t, then the first time you walk into a commercial gym, you will see the technique repeated about a thousand times an hour. On most benches there is even a spotter’s platform so there is no confusion as to where s/he should stand.

I had just started one of my last sets of lateral raises when something caught my eye from the general vacinity of the bench pressers. I regained my concentration, finished my reps, and set the weights on the floor. I then glanced over at the bench press and what I saw can only be described as the gayest thing I have ever willingly looked at.

Dude #1 is bench pressing-- shoddy half-reps with a little over 175lbs. Bar is wobbling. Feet are dancing around on the floor. Hips thrust skyward with every exertion. Face torqued like he’s trying to date-rape a rhinoceros. Pretty normal.

Dude # 2 is spotting, not from the designated spotting platform, mind you, but STRADDLING Dude #1’s abdomen region. His motivational banter ranges from “Do it! Comeon!” to “Yeah buddy, hit that shit!”.

I sure hope they wiped the bench down when they were done.

103

[quote]RIT Jared wrote:
Dude #1 is bench pressing-- shoddy half-reps with a little over 175lbs. Bar is wobbling. Feet are dancing around on the floor. Hips thrust skyward with every exertion. Face torqued like he’s trying to date-rape a rhinoceros. Pretty normal.

Dude # 2 is spotting, not from the designated spotting platform, mind you, but STRADDLING Dude #1’s abdomen region. His motivational banter ranges from “Do it! Comeon!” to “Yeah buddy, hit that shit!”.

I sure hope they wiped the bench down when they were done.[/quote]

That is just lack of common sense. I have never seen anyone spot like that, including newbies. Beyond the “gayness” of the act, I don’t understand walking into a gym and not observing how other people train at all.

104

You know it just hit me what has irritated me most about my gym:

I hate that they NEVER STOP SIGNING UP MEMBERS…

That shit annoys me. They are on a constant sign-up.

And the gym is full enough.

I want a gym that only signs up so many people. After they have enough people to hit a certain profit/growth paradigm - they cut it off and start a waiting list.

People who never show up would lose their membership. They can join Bally’s, and never show up, just like most of the other members of Bally’s.

People would possibly reserve certain hours in the gym, just like a racquetball court.

Between 7pm and 7:45pm, Joe Davis has power rack #3 reserved.

Everytime I hear the words “Special Price for New Members” or some other special that is bound to bring tons of new people into my gym, I grit my teeth in frustration.

105

[quote]horny yoda wrote:
You know it just hit me what has irritated me most about my gym:

I hate that they NEVER STOP SIGNING UP MEMBERS…

That shit annoys me. They are on a constant sign-up.

And the gym is full enough.

I want a gym that only signs up so many people. After they have enough people to hit a certain profit/growth paradigm - they cut it off and start a waiting list.

People who never show up would lose their membership. They can join Bally’s, and never show up, just like most of the other members of Bally’s.

People would possibly reserve certain hours in the gym, just like a racquetball court.

Between 7pm and 7:45pm, Joe Davis has power rack #3 reserved.

Everytime I hear the words “Special Price for New Members” or some other special that is bound to bring tons of new people into my gym, I grit my teeth in frustration.[/quote]

I went to the gym this morning for cardio…and EVERY treadmill, elliptical trainer and bike was taken up. Maybe 2 or 3 people were regulars or looked like they train. The rest seemed to all be newcomers. This shit never happens around August. Screw Gold’s.

The real question is, why don’t the people who buy memberships, use them for two months and then quit just DONATE their payments to someone who will use them? There have to be a shitload of un-used memberships with payments being made on them on the off chance the couch potato in question may actually go train again one day. Give to the fucking needy!

106

[quote]Bad John wrote:
The other day, I see these 2 guys doing overhead pressing using a smith machine. They were spotting each other.

The old women who use “my” free weights rack as a pedestal to put their towel (which they never use),drink, and cell phone on.

People who use the dip station for leg lifts.

I see this one guy using wrist wraps during squats. What gives? On the same note, I don’t understand the people who wear the belts, wraps,and other stuff doing this light lifting. I see guys using belts who are doing preacher curls with like 10 lb. plates on an easy curl bar. Like the other guy says. Straps for everything. People sure are funny.

[/quote]

Wrist wraps are a good idea if you’re doing low bar squats; that is if you value wrist health. The reason for this is that you have to pull the bar into your back, since it’s in a more precarious position. Go to a pl meet sometime, all the squatters wear wrist wraps.

Oh, got another submission: baseball players spotting each other on a shoulder press machine.

And Horny Yoda, any gym that refuses money people give to it will never make it.

107

[quote]Jersey5150 wrote:
Professor X wrote:
kroc30 wrote:
slimjim wrote:
i don’t know if this is true of other gyms. is monday’s not the worst day for your chest workout to fall on? i have noticed that when the week starts off the gym is super packed with everyone taking up the benches, and by thrusday there’re half the people that started off the week lifting.

Monday and Friday = Chest and Bis - Everyother day is optional for those morons.

The gym I used to train at in Texas was built right next door to a nightclub. The funniest thing is watching guys working out while wearing club shirts or vests just so they could pump up right before they would walk next door and jump in line. Friday nights can’t get much more stupid than that.

This I am sad to say takes place in Jersey all the fucking time. I knew guys that did this.[/quote]

Oh yea. Every guido bastard that does pushups before the club to get a pump…damn’em all to hell. I had one retard tell me he did 100 pullups outside of Hooters when he was meeting a girl there…I just smiled, “100 huh…that’s alot of pushups (you tool)”.

108

Another thing that bothers me is guys that need a partner for elaborate warmup or other exercises (usually involving medicine balls or swiss balls) or a spot, and instead of working out with a friend ask complete strangers to do it. If you need someone to throw a medicine ball at you for five minutes bring a friend and work out together, likewise if you want someone to spot you on 5 sets of weighted chin ups.

I don’t go to the gym to make friends and compromise my workouts by doing favours for some oxygen thief I’ve never met before. Bring a friend if you want reciprocated altruism.

109

[quote]RIT Jared wrote:
#2: The Very Upsetting Spotting Technique

I was going through my TBT workout this summer and watching these two clowns do their “Chest” workout, which was a conglomeration of awkward flye movements and dumbell bench lockouts. I say “dumbell bench lockouts” because they were only really utilizing the top 5-6 inches of their range of motion. Anyway, last but not least, barbell bench press.

Let me just prefix this by saying that I think EVERYONE knows basically how to spot a bench press, and if you don’t, then the first time you walk into a commercial gym, you will see the technique repeated about a thousand times an hour. On most benches there is even a spotter’s platform so there is no confusion as to where s/he should stand.

I had just started one of my last sets of lateral raises when something caught my eye from the general vacinity of the bench pressers. I regained my concentration, finished my reps, and set the weights on the floor. I then glanced over at the bench press and what I saw can only be described as the gayest thing I have ever willingly looked at.

Dude #1 is bench pressing-- shoddy half-reps with a little over 175lbs. Bar is wobbling. Feet are dancing around on the floor. Hips thrust skyward with every exertion. Face torqued like he’s trying to date-rape a rhinoceros. Pretty normal.

Dude # 2 is spotting, not from the designated spotting platform, mind you, but STRADDLING Dude #1’s abdomen region. His motivational banter ranges from “Do it! Comeon!” to “Yeah buddy, hit that shit!”.

I sure hope they wiped the bench down when they were done.[/quote]

You think THAT’s gay? Have I got a story for you…

I lifted at a small college gym, and it was good. There were one or two somewhat strong people there, I was weak but getting stronger, there was a power rack, and there were kettlebells, and it was good. Then we built an oly lifting platform and the gym bought bumper plates, and it was very good. And then a freshman shows up.

He is a HIT Jedi - at 6’ tall, he weighs a hulking 155 pounds of Arthur Jones-forged muscle. He does not perform olympic lifts or powerlift because he wants functional muscle, not muscle for lifting heavy weights. He has squatted - GASP! - 135 pounds for 50 reps! [Best I ever saw him do was less than 20, 20-rep squat style]. Purros Dimas has got nothin’ on this guy.

All this by way of prelude. Now, the gayness cometh… [Not that there’s anything wrong with that!]

Everything is just honky-dory until he decides to teach one of the other freshman how to lift. They go through all the obligatory cornerstones of functional fitness - the curl, the triceps pressdown, and so on… Then, they both squat.

I have just finished doing your average oly back squats; not particularly impressive, ass-to-grass and flat-backed with a fast descent and rise. Sets of 1-5. A few reps are heavy and the pins are set just in case. After the Jedi Master finishes giving grief about squatting so fast and for low reps, they start to squat in the power cage.

It starts out pretty good. HIT Neophyte steps under the squat bar, which has been loaded to 135 pounds, unracks it awkwardly on nonexistent traps (oly pulls and deadlifts are not functional), and starts to descend. He goes deep - not ass-to-grass, but below parallel. His back rounds as he slowly passes parallel, and he wobbles.

But he is not alone in his hour of need! The HIT Jedi is squatting in tandem with him, just a few inches behind him, crowding the power cage, hands poised right by the squatter’s… ‘hips.’

He makes the rep. At first the spotting is silent. After a couple more reps there is spoken encouragement:

‘You got it.’

‘Come on.’

Pretty normal. Another rep or two, and he starts shouting:

‘Good!’

‘Push through it!’

The bar slows down, and the bar path starts wobbling all over the place. Back rounds something nasty and leans forward to a PL angle at Oly depth. Still the Jedi does not spot his partner, but simply remains poised with his hips right behind his partner’s ass… sorta savoring the moment, I guess. The encouragement gets more vocal:

‘PUSH IT!’

‘COME ON, HARDER!’

I kid you not. Not a lot of things could distract me from an oly workout, but that was most definitely worth it. Later, they held 45 pound plates on raised knees for time. Good exercise, but the dialogue was inevitably:

‘GET IT UP! COME ON, GET IT UP! KEEP IT UP THERE! YEAH!’

110

Okay, today I saw something at my gym that really made it hard for me to focus.

In the gym I go to, there is a separate room away from the weights where the housewives have their step aerobics classes. The room is hardwood and three walls are mirrored. Anyways, I was in there warming up and doing some plyos when a middle aged Japanese guy comes in with his own stereo and turns it up loud, and guess what it’s playing…salsa music.

The man then begins practicing his salsa dance moves for all of 30+ minutes. It was impossible for me to stay focused during depth jumps and I couldn’t help but stare at his awkward steps.

Again, it’s the weirdest thing I’ve seen yet. After that he didn’t go lift, or even spend time on a cardio machine. He just came to the gym to dance. Anayway, it was WEIRD.

111

[quote]Professor X wrote:

I went to the gym this morning for cardio…and EVERY treadmill, elliptical trainer and bike was taken up. Maybe 2 or 3 people were regulars or looked like they train. The rest seemed to all be newcomers. This shit never happens around August. Screw Gold’s.
[/quote]

Chalk that up to “New Year’s Resolution,” there should definitely be a maximum quota set. I mean they don’t let more people than seats to board an airplane.

Being overcrowded makes it difficult to get a workout done, especially when you have a guy with a bad attitude on the same machine for 60 sets of 10 repetitions with 30 lbs.

The problem hits the cardiovascular equipment most harshly, as most people with this “new found determination” are to be found on any machine that walks or rides for them.

112

[quote]Professor X wrote:
horny yoda wrote:
You know it just hit me what has irritated me most about my gym:

I hate that they NEVER STOP SIGNING UP MEMBERS…

That shit annoys me. They are on a constant sign-up.

And the gym is full enough.

I want a gym that only signs up so many people. After they have enough people to hit a certain profit/growth paradigm - they cut it off and start a waiting list.

People who never show up would lose their membership. They can join Bally’s, and never show up, just like most of the other members of Bally’s.

People would possibly reserve certain hours in the gym, just like a racquetball court.

Between 7pm and 7:45pm, Joe Davis has power rack #3 reserved.

Everytime I hear the words “Special Price for New Members” or some other special that is bound to bring tons of new people into my gym, I grit my teeth in frustration.

I went to the gym this morning for cardio…and EVERY treadmill, elliptical trainer and bike was taken up. Maybe 2 or 3 people were regulars or looked like they train. The rest seemed to all be newcomers. This shit never happens around August. Screw Gold’s.

The real question is, why don’t the people who buy memberships, use them for two months and then quit just DONATE their payments to someone who will use them? There have to be a shitload of un-used memberships with payments being made on them on the off chance the couch potato in question may actually go train again one day. Give to the fucking needy![/quote]

X - Same problem here this morning. Actually in our paper this morning, in the health and fitness section there was a quote from Social Lifter Paradise (IE: Bally’s) that for every million people they sign up, only 28,000 stay. Pathetic. When I worked at a Powerhouse out here, the owner used to beg for those people. Free money, no worn out equipment!!!

113

Full cardio machines are bad, yes, but as I am getting my bulk on, it doesn’t bother me so much.

What is curently making me want to buy a shovel and some quick-lime is having to ask four NYRM’s a workout to RERACK THEIR FUCKING WEIGHTS! And, then…getting a snotty attitude from the miscreant who left seven 10’s on the seated calf machine because I had the sheer, unmitigated gall to ask him to clean up after himself.

114

[quote]harris447 wrote:
Full cardio machines are bad, yes, but as I am getting my bulk on, it doesn’t bother me so much.

What is curently making me want to buy a shovel and some quick-lime is having to ask four NYRM’s a workout to RERACK THEIR FUCKING WEIGHTS! And, then…getting a snotty attitude from the miscreant who left seven 10’s on the seated calf machine because I had the sheer, unmitigated gall to ask him to clean up after himself.
[/quote]

Worse are the ones who put a 10lbs dumbbell underneath 2-25lb’ers and a 45. That means you have to take off ALL of the weight just to get back to the 45 because I suppose the person before me just couldn’t comprehend anyone using more weight than that.

115

[quote]harris447 wrote:
Full cardio machines are bad, yes, but as I am getting my bulk on, it doesn’t bother me so much.

What is curently making me want to buy a shovel and some quick-lime is having to ask four NYRM’s a workout to RERACK THEIR FUCKING WEIGHTS! And, then…getting a snotty attitude from the miscreant who left seven 10’s on the seated calf machine because I had the sheer, unmitigated gall to ask him to clean up after himself.
[/quote]

When I was working at this gym, we used to have a similar problem, except a certain personal trainer over there was the one causing the most trouble since it was him and most of his clients leaving the shit on. My last night working at this place, I took all the shit they had left around the gym during the day (he was notorious for using 2 1/2’s and 5’s) and piled it all in front of his office door so he had to put everything away the next morning.

116

[quote]Professor X wrote:
That is just lack of common sense. I have never seen anyone spot like that, including newbies. Beyond the “gayness” of the act, I don’t understand walking into a gym and not observing how other people train at all.[/quote]

Really? A lack of common sense? I never see that in gyms today. I mean really there’s loads of common sense in pre-exhausting the biceps before maxing out on pull-ups and other such nonsense.

What I just don’t get is why weightlifting seems to be the only sport with an utter distaste for simple reasoning. I mean look at golf. The sport is essentially taught the same way-- you either learn from a professional or from your buddy. But you don’t have guys trying to swing the wrong end of the club, or teeing off with the putter.

Then you’ve got guys trying to gain weight taking advice from guys that are smaller than they are, and guys that are trying to lose weight taking advice from guys that are fatter than they are. If I wanted to improve my short game, I wouldn’t go talk to the guy who I hadn’t seen make a putt in 3 months.

117

I lift at a gym full of serious athletes, it’s a revelation.

I used to train at fitness first and was always in the queue behind a bunch of 100lb indian kids saying “I is doin 200 curlies today man innit, I is gonna be masseeeeeve”

118

I see stacks of stupid shit every day. Like the guy doing explosive side bends with 25kg DBs in each hand. It’s a movement standing for your obliques which can put a lot of pressure on your lower back.

And he was doing them explosive. With a bounce. That’s real smart. His TUT was about 000.

I echo what someone above said about common sense going out the door in the gym. Today I saw a not very big guy setting up to do an 80kg bench press, which is not bad. After seeing him bounce 4 reps off his chest I had to look away, I was getting empathy pains in my own chest.

But noone hassles me, the closest thing to a hassle was when I was setting up to do cleans and these dudes set up a bench right behind. They gave me a dirty look when I asked them to move but still moved for me.

The reason why I won’t renew my membership is that there are no collars for the olympic barbells and they refuse to buy new ones. I asked the PT there today to put in a word about getting new ones and he said “what’s a collar?” I thought that alone was worth the price of admission.

119

[quote]RIT Jared wrote:
Professor X wrote:
That is just lack of common sense. I have never seen anyone spot like that, including newbies. Beyond the “gayness” of the act, I don’t understand walking into a gym and not observing how other people train at all.

Really? A lack of common sense? I never see that in gyms today. I mean really there’s loads of common sense in pre-exhausting the biceps before maxing out on pull-ups and other such nonsense.

What I just don’t get is why weightlifting seems to be the only sport with an utter distaste for simple reasoning. I mean look at golf. The sport is essentially taught the same way-- you either learn from a professional or from your buddy. But you don’t have guys trying to swing the wrong end of the club, or teeing off with the putter.

Then you’ve got guys trying to gain weight taking advice from guys that are smaller than they are, and guys that are trying to lose weight taking advice from guys that are fatter than they are. If I wanted to improve my short game, I wouldn’t go talk to the guy who I hadn’t seen make a putt in 3 months.[/quote]

I am more than sure part of that is due to the same issue we have had here as far as many thinking that guys with size on them are nonfunctional or clueless. That entire concept has to be the most backwards thinking possible. However, I have no doubt there are probably many newbies walking into gyms thinking that since they read an article, they know more than people twice their size who have been training for 10+ years.

120

In the golf analogy most new players will have seen golf on TV, but while most will have seen a bodybuilder on TV few will have seen someone squat or deadlift heavy on TV, let alone perform all the exercises properly, weight training is in that respect relatively underground compared to other sports, hence the stupidity !

Even worse than the flood of NYRMs on cardio is seeing them doing their first weight session with a “trainer”. I had the misfortune to observe a keen youingster put through the following workout (all on machines of course)
leg press 40kgs? x 10 s/set crunches
chest press 15kgs x 10 s/set crunches
shoulder press 15 kgs x 10 s/set crunches

Now given that this kid apparantly can only use 15kgs on the chest press you’d know that he can’t do press ups right but the trainer then goes on to put him through 5 sets of 10 press ups all superseted with , you guessed crunches. These press ups were no more than a 2 inch shoulder shrug. I really feel like saying to the kid, “look just come and sit in the gym and watch the stronger guys and you’ll learn more in an hour for free then this guy will teach you.”