Training Partners: A Thing of the Past?

Poll from T Nation Instagram.

Training partners are not feeling the love so far. What say you?

It’s all fun and games until you have to ā€˜break up’ with your shitty training partner…

It’s even worse if they’re one of your boys.

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I’ve had very very bad luck with training partners.

First one started sending me inappropriate pictures.

Second one thought we were more than gym friends

I have female friends at the gym now, but they have very different fitness goals than me so training together doesn’t make sense. They are also significantly taller than me so sharing racks and stuff isn’t convenient either even if we were on similar programmes

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I’ve only had one great training partner. I’d be pumped to recreate those old gym bro days, might actually make training enjoyable again. Don’t see it happening any time soon for me though.

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I’m right there with you. It was awesome to have the one, but it seems impossible now

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I’m literally right here.

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Hmm. I do want to try out your space tech bed…

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The hard part is finding one that will be one of three things:

  1. Defer to me for everything. They realize I’m more advanced and I just don’t want to put up with trying new moves they read about in Men’s Health. There are plenty of these, but the trick is they need to be close enough in ability to me to make it worth my while. And I need to like them.

  2. I defer to them for everything. Basically I see them as a ā€œcoachā€ who is better at things I want to be better at. These are easy to find is you’re willing to pay money, but kinda tough to find otherwise. Also, I need to like them.

  3. They are exactly the same as me. They pick the workout, I pick the workout, it’s all the same. They just make it easier to get through. These are very tough to find. Probably some on these boards, which is why we train alone and post Training Logs rather than searching for one of these matches.

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It’s time these days, with work I often change the time I workout so I couldn’t expect anyone to match my changes.

I’ve worked out on my own for the last 10 plus years but I do miss people helping with my form etc.

If only @TrainForPain and @Andrewgen_Receptors moved to little old England we’d be gym bffs :rofl:

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I had really good times with an old training crew. Throughout the week everybody was hit or miss with other obligations but saturday mornings were a blast.

It’s like a pack of dogs. A bunch are a lot stronger and more aggressive than any single one can be.

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I always get my best workouts in when the gym is close to empty. That said, I’ve met some really sound guys, and since I’ve stopped going to pubs and stuff it’s become one of the only ā€œsocialā€ places I go to. There are people that go the same times as me and it’s sometimes easier to enjoy the workout if there’s good company. Standing around chatting while hogging equipment is a no, but little chats between sets I enjoy. A ā€œtraining partnerā€ was good for accountability when starting out but over time I have seen too many fall by the wayside.

Even though I enjoyed it, sometimes too much chatting would turn a 1hr 15min session into 2hrs gone and still having stuff to do. Ultimately a training partner would only be good if you completely get eachother.

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I train early mornings and it’s the same crew every time. That’s perfect for me.

Not the same as a partner, because you choose your own workout and set your own pace, but they’ll call you out if you’re doing something half-assed (even if it’s in a joking way) and keep you honest. Plus you know whose advice you can trust because you see who puts it in and who doesn’t.

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Nah. I’ve always trained by myself. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have someone with whom to train, but I prefer the isolation. It’s one of the reasons I prefer archery hunting to other forms; I’d rather hunt by myself than be in camp with a bunch of other dudes. Plus my friends and I are pretty spread out in a rural area; it’d be tough for us to get together consistently.
Also, I would never presume to impose myself on anyone else. I’m so damned annoying they would hate me sooner rather than later.
This is the biggest reason I put the money into building my own weight room at my house.

I’ve extended the offer to train with me to anyone who asks.

Apparently, no one wants to come to my garage at 0330.

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I would be there if in near proximity, though I think i would slow your flow down.
I have found similar that no one wants to be at the gym with me or in my garage early AM.

I first started lifting with my uncle (who at one point benched 640lbs and trained with Mark Phillipe) and we had awesome sessions in his basement gym.

I wish I could find a training partner where we could commit to making one another better. This forum is the closest I have to that now.

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I mean, I’m a glutton for punishment, but i don’t think I want the smoke that comes with Pwnishment :sweat_smile:

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That’s legit what it boils down to. I’ve tried to help a few people train before, and I realized that people see this as an obligation rather than a calling and, in turn, will delay, stall and cancel. I got fed up with re-arranging my schedule to accommodate someone who doesn’t want to be there in the first place, so I decided I get to set the terms.

ā€œSure I’ll help you get in shape: I start lifting at 0400 in my garage. You’re welcome any timeā€

If someone actually showed up, they’ve at least shown a willingness to bypass the first ā€œbarrier to entryā€ there. They have some skin in the game.

That’s an awesome uncle to train with. It’s amazing how just a small head start like that can be so huge.

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It definitely changed my life. I went from the chubby weak kid (6’2, 245) who couldn’t bench a single plate to the strong kid who was being recruited for football and bench 3 plates less than 3 years later.
I still lack some self-confidence from growing up as the picked on nerd, but I truly believe I would have succumb to depression (unaliving myself) if it hadn’t been for weights and MMA.

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I’d sometimes lift with one guy in high school. We’re still best friends, but not really around each other enough or always consistent enough with our own training to make this a reality again, but it was awesome. We had similar levels of strength and a good dynamic. We were competetive enough with each other to push ourselves, but not enough to sour our relationship. For basically the past several years I’ve never found anyone who I’d want to train with, except maybe my brothers now that they’re older and getting into weights, but if I could recreate those high school days (the lifting part, not the high school part) I would.

I’ve read about stuff like this, probably in old TN articles, and always thought it sounded awesome. Makes me think of Pumping Iron scenes.

I have no idea where you live (something makes me want to say NE? in which case we’re actually somewhat close) but if I run across you one day I will 100% ask to come train with you. I’d consider it like lifting with Wendler or some other ā€œfamousā€ person.

ā€œYou know son, one time I trained with T3hPwnisher.ā€

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Sorry, too busy trying to do maths or coming up with research ideas