[quote]Croooz wrote:
There are a few old heads during the off peak hours, who just flat out know their stuff. They don’t squat, deadlift, or bench press. Years of abuse to joints have cost them and they are those big guys on the machines you usually see. These guys have the trophies, scars, and residual physiques from decades of lifting.[/quote]
Those guys are GREAT to listen to. Then make sure you don’t do what they did.
Bastard!
[quote]IronHell wrote:
It is only sensible that we all practice discretion and intellectual filtering when it comes to advices.
[/quote]
Advices? You remind me of Arnie in ‘Pumping Iron’! Arnie loved giving people ‘the wrong advices’.
My two cents - it sounded like you didn’t answer the guy’s question in the first place. You should have said “No, I’m not trying to do front squats.” - politely, but clearly.
Whenever I get advice about something like that I simply state “Thanks, I’ll look into it”. And then I get back to what I’m doing.
Bluntly, I’m the person I trust the most in the gym. All things considered, I might not be the best person to listen to, but I know why I’m doing things and I’m the one affected. So I won’t change anything without good reason.
One other thing: Any time I received good advice, it was always preceded by “Excuse me, but is there a reason you’re …”. They asked before they lectured.
It’s one thing to get “advice” while you’re working out. But when I first started doing personal training in a gym setting, the “heaad trainer” came up to me on my first day and said “If you get a free minute, find me and chat. If people see you talking to me, they’ll think you’re real smart.”
Three weeks later, I had a client doing 1-arm barbell turkish get-ups. That same dick walked by and said “What’s that?” I said “It’s called a turkish get-up. It works the whole body, from traps to toes.” He says “Oh, I’m definitely stealing that.” This is the same guy who threw a hissy fit until the owners bought 8 swiss balls, a slide board, and a crapload of “functional equipment”.
Being open-minded is one thing. But dealing with people who think they’re smarter than you, and have an urge to make that known, is something that shouldn’t have to be tolerated.
I have another story about a lame trainer I was working with who goes over to a young lady and tries to give her stretching advice. “You’ll never get flexible stretching like that, try doing it this way.” He happened to be speaking to Olympic figure skater Sarah Hughes…after she’d won the gold medal. Some people just “know” best, I suppose.
[quote]deanosumo wrote:
IronHell wrote:
It is only sensible that we all practice discretion and intellectual filtering when it comes to advices.
Advices? You remind me of Arnie in ‘Pumping Iron’! Arnie loved giving people ‘the wrong advices’.
[/quote]
Uhh, okay. Not sure where the link between Arnie and myself stands…
[quote]flynniec6 wrote:
My two cents - it sounded like you didn’t answer the guy’s question in the first place. You should have said “No, I’m not trying to do front squats.” - politely, but clearly.
One other thing: Any time I received good advice, it was always preceded by “Excuse me, but is there a reason you’re …”. They asked before they lectured.[/quote]
I did answer his question right away by saying “actually they are called Zercher squats” and going on to explain how I normally perform front squats but was trying something new I had seen.
I also talked about how the first trainer came up by saying “Excuse me, would you like a tip?” He then went on to give me a great tip. The second guy had kind of a negative attitude from the get go.
[quote]Croooz wrote:
I guess since I mentioned the size thing I need to clarify. In order to get a thought across completely it would require a book.
That being “said”. When you’ve been lifting 20 years, have size and say that you only listen to people with size…I think people with size understand. How many big guys actually go around giving advice? The most serious guys at the gym are hardly ever heard speaking. They come, work out and out the door they go. I’m not saying that sheer size equals knowing their stuff.
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This is true. I’ve very rarely received advice at the gym-by big guys or otherwise. When I have it’s usually been good. I was just saying it’s important to be knowledgeable enough to yourself to be able to determine if it’s good advice or not. In my experience, people don’t give advice very often unless someone’s form is blatantly wrong and/or they look like they’re putting themselves in danger.
Unless you’re a cute girl. Then you get tons of advice from ignorant assholes. Lifting is not even part of her regular exercise program, but my girlfriend says that she always gets unsolicited advice when she goes to lift. Most of it bad.
The people are are most “eager” to give others advice are those who have just gotten past the beginner stage and are headed into the intermediate stage. They have just enough development and or strength to stand out from the average person, but are still a few years away from being “impressive”. They have also obtained a certain level of knowledge along the way.
They seek to give advice in order to call attention to themselves and to be noticed (by the way-I AM speaking from personal experience here having done this on many, many occasions) Often this is done out of enthusiasm for their sport as well.
Most people sort of grow out of this phase, although some never seem to leave the “please notice me” stage and spend most of their adult lives wandering around in a perpetual state of self validation.
Remember in the book Pumping Iron, where Arnold talks about the guy who buys a BMW and wants to race everyone, but the guy who buys a Ferrari, just cruises down the road because he knows what he has under the hood.-same kind of thing with guys giving advice.
I have also found that the vast majority of people who ask me for advice ( or ask anyone, not just me) really dont want the advice, but are searching for someone who will agree with them.
[quote]Keith Wassung wrote:
I have also found that the vast majority of people who ask me for advice ( or ask anyone, not just me) really dont want the advice, but are searching for someone who will agree with them. [/quote]
BOOM!
What is this all about? Are people just lazy or too narrow minded? I have had several people ask me what I have done in the last year, as my appearance has changed significantly. They have asked for my advice. I don’t know of a single one that has actually done it. Why? Because the one consistent requirement for success is the very obstacle that 99.9% of people try to avoid …
hard work.
Bastard!
There are tens of thousands of people who want better strength, development and conditioning and they are totally committed to spending two or more hours a day, six days a week in training, they are willing to buy supplements, equipment, they are willing to do just about anything??except to include and embrace pain, fatigue and discomfort as necessary in their training. In fact, everything they do, everything they buy, every excuse they make is to avoid pain, fatigue and discomfort at all costs.
The closest thing that I know to a “lifting secret” is this: Once you are willing to be uncomfortable at times in your workout, it does not take long for you to get used to it, in fact you may look forward to it and thrive on it
[quote]Keith Wassung wrote:
There are tens of thousands of people who want better strength, development and conditioning and they are totally committed to spending two or more hours a day, six days a week in training, they are willing to buy supplements, equipment, they are willing to do just about anything??except to include and embrace pain, fatigue and discomfort as necessary in their training. In fact, everything they do, everything they buy, every excuse they make is to avoid pain, fatigue and discomfort at all costs.
The closest thing that I know to a “lifting secret” is this: Once you are willing to be uncomfortable at times in your workout, it does not take long for you to get used to it, in fact you may look forward to it and thrive on it[/quote]
Well said.
[quote]IronHell wrote:
deanosumo wrote:
IronHell wrote:
It is only sensible that we all practice discretion and intellectual filtering when it comes to advices.
Advices? You remind me of Arnie in ‘Pumping Iron’! Arnie loved giving people ‘the wrong advices’.
Uhh, okay. Not sure where the link between Arnie and myself stands…[/quote]
The plural of advice is advice, but in ‘Pumping Iron’, Arnie’s English is still a bit rough around the edges, so he keeps talking about ‘advices’.
[quote]IronHell wrote:
I suggest we all listen to what others have to say but take what they do say with a grain of salt, this includes the esteemed members of this beloved website we all frequent.
This by no means is meant to bash and/or discredit the hard work writers here have put into what they… well, write (I have been visiting this website faithfully for years now!) It is only sensible that we all practice discretion and intellectual filtering when it comes to advices. Realize that even the expert writers here have gone back on their words/theories/wisdoms. While for now they may say one thing, this does not automatically make that the ultimate truth.
So take some time, think about what the old guy say, acknowledge the fact that there may be SOME truth to what he said and move on. It is up to you to weigh the pros and cons of each exercise (hell, each action in your life) to deem if it is worth it. For example, lifting PERIOD may be arguably be “hard” on your body, but the benefits to many far outweigh this slight offense. Or if you walk around withOUT a gas mask on in downtown LA, it could be detrimental to your lungs, but the compromise is the inconvenience, silly looks, etc. You get the idea.
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Good post!