AH. Nothing better than joining a new, better gym !. I?ve been stuck at a small under equipped gym for about 5 years. I went there out of convenience. I?m 35. been working out for years, got a fair amount of muscle but definitely not huge. I?ve kept with the basics, squat, bench press, etc. all old-school, good all around proven compound movements. Couldn?t do much as far as ?21st century? workout equipment, since there very little. The location kept me going and consistent. Workouts started to suck, but it was better than nothing. Then I hear of another great gym being built just as convenient ! This place ends up being the Wal-Mart of fitness centers !! if this gym didn?t have it, you didn?t need it !!.. I?ve been having some great workouts over the past couple of months and dropped about 18 pounds.
But you know what gets me ? there are a lot of HUGE juiced up guys (and gals) there, and I?ve yet to see any one of them squat, deadlift, flat bench, military press, etc. they seem to love dumbbells, smith machines and leg presses, but they?re still huge. Being working out under a rock for so many years, what in the hell have I been missing (if anything worth missing???)
Your not missing anything and all those 21st century machines just take up valuable space… We have a gold’s with two Benchs and 85 cardio machines… Now that is balance… Oh, one squat rack… It is pretty much a joke. I am actually looking for a small hardcore gym to join… You don’t need all the foo foo stuff.
Yo Podge, I can totally relate. I have seen this guy in my gym for the past two weeks who looks like he could be on the cover of a Bodybuilding rag gotta have 18 inch arms and I have seen him struggling with 80 pound dumbbells on incline bench. Now who knows his story, he could be coming back from an injury or any other of a number of things, but it makes you think.
As far as the mass monsters who are only using the machines and dumbbells, they could have used the squats and dead-lifts to get their size and are only maintaining now. Just one theory or they are all genetically gifted.
I myself am 34 and I am just reaching my best look and weight numbers. And yup, it’s dead-lifts, squats, presses, pulls, and chin ups, not to mention constantly cooking and making sure I have adequate food available and rest! I will have pics coming soon! You know I go to a 24hr fitness and I have never seen anyone there squat over 225 or dead lift at all and this is in the evening peak time! I see some guys come in and do chest three times a week, funny!
[quote]Podge wrote:
But you know what gets me ? there are a lot of HUGE juiced up guys (and gals) there, and I?ve yet to see any one of them squat, deadlift, flat bench, military press, etc. they seem to love dumbbells, smith machines and leg presses, but they?re still huge. Being working out under a rock for so many years, what in the hell have I been missing (if anything worth missing???)
[/quote]
Squats are best for overall leg development, however, they are NOT necessary. For people with back problems, especially those who have already built a base of size, leg presses and hack squats can substitute and produce great results if not better in some cases. That means squats don’t dictate whether you can get big and stay that way or not.
I don’t deadlift. I think it is a great movement, but I usually stick to the T-Bar row and other rowing movements. Again, deadlifts are not necessary for good development. There are substitutes. It is a great power movement and most will see decent results from them, however, they are not the be all end all of back development.
I don’t use the flat bench at all. I haven’t used it in years. I used dumbbells until recently and saw better growth with them for chest.
I stay away from barbell military presses (aside from doing them sometimes on a Smith Machine) out of fear of a shoulder injury…that most people who are serious have experienced after training for years. I have not had any shoulder injuries and I would like to keep it that way. I use the HS machines for this as well as the Cybex overhead press (the plate loaded machine).
The bottom line is, you are critiquing people who you imply are much more developed than you for their choice of exercises. If it works for them, perhaps you could learn something instead of trying to only look at faults. You act as if it is impossible for them to get big without doing the exercises you listed. Have you gotten big from those exercises? I think that is a better question.
I agree with you guys that there are some (ok a lot) of 21st century machines that do nothing more than take up space. But there are some that are of value, especially for people who have had past injury. For myself it is not safe to do barbel overhead press, but with the smith machine I am able to do so. Now it is not counted as a core, but it is a good swap with any small isolation movement. Same can be said for leg press and hack squat machines. Also I think it was pudge that suggested that dumbells were the only thing the big guys use at his new gym, well they are a good choice one should always swap between BB and DB movements.
An for who ever said that gold’s has 300 treadmills for one squate cage I fell your pain. It drives me nuts to see this too !
[quote]Professor X wrote:
Squats are best for overall leg development, however, they are NOT necessary. For people with back problems, especially those who have already built a base of size, leg presses and hack squats can substitute and produce great results if not better in some cases. That means squats don’t dictate whether you can get big and stay that way or not.
I don’t deadlift. I think it is a great movement, but I usually stick to the T-Bar row and other rowing movements. Again, deadlifts are not necessary for good development. There are substitutes. It is a great power movement and most will see decent results from them, however, they are not the be all end all of back development.
I don’t use the flat bench at all. I haven’t used it in years. I used dumbbells until recently and saw better growth with them for chest.
I stay away from barbell military presses (aside from doing them sometimes on a Smith Machine) out of fear of a shoulder injury…that most people who are serious have experienced after training for years. I have not had any shoulder injuries and I would like to keep it that way. I use the HS machines for this as well as the Cybex overhead press (the plate loaded machine).
The bottom line is, you are critiquing people who you imply are much more developed than you for their choice of exercises. If it works for them, perhaps you could learn something instead of trying to only look at faults. You act as if it is impossible for them to get big without doing the exercises you listed. Have you gotten big from those exercises? I think that is a better question.[/quote]
I didn’t say it’s impossible that a person can not get big without these basic movements, I just find it odd that these people aren’t doing these basic lifts. (or maybe I’ve not been around enough to see them). I’m not talking about 1 or 2 individuals. There’s a lot of big guys in there.
Professor X, another good thing about this gym, too, is that I can do a lot more different things which is great for re-motivating and to also give my old abused joints a much needed rest. For example, this place has a good t-bar set-up that I’ve not gotten to use in years and I’m loving it. They also have a contraption that simulates the squat movement that I’ve been using more of. I realize there’s more ways than one to get big, but just suprizing that the basics aren’t seen much in ‘that’ gym. This new place with new/different equipment and people is still very motivating, and that’s what’s most important for me.
The gym I go to is similiar. No one seems to do any lower body work (maybe a little) and lots and lots of bench/curl syndrome. But I agree totally with Professor X, there are lots of ways to get big besides the classic lifts. Most of the biggest guys I know don’t do mostly compound ground based movements. They isolate a lot. I think if you are talking pure strength training or athletic training its another story, but for size I have seen too many people that are very big who never did a deadlift in their life. Personally I am more interested in athletic type workouts but I am not sold on the idea that to get big you can scrap all the other smaller movements.
I’m really surprised, sometimes, by what I have found.
I go to 24-Hour Fitness. Yeah, chain…
But it’s a really large 24HF. It has the whole compliment of machines in the main area.
But the free-weight room is just as big. They have three dedicated flat benches (as in set up for bench presses, in addition to four free-standing flat benches), two dedicated incline benches along with two free incline and two free decline benches, two squat racks, yes of course two Smith machines. At least two pair of every dumbell, up to about 125lbs. A whole compliment of Hammer Strength machines. Two complete four-sided cable tower pairs (as in four total towers). I guess this is not normal for a chain?
The only thing lacking (that I’ve noticed so far) is cambered or “safety” squat bars and easy hookups for bands or chains.