they are probably all doing westside speed day
Only 55 % of their max. Therefore all those weak ‘regulars’ bench like 400 pounds.
Interesting thread. I find it funny that some say they get motivation from others and it inspires the to lift harder, more, etc. Considering that a workout should be planned and the weights used should be planned well before arriving at the gym, altering training weights according to the environment you are in has faults. Winging it has its merits but isn’t the essence of being a T-person (P.C.ness) seeking opimization?
who cares, it’s not a contest…those who consider it one should get a life outside of the gym
Greig has a good point, people doing EDT, GVT, a King-type limping program or any of a number of different types of workout would not be using any where near maximal weights. Even before EDT I rarely trained above about 75% because I don’t have a spotter and can’t risk injury. Pay attention to your own workout…
consider yourself lucky. at the gym i train at, people don’t even know what those exercises are!
Personally, I like to go to the gym during off-peak hours when NO plates but MY plates are moving. But, if I’m going to have some company, I’d rather it be somebody bigger and stronger than me…that’s why I train at the low-profile gym I mentioned earlier.
When you start reppin' deads with 315 and everyone stops and stares (whether it's the 315 or the fact that they never seen the movement before, I'm not sure) it gets kinda annoying. In the same way, when a guy asks you to "work in" and then throws 2 more 45's on the bar; it motivates you. Doesn't mean your gonna try to pull 405, but it's profitable to your workout.
Also, there are times when you just don't feel like going to the gym (especially during the second week of an androgen cycle), but as soon as you step into a hardcore gym and see the weight going up, along with the grunts, high 5's, and phrases like "That's it, push it out...good set nigga," you get motivated to hit your workout pretty hard. If I would have went to the Y in that situation, I would have felt like getting the hell out of there about 15 minutes into my workout.
To answer your question, you’re not going to a freak gym because that’s the way most gyms are these days. My first few years of lifting were in a 20’x40’ “iron” gym. There were atleast a half dozen guys who could squat 500 and squat 700. Has anyone here seen a bar bend because a guy’s squating over 800 pounds? It’s pretty amazing. That gym closed down. About 90% of the gyms I’ve been to since are just like yours. At these gyms a lot of people watch me when I work out with 300 to 400 pounds deadlifting. While a 400 lb deadlift is respectable for a 185 lb guy, it certainly is nothing to brag about and people shouldn’t be staring. Natt the Hat
You are right!!! In other sports it is you against your opponent. But in the gym it is you against youself. Your only opponent is you. Now if you are competing then the competition does not even come into play until you are on stage. At that point it matters what the others can do. At the gym you should be concentrating on your progress based on past performance and always trying to top your last goals.
It really shouldnt matter what a person can lift. If somebody is literally busting their balls and yet they are still lifting a relatively light weight then i give that person much more respect than the hoons that come to the gym thinking their top shit and dont even raise a sweat, even though they lift pretty heavy. As far as i am concerned, if you train really hard, then the amount of weight matters little.
while it might not affect the weight you use in the immediate sense (i.e. that workout), it does make a diffence by making sure you dont set limits on yourself. my point in question- when I was young and trained at home I thought that when I got to 100kg in the deadlift that I was strong and after that i didnt progress much, but when I started training at a commerciaal gym and saw a guy pull 220kg, I knew what was possible and within a few months I was pulling 140kg. the same happened when Bannister broke the 4 minute mile- soon after lots of people did - its called a self fulfilling prophecy, untill you know it can be done (by seeing someone else do it) there is a large chance you wont be able to do it or even think that it can be done.
Some of you understand what I was trying to get at, and others completely missed the point. Let me address some of the previous comments: I know BODYBUILDING isnt a direct competition againt other lifters, BUT to lifters interested in [strongman competitions/olympic/power lifting] feeling the muscle and adding peak on their bicep is that last things on their mind. The reason it is important be in a gym with big lifts is to show what is possible to humans. Example : A few years ago experts claimed that a mile could not be run by a human in X amount of time. And they seemed to be correct for quite some time. Until an thlete actually broke that marker. Withing the following months that same marker was beat by a handful of other athletes. I credit this to their having been a psychological barrier broken down. Althletes seen that it was possible to acheive, so they attained it. Others may disagree on the reason for this happening, but thats what I believe.