[quote]SergeantQ wrote:
I’m currently traveling on business at a certain AF base…Here is the scene this morning
Size of gym, larger than what I am used to (Positive)
Have a separate PL/Crossfit room from normal weight room (tear goes to eye)
Nice rubber floor to drop all the weight you want…(About to give young Airmen a Man hug)
A rigged, modified reverse hyper machine (So I am a kid in a candy store right now)
Now here is the WTF moment…
As I am digging into my gym bag getting my wrist wraps and chalk, the guy says…
Sir, there is NO CHALK ALLOWED…
WHY? WHAT? with a profound look of confusion on my face like you have to be insane telling me this…
I ASK WHY?..
ANSWER…TOO HARD TO CLEAN UP
WTF!!!
[/quote]
So you found a damn near perfect gym, and yet you still find something to complain about?
[/quote]
YES! The gym was way more than I expected. I found it shocking that I could not use chalk and I only brought my regular chalk…I should have packed both like my wife said to just in case. Wait till I get back and tell her she was right and I should have listened. That should earn me a couple brownie points.
The AF always has top-notch facilities, whether it be gyms, housing, mess. The Army, not nearly so much. Thank goodness they paired up with the AF for the PX and commissary or everything on an Army post would suck. I used to spend all of my reserve duty at Ft. Dix and use the gym there, which sucked. Then, someone told me about McGuire AFB’s gym, so I went. It was a palace and there were maybe 5 people in there and 3 were on treadmills. I never went back to the Dix gym after that.
But, I’m not surprised that you couldn’t use chalk in a military gym.
[quote]
YES! The gym was way more than I expected. I found it shocking that I could not use chalk and I only brought my regular chalk…I should have packed both like my wife said to just in case. Wait till I get back and tell her she was right and I should have listened. That should earn me a couple brownie points.[/quote]
So you found a great gym AND a way to get laid. Sounds like a good day to me.
[quote]
YES! The gym was way more than I expected. I found it shocking that I could not use chalk and I only brought my regular chalk…I should have packed both like my wife said to just in case. Wait till I get back and tell her she was right and I should have listened. That should earn me a couple brownie points.[/quote]
So you found a great gym AND a way to get laid. Sounds like a good day to me.[/quote]
I’m right there with you about the chalk thing. I’ve encountered it before, and I have to admit, I’ve been an asshole in the past. I just used it anyway. Mind you, I did clean up after myself, but when the management approached me about it, I just pointed out the amount of weight I was using and left it at that. It was never an issue after that. Military gyms are just silly like that. They want the personnel to come in and use the facility, however, anything that will make it less than showroom spectacular, it’s banned. Hell, oly platforms and rubber plates are practically non-existent!
I have never seen a military gym that allowed chalk, just be happy with the gift given to you. The gym when I went to BNCOC did not have free barbells because some private had damn near killed himself on a bench press. That meant no benches, no squats, no Deadlift- nothing but fitness machines and really crappy Dumb-bells that stopped at 95lbs. Overall a no chalk policy is really not that big of a deal in the greater scope what what could be.
I am a Marine but i am at an adavanced school in Fort leonardwood, Missouri. two of the gyms here (davidson and specker) are pretty much like your normal fitness center gyms. But davidson got a pool and indoor track and all that. Well the Marine Corps runs the 3rd gym (Cunningham) This place has no AC. A small cardio room. A crossfit room with ropes and piles of rubber plates and rubber floors and K bells. It has One mirror in the whole place. and plenty of free wieghts and machines. You can use chalk drop wieghts or whatever else. They really let you get down there. So check it out if your ever around there. Oh yeah and dumbbells up to 140 or 150.
I have been in 19 years and been to AF/Army/marine Gyms and the only group that allowed us to use chalk was the marines and that was In Gitmo. They all had nice gyms but since the gyms looked like they were set up f or the dependants also it was also family friendly like a commercial gym well most of them at least.
[quote]VerbalHologram wrote:
Asking as someone who has never once used chalk in any form of weightlifting, is it really that much more beneficial?[/quote]
In my opinion, unless you are putting up some pretty impressive numbers, no. Most people DO just leave a mess because most people aren’t as serious as they try to sound over the internet. I am not saying that is necessarily going on here, but I have no doubt some are using “chalk” just because they think that is what you’re supposed to do even though they aren’t moving that much weight in the first place.
But then, I don’t even wear gloves when I lift lately and quit using straps a few years back.
[quote]VerbalHologram wrote:
Asking as someone who has never once used chalk in any form of weightlifting, is it really that much more beneficial?[/quote]
I think it’s pretty useful, but my hands get VERY sweaty. I prefer it to straps too, since at least my grip is still getting worked.
Prof X, you say “I don’t even wear gloves when I lift lately,” you used them regularly? I found that gloves made my grip absolute shit.
I might not move big weights compared to some men on here, but I bring chalk every time I lift, and clean it up when I’m done. I do consider it a necessity. It’s really not that big of a deal, and I think if everyone was considerate, it would be banned less.
[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
Prof X, you say “I don’t even wear gloves when I lift lately,” you used them regularly? I found that gloves made my grip absolute shit.
I might not move big weights compared to some men on here, but I bring chalk every time I lift, and clean it up when I’m done. I do consider it a necessity. It’s really not that big of a deal, and I think if everyone was considerate, it would be banned less.[/quote]
I have literally only used gloves maybe 10 times in my entire life. The last time I even bought a pair must have been a decade ago. The callouses on my hands prove it…but at least I can shrug a shit load of weight with my bare hands.
Your progress is likely well ahead of some of the guys posting here though, relatively speaking. In fact, I would say quite a few of the women here seem to be more serious than the guys. Look at Cheetah.
Someone like you using chalk seriously isn’t a surprise…but sometimes I get the feeling that if pictures were required, we would soon see just how much posturing goes on here.
Either way, chalk or no chalk, it wouldn’t keep me from lifting weights at a gym if everything else was in order.
… you could always get liquid chalk just to avoid these types of encouters