Gym Pet Peeves

[ADS]

Guys that half squat or half bench, excessive grunting, people who don't wipe a machine down after they sweat all over it, leaving towels and weights everywhere, curling in the squat rack, kipping on pull ups. There's probably a lot I'm forgetting.

 

[DaveH]

Here's a new one I got today.

Kids who like to use the one platform in the gym I frequent, bring chalk and get it on EVERYTHING. Including a big pile right on the platform.

Jesus, guys, you don't need a pound of chalk per workout. Hell, you're 13 and trying to lift things that are too heavy. You don't need chalk. You need a coach. Now clean up all this chalk damn it.

 

[GSG]

I hate when I'm working out and my cat thinks I'm his own personal jungle gym

 

[jsneb83]

I hate when I'm working out and my cat thinks I'm his own personal jungle gym

You take your cat to the gym?

 

[GSG]

I hate when I'm working out and my cat thinks I'm his own personal jungle gym

You take your cat to the gym?

The world is my gym, brah

 

[Mierin]

I hate when I'm working out and my cat thinks I'm his own personal jungle gym

My cat is my spotter. She walks under my arms when I'm lifting things.

 

[Stumpy1]

[No message]

 

[ZRod]

#7 I can't help it, they lift more than me...

#8 It's good for rack chins and rev calf raises

 

[Stumpy1]

#7 I can't help it, they lift more than me...

#8 It's good for rack chins and rev calf raises

There are a couple of ladies that come into the gym that I break rule #7 for.

I think the smith is good for accessory lifts and that is about it like you stated.

 

[4skers89]

#7 I can't help it, they lift more than me...

#8 It's good for rack chins and rev calf raises

There are a couple of ladies that come into the gym that I break rule #7 for.

I think the smith is good for accessory lifts and that is about it like you stated.

I use them for inverted rows and holding my towel. Smith machine, not the girls.

 

[BIGREDIOWAN]

#7 I can't help it, they lift more than me...

#8 It's good for rack chins and rev calf raises

There are a couple of ladies that come into the gym that I break rule #7 for.

I think the smith is good for accessory lifts and that is about it like you stated.

I use the smith for two things, upright rows and single arm shrugs, that's literally it.

 

[Scratchtown]

My wife won't go to Anytime Fitness anymore here in GI, because she gets too many "meatheads" staring at her. I know sometimes ethnicity/culture plays a factor into norms, but she swears it's the hispanic population that is doing the staring.

I tell her she can come in with me when I go in the morning. She won't bite, says she doesn't want to have to shower in the morning....something about hair, and getting ready for work.

As for my pet peeve. I don't like it when I ask for a spot, and then the guy says "sure, just a sec, I gotta finish this set". Sure, no big deal. It's just when it takes 15 mins to finish that set

 

[Scratchtown]

I guess that's the difference. Time. It doesn't make sense to me to relate strength to time, at all. Strength and stamina go hand in hand in that, all things being equal, the guy who's stronger probably has more stamina too. It's never bad to be stronger.

If you can bench 350 5 times, you're stronger and than the guy who can bench 200 10 times. There's no doubt about that IMO.

Being stronger is always better than not IMO. Being able to rep out a lighter weight more times with less rest doesn't really get you much stronger.

I don't agree with the bolded, in regard to sports, specifically wrestling and even football.

True. And when training for physique, take as few breaks as possible and rep out sets until failure. Massive bloodflow to the muscles you're working, causing them to tear. And in addition, you're burning a lot of calories since your heart is pumping faster.

I read an article from Men's Health or Men's Fitness a while back saying that in the very soon future, doctors will be prescribing strength training for cardiovascular health over the "cardio" we do now....which had the "doctors" endorsement but take it FWIW.

rules.jpg

I use the Smith Machine for upright rows only. I've seen people use it when they are benching really heavy and don't have a spotter, but I've never used it for anything but UR's

 

[BigRedBuster]

People that decide to take a 15 minute break between reps on a machine/equipment and then get mad when you decide to step in. Gets a quick "f#*k off" from me.

Had that experience last week. Guy is a regular and probably the strongest person in the gym, but he takes inordinately long breaks. I was scoping out this adjustable bench while I finished up my lift to see if anyone is on it because it has a towel thrown at the foot of it. Nobody is near it for a couple of minutes and everyone is using a piece of equipment so I figure somebody just forgot their towel, because if you were saving it you'd probably place your towel on the bench right? So I start my lift on the bench and he comes over all pissed off like and swipes his towel out from under the bench and pouts off muttering something (I have head phones in). He just glares at me the rest of the night, and he never even used a bench after that. It was pretty entertaining, but I would have apologized if he didn't act like a little 3 year old.

I can understand taking long breaks. Hell, when I'm going heavy I take about 8 minutes between sets. Less rest will almost guarantee me not getting my next set.
But if someone wants to work in the rack I'm using, go for it. I'll even help you unload and load the bar if you want.

I mean I understand it but from someone who isn't training for raw power, over 5 minutes of rest seems wasteful. It's like the difference between being strong and functionally strong to me.

Functionally strong? I've never understood that term. Strong is strong. Functionally strong sounds like a justification for not getting stronger IMO

Not an excuse, just a difference of philosophies. Stamina and strength go hand in hand. You can bench 350, great! But if you can't get back under the bar in less than 5 minutes and push out more than a couple reps it seems a little overrated to me unless you're a power lifter.

Functionally strong probably has a lot of different meanings depending on who's using it, but to me it's; being able to have the coordination/balance, flexibility, stamina, and strength to complete tasks in a reasonably short time.

I guess that's the difference. Time. It doesn't make sense to me to relate strength to time, at all. Strength and stamina go hand in hand in that, all things being equal, the guy who's stronger probably has more stamina too. It's never bad to be stronger.
If you can bench 350 5 times, you're stronger and than the guy who can bench 200 10 times. There's no doubt about that IMO.

Being stronger is always better than not IMO. Being able to rep out a lighter weight more times with less rest doesn't really get you much stronger.

Ok....I must have missed this post before.

Strength does not mean stamina.

First triathlon I ever did, this meat head was walking around like he was king. You could tell he lived in the gym. He could probably squat and bench ten times more than anyone in the race.

He was in a younger group so he started swimming before me. He took off like he knew he was going to kick everyone's a$$.

About a mile into the bike, I catch up with this guy and I thought he was going to die right there in the road. He never finished.

Too much muscle and no endurance training.

You might say sports like football are different. Well, I'll guarantee you that Kenny Bell could out run distance wise or time wise than any lineman even though a guy like Spencer Long is so much stronger.

 

[Stumpy1]

I guess that's the difference. Time. It doesn't make sense to me to relate strength to time, at all. Strength and stamina go hand in hand in that, all things being equal, the guy who's stronger probably has more stamina too. It's never bad to be stronger.

If you can bench 350 5 times, you're stronger and than the guy who can bench 200 10 times. There's no doubt about that IMO.

Being stronger is always better than not IMO. Being able to rep out a lighter weight more times with less rest doesn't really get you much stronger.

I don't agree with the bolded, in regard to sports, specifically wrestling and even football.

True. And when training for physique, take as few breaks as possible and rep out sets until failure. Massive bloodflow to the muscles you're working, causing them to tear. And in addition, you're burning a lot of calories since your heart is pumping faster.

I read an article from Men's Health or Men's Fitness a while back saying that in the very soon future, doctors will be prescribing strength training for cardiovascular health over the "cardio" we do now....which had the "doctors" endorsement but take it FWIW.

rules.jpg

I use the Smith Machine for upright rows only. I've seen people use it when they are benching really heavy and don't have a spotter, but I've never used it for anything but UR's

About your Men's Health comment...An article got published in the American Heart Journal about excessive cardio and how it actually has a reverse affect on your heart. It stated that you should not do more then 20-30 mins of cardio a day or you will begin to damage your heart. A lot of long distance runners will end up having heart related issues because when they train, their body will actually start storing large amounts of fat to use for energy. It also stated that excessive cardio training will weaken the heart just like lifting will weaken a certain muscle except that the heart doesn't recover as fast as other muscles.