LOL!! Oh man! What a sight to see - the barbell decline press or the person unloading 3-45's from one side. Now I don't feel so bad with my story...hee-hee! I enjoy laughing because it always keeps a smile on my face and keeps me sane. I only wished I had a video of my treadmill incident so I could win some money on one of those blooper videos. You gals and guys are great!
For those of you that follow my log, you may remember the ass that stole my squat rack several weeks ago, only to do HORRIBLY bad cleans....just terrible!. I was so stunned (as were the others in the gym) that I was speechless. Kicked myself for not standing up to him. Well......he was there this morning. First time I've seen him since the incident. I was in the squat rack, and I was NOT giving it up to him!! Well, it didn't matter because he was there for a different type of workout today. Imagine this...
He's in hack squat machine and loads it up. Then, he proceeds to JUMP up and down in the hack squat machine. I've never seen anything so stoopid. He then went to the leg press machine and did the same thing by bouncing the foot plate off of his legs, up and down. In both instances, this was in triple-time......like as fast as you can imagine up/down, up/down...it's actually hard to try and explain unless you actually saw it! I don't care.....this guy is just plain stupid and rude. I cringe when I see him now, but he'll never steal my squat rack again! LOL!
And, Miss Jane...OH MY! What he was doing sounded painful. I can see my joints dislocating all throughout my legs and hips. WOW!!
And I didn't know that he did that to you. The nerve. You definitely have to tell us when he tries that again (or if he is able to walk the next time he is in the gym)....sheesh
I enjoy humor and gym humor as much as anyone. (LOVED the guy falling off the treadmilll and losing his pants btw) BUT... I also see an awful lot of judgement going on in the gym and am guilty of that myself. As I gain more experiences, I find that I become less and less judgemental about things that I see. This board is full of very knowledgable industry people but there is also a pretty strong wave of "MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY" and subsequently judegement that goes on as a result. One example is the use of machines versus free weights and another would be the whole full ROM thing. I have learned in the past year or so that neither of these things are the devil and that they have valid and useful purposes especially for things like rehabing an injury.
Generally, when I see someone doing something really weird I ask them what they are doing and then dig further to see if there is a defensible valid reason behind the thing they are doing. WRT working out in barefeet or even flipflops I think there are a lot of defensible valid reasons for chosing this option (Vibrams are a result of these positions in fact) and I certainly would not feel as though anyone who choses to do this is more stupid than I. Especially on a stairmaster. I mean, I climb stairs all the time in flipflops. Why not in the gym too?
I still have a big problem accepting people who do curls in the squat rack though...
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ok, so maybe this is a stoopid question, but I'll risk it. In the squat videos I've watched online, the squat racks just look like two vertical poles with hooks all the way down on either side for the bar to rest on at a selected height. Sort of like what the Smith machine looks like at my gym. what I've been using for squats at my gym, the poles with the hooks come off at a slight angle from two other vertical poles and go down to about hip height, where there are two horizontal flat bars that run parallel to the floor and extend out 2-3 feet. Is that a squat rack also? Is it different from what most other people use? Is there some purpose for the horizontal bars (other than people leaving the fully loaded barbell there for me to have to re-rack all of their weights before I can get started)? Let the mocking begin!
Aha! Thanks. My new goal is to one day be lifting heavy enough to possibly need to use the safety bars. Today (Stage 1 w/o A3) I squatted with the bar + 20 for 12 reps, so I think it's going to be a while, but a girl can dream. . .
That's OK, form is way important before you start loading on the weight. If you haven't seen this thread, take a look....lots of good info for beginners.
ok, so maybe this is a stoopid question, but I'll risk it. In the squat videos I've watched online, the squat racks just look like two vertical poles with hooks all the way down on either side for the bar to rest on at a selected height. Sort of like what the Smith machine looks like at my gym. what I've been using for squats at my gym, the poles with the hooks come off at a slight angle from two other vertical poles and go down to about hip height, where there are two horizontal flat bars that run parallel to the floor and extend out 2-3 feet. Is that a squat rack also? Is it different from what most other people use? Is there some purpose for the horizontal bars (other than people leaving the fully loaded barbell there for me to have to re-rack all of their weights before I can get started)? Let the mocking begin!
My gym has this type of squat rack as well. I have figured out that when squatting, if I get the barbell down to almost touching the safety bars, I am at parallel. If I want to go lower, I have to back out of the cage altogether. I only do that with warmup sets, though. I can squat ATG with an empty barbell, but I never try that with my work sets.
We also have a contraption that I have inferred is what people on here call a "power cage". It's four uprights with holes in them to adjust the rest bars to different heights, and there are two poles which I guess act as the safety bars down lower. With this cage, I guess you have to stay within the cage when squatting, because the barbell is too long to go out of it. I haven't figured out how to use it for ATG squats, because the safety bars are too high for me to squat all the way down without hitting them.
My gym has this type of squat rack as well. I have figured out that when squatting, if I get the barbell down to almost touching the safety bars, I am at parallel. If I want to go lower, I have to back out of the cage altogether. I only do that with warmup sets, though. I can squat ATG with an empty barbell, but I never try that with my work sets.
We also have a contraption that I have inferred is what people on here call a "power cage". It's four uprights with holes in them to adjust the rest bars to different heights, and there are two poles which I guess act as the safety bars down lower. With this cage, I guess you have to stay within the cage when squatting, because the barbell is too long to go out of it. I haven't figured out how to use it for ATG squats, because the safety bars are too high for me to squat all the way down without hitting them.
The safety bars should be adjustable fairly low. There are usually enough holes for the bars to adjust plenty low enough for a deep squat. I think for me my bars are in the 4th or 5th hole up from the bottom. At the lowest setting, when I rest the barbell on the safeties, the barbell is just above my knees (used for rack pulls though, not squatting).
In the regular squat rack, the A-frame style, I do have to step completely out of the rack to get deep enough without the barbell smacking the side bars. I will only use that one for the front squats using lighter weights. I don't love it...if I can I prefer to do all squatting in the power cage.
You can usually take the bar out of the rack, if needed, by just lifting it up and turning it sideways... I do this for jerks (I can set the holders on the front/outside of the rack)... really for anything where being IN the cage would bother me and I don't need the safety bars...
You can usually take the bar out of the rack, if needed, by just lifting it up and turning it sideways... I do this for jerks (I can set the holders on the front/outside of the rack)... really for anything where being IN the cage would bother me and I don't need the safety bars...
I'll look to see if I can set the holders on the outside of ours. Also if I can lower the safety bars. It's amazing how I am learning on this forum how to use all the equipment that used to intimidate me in the weight room. I had used the fixed-weight barbells, and the dumbbells, but the racks and power cages and oly barbells were beyond me until I started this program. Thanks everyone, for the tips and tricks, and general benevolence instead of scoffing that some of us don't know this stuff!
What about no shoes? Some people here have advocated weightlifting barefoot. Now, if I were there barefoot, and someone came up and said, there's no open toed shoes allowed here, I could just say, I'm not wearing open toed shoes! Hahaha
I once forgot my shoes and was determined to do my workout so I just wore socks. But that was back when I was doing pretty much all machines. And I was nervous waiting to get caught, but nobody said anything.
What about no shoes? Some people here have advocated weightlifting barefoot. Now, if I were there barefoot, and someone came up and said, there's no open toed shoes allowed here, I could just say, I'm not wearing open toed shoes! Hahaha
There's a dude that works out barefoot at the Y - and I always wonder WTF???? when I see him. With all the crap going around you'd think he'd be concerned, but I guess not.
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It's the ones who do the stupid stuff and claim some sort of superiority that should be a concern, like the dozen or so brotards hump-curling in the (only) squat rack or the bean-pole cardio bunny doing her "ten minutes of arms" by porno-blasting through bent-over two-pound DB triceps kickbacks.
A lot of places frown on anything that doesn't look "normal" as far as footwear, meaning bare feet, socks, and Vibrams are out. Solution: wrestling shoes or motorsports-style shoes. Thin, pliable soles will still being close-toed
I've also seen the signs saying "put your weights back," and those never work, so I used to point that out anytime I got grief for my (lack of) footwear. After all, leaving weights unracked is more dangerous to other people than minimal/no footwear (not going to save you from a weight that you yourself probably dropped anyway, no one else involved).
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We were in the gym about two weeks ago, and someone unloaded all three 45s from one side of the barbell on the squat rack. It was loud.
*blushes* Yes, that happened in our gym too, once. To someone else. Who I don't know, and really have only seen once and they looked nothing like me no matter who you ask!
I had read a Pavel Tsatsouline article about ab-wheel rollout progressions. I was pretty good at the rollout from my knees, so I decided to try it from my feet. The wheel took off and I went straight down to the floor, face-first. The sound was like what you hear when you thump a melon in the grocery store to see if it's ripe.
Lesson learned: never try an exercise if there's no intermediate step between what you can already do and what you have to be an elite gymnast to be able to do.
Wonderwoman, whether the intent was humour or not, it still came across as mocking and judgey.
MY comment about the Z-Coil shoes on the stair mill was based on concern for safety. I couldn't care less about fashion in the gym. I would tend to look askance at a flip-flop wearing stair mill user as well, from a safety standpoint, but hey, whatever floats yer boat.
I tend to agree with Popcorn Sally.
I would never go out to someone and berate them about their choice of footwear or apparel. Same as I could never go up to someone and say, "blah, blah, blah,... if only you lost some weight". How do I know they haven't recently lost a ton of weight? Or that a weight gain isn't medically induced?
Now if a friend of mine showed up at the gym in crocs/flip-flops/whatever i would definitely point and ask them, Really? But only to my friends. And only because I more than likely know what is going on in their lives.
I would rather read about something stoopid I've done in a forum rather than be confronted with it then and there. Then it's still somewhat anonymous.
On that note, I went away for work and forgot my sneakers, but wanted to work out in the hotel gym, so I jumped on the elliptical in my steel toed sneakers. I figured no impact, so I should be ok. Not much different than wearing ankle weights. And I applauded myself for actually going. I'm sure someone what shaking their head at the sight of lycra/spandex workout capris and steel toes. LOL
I actually find the responses on this thread quite sad.
Someone will post a thread about feeling self-conscious at the gym, feeling like everyone is looking at them, and everyone will reply "Don't worry! Nobody cares about what you are doing! They are so absorbed in themselves". Then a thread like this comes along, where people are mocking the footwear of other women at the gym. Focus on yourself, not the footwear of others (and please don't roll your eyes at me when I do my lifting session in my little leopard-print flats when I've left my trainers at the office. I am well aware that I probably look silly, but give me credit for doing my workout anyhow).
Thanks for posting what I thought Meredith.. I've seen threads like this one pop up on most fitness forums that go like "look what stupid stuff people are doing in MY gym" and then go on saying how they feel smug for doing everything in proper form themselves while they never think about asking that other 'stoopid' person why they chose to do things 'that' way
This absolutely KILLS me.. and the sorry part is, that most of the time it is indeed no use to tell those persons to try another method (or foot wear).
Sometimes though we can even learn from how others do it, rather than being all high & mighty about yourself.. try to be open-minded.
Though, yeah.. flip flops & a stair mill? Barefoot would have been far better.. if not that probably a lot of gyms ban their clients working out on bare feet.. at least in one of my gyms 'proper foot wear' is mandatory. They would also have turned away the flip-flop girl (I hope).
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