Spotting etc...

[O-Train]

So I'm at the gym, getting ready to do a set. I'm doing DC training and I tend to have to get myself mentally focused before a rest-pause set. This guy comes up to me and asks for a spot. Nothing new...I work at the gym so it happens a lot when I'm not working. Plus for some reason I think the bigger I get the more people assume I'm able to spot them.

So I walk over to a squat rack with this guy. He's got 185lbs set on the pins at just below waist height. Kinda odd...thinking to myself...what is this guy doing and why does he need my help. Turns out buddy wants to do bicep curls lol. One look at the guy and I could see he would struggle with 100lbs but whatever. So he psyches himself all up and throws his weight into it. Of course I end up lifting about half of the weight. Sometimes I wonder if guys like this walk around saying they can lift these type of numbers...

What has to go wrong before a person thinks its ok to attempt curling more than their own bodyweight in a squat rack with an olympic bar. This is why I stopped helping people at the gym that don't want/listen to my advice.

Oh...and I'll add in the story about the grumpy old man. This guy is a skinny grumpy old bastard that thinks since he's been working out a long time he doesn't need to take advice from anyone. His form is terrible and borders on unsafe. One day he asks for a spot on benchpress. So the bar comes down and he goes into his leg drive hip thrust motion but is immediately pinned under the bar. If I hadn't been worried about him hurting himself I would have left him under the bar for a second or two just to think about it. I've contemplated doing it a few times for the odd ego lifter in the gym.

[Boost]

Oh...and I'll add in the story about the grumpy old man. This guy is a skinny grumpy old bastard that thinks since he's been working out a long time he doesn't need to take advice from anyone.


Time does not necessairly equal positive experience. There is positive and negative experience. Positive experience is attained through figuring out the right things and learning through mistakes and growing. Negative experience is learning nothing and doing the same mistakes over and over again.

Just because someone has done something longer than you does not mean they know more about it or can do it better than you can. There are just too many factors other than just simply putting time into something. Sounds like he has a short term orientation in life. Lives for the day, not for tomorrow. Where did that get him? Stuck in the same shitty day. Sounds like a smart guy.

:)

[Freebsd1977]

I love these stories. Reminds me of the one where the 15 year old wants to showoff to the older bb'er. So he goes and puts on 200 lbs on the benchpress. Well things go wrong from the very start, the bar doesn't even go more than a few inches from the young guys chest. He's pinned and is forced to drop the bar sideways. LOL!

[dainbramaged]

Sometimes I wonder if guys like this walk around saying they can lift these type of numbers...

If you listen to them with their buds afterwards, yes they do. Then they all try to outdo each other.

[Grunt76]

If you listen to them with their buds afterwards, yes they do. Then they all try to outdo each other.

And then they look at me/you doing curls with 75lb db's and snort going "well I can do that, I had 185 on that bar the other day..."

[KLM]

Curling in the squat rack = a good slap with a 45 in the head.

[O-Train]

Curling in the squat rack = a good slap with a 45 in the head.

Lol, yeah...I'm guilty of this too. We have 4 power racks and sometimes when the gym is packed its the only place there is room. Plus the straight bars w/ fixed weight only go to 100lbs.

There should be a sign on the door to the weight room saying: "Weight lifted does not equal size gained". Otherwise the guys using too much weight with bad form and limited range of motion would be getting bigger...

[KLM]

There should be a sign on the door to the weight room saying: "Weight lifted does not equal size gained". Otherwise the guys using too much weight with bad form and limited range of motion would be getting bigger...

Yep, so true :)

[bigdaddydrew123]

there all the same in every gym i guess. i get a kick out of the ones that db presses but only move them half way down so they can lift twice as much. or 4 plate shrugs with no traps or movement .limbo curls is another one . they all have one thing in common. ILS.i spotted a guy once he tried 4 plates but based on how hard i pulled he couldnt do 3. then he asks , did you help much.i told you werent even close, so he comes back over and asks for second spot with same weight. i told him one workout for me is enough i cant do yours too. gym is entertaining some times

[Big D]

Time does not necessairly equal positive experience. There is positive and negative experience. Positive experience is attained through figuring out the right things and learning through mistakes and growing. Negative experience is learning nothing and doing the same mistakes over and over again.

Just because someone has done something longer than you does not mean they know more about it or can do it better than you can. There are just too many factors other than just simply putting time into something. Sounds like he has a short term orientation in life. Lives for the day, not for tomorrow. Where did that get him? Stuck in the same shitty day. Sounds like a smart guy.

:)

WELL SAID BUDDY

[Grunt76]

Personally I feel that limbo curls are extremely justified from an intermediate/advanced trainee perspective.

[cedric]

i spotted a guy once he tried 4 plates but based on how hard i pulled he couldnt do 3. then he asks , did you help much.i told you werent even close, so he comes back over and asks for second spot with same weight. i told him one workout for me is enough i cant do yours too. gym is entertaining some times


hahahaha POST OF THE YEAR

[monkey]

I was doing squats today. I squat pretty decent and utilize the full range of motion.
this punk comes in, walks up to the squat rack beside me and gives me the stink eye...That guy looked like a wannabe gangster/ hardcore donkey ( army pants, head band, .
He gives me the stink eye, looks at my weight and grins...
Starts loading up4 plates and keeps looking at me so ****ing cool...
He looked so stupid, I really had a hard time focusing on my squads...

Well there we go, he squats. No warm up, no stretch. 4 plates cold.
He bends his knees about 3 degree, grunts, pushes back up and keeps doing that... WTF, it is not a squat if you dont squat.

Does the same with his leg press.. ****, I have more ROM when I work my calves on a leg press..

Funny thing is just that he walked around, staring everyone down feeling hardcore....

But yeah, I am sure everyone has seen that at least once

[SmallieBigs]

^^^ Whatever man, I was just warmin' up... lol

[PJD]

for sure you guys....this happens at every gym! In my experiences i've seen guys load the leg press up full, keep the safety on and inch it up and down! ahaha......Same guy proceeds to all the other hammer strength plate loaded machines and does the same thing! Nothing being achieved here other than an ego...If that.....Then there is the hardcore grunter you can hear outside in the parking lot who is straight bar curling 50lbs at the cables....OMG ! So funny! It's all around us.....

Cheers

[AlladdinSane]

for sure you guys....this happens at every gym!

Cheers

Not here it doesn't. If it does happen, I'm told about it right away from the members I've already dealt with. I then laugh sense into the person in question (or laugh them out of the gym, either way, we, the gym people, win).