Unwritten Rules of the Gym

[Shadowschmadow]

Originally Posted by Soldier

My wife is a high school teacher, and the football players she teaches told her that their coach doesn't let them use the safety bars in the power racks when they squat. There could never be a "reason" for that to be a good idea as far as I'm concerned.

Granted shit happens, he's a competitive powerlifter and knows how to properly ditch the bar; something they don't (should) teach in high school strength training.

[BendtheBar]

Whilst this last point isn’t strictly true in terms of strength and muscle development, its worth treating every set as if it’s a work set, meaning that your body should be set up correctly on the bench press

Exactly.

I look at every set as a CNS prime. The CNS is rarely talked about, but extremely important in performance. Every set I do is working towards priming/preparing my CNS. My warmup sets, and warmup set structure are very important.

[Hazzard]

Glad you guys like this thread! Want to start writing an article every so often about gymming shenanigans and since I work at one it really gives me an insight as to what people to both correctly and incorrectly.

Love your story Solider and I feel for your wife! I remember telling an old girlfriend of mine that I was going to the gym to bench 140kg or whatever and I would tease her saying if I slipped it would crush my chest! One thing I should add to the list is to respect the weight. Just because you can squat 220 doesn't mean you should rush 180, it's paramount to feel confident, but not arrogant with any weight you're holding.

[BendtheBar]

I'm always up for good gym stories.

[Mr.Silverback]

Originally Posted by Shadow

Not recommended:

The guy who taught me how to squat and DL uses "spotters", but no hooks. When he squats he has people observe him, but not really in position, and he has them take the hooks out of the cage. My favorite line from him is "No hooks means no way out".

Look him up on youtube. Guy's name is Andy Ruse, but his youtube name is Blenderate. He's definitely a freak of nature. And the best part; he drives a smart car. Really nice guy though.

Yeah I have talked to Andy a few times and the guy is a freak of nature! even when he was recovering he trained hard! Though I wouldn't recommend the "No hook" rule for a beginner lifter let alone a veteran...lol

[Shadowschmadow]

Originally Posted by Mr.Silverback

Yeah I have talked to Andy a few times and the guy is a freak of nature! even when he was recovering he trained hard! Though I wouldn't recommend the "No hook" rule for a beginner lifter let alone a veteran...lol

How do you know him? He's a nice guy, but not fun to lift with. No matter who you are, he makes you look and feel like a pussy.

[big_swede]

Agreed! And about the work set part, my golden rule is that if you rush the warmup and dont get into proper groove, the heavy sets will be as bad and it will all go to hell. Sometimes the groove is there after 1 set with the bar, some days it takes 10. But it will be there!

Good post mate!

[Hazzard]

Definitely mate, you have to really feel what you're lifting rather than just doing it for the sake of it. I always say that the first set of 100 on the bench is the worst, but by simply increasing the number of warm-up sets below 50% of your 1RM it makes as the difference.

Tell that to most of the people in the gym though. Can't wait to see it today, being as its National Bench Press Day (TM) i.e. Monday.

[Gaz6682]

Funny thing about gym rules, when I started at my new gym near my girlfriends place last week I asked the huge guy on the desk if their were any rules to be aware of. He replied "yeah, make sure your needles go in the bin when your finished". I think he was only half joking bloody roidheads lol

[Hazzard]

Every gym should have one of these: