Pay Your Dues

[ehubbard]

This is reposted from another site:

Pay Your Dues
by Kiefer

We all know the guy in the gym, strutting around with an average physique, constantly rotating their workout from MMA-fighter-style, to power, to sculpting and for all their effort, they go nowhere, achieve nothing.They never have and never will, and yet they tell everyone in the gym how to lift, how they should train for particular goals, how to get ripped, how to do this, how to do that…and the list goes on.

Watch them train. They use too much weight, moving moderate loads about an inch at the top of the movement, building neither size nor strength. They befriend the gym goers who excel in their training, never plateau and achieve levels of performance and fat loss that seems miraculous, as if proximity imparts exceptionalism, while they can barely reach even modest goals.

Worst of all—and what pisses me off—is given the chance to spot someone exceptional, they scream commands to impress the newbies, to establish themselves as the source of talent, dedication and know-how that went into somebody else’s achievement. When this happened to me, when I set up for an easy 355 on the bench, when I had to yell at the guy to get his hands off the bar in the middle of a rep, when I had to listen to him screaming meaningless commands, I felt like throwing him out a window. In retrospect, maybe I should have.

Don’t be one of these guys. If you’ve never been there—and “there” might be a 400 lb bench, a 600 lb squat, 7% body fat, a sub-4-hour marathon—don’t tell others how to get to a place you’ve never even seen. Don’t tell a 215 lb guy who just squatted 930 lbs that his form sucked and he got lucky to sneak one past the judges. Don’t tell someone their biceps could use a nicer peak when yours don’t even exist. Watch, listen, learn: until you’ve been there, this is all you should be doing.

Ask questions, do some research and experiment. Successful people are successful for a reason: they don’t need your opinion; they need facts; they need experience. And contrary to popular belief, not all opinions stand on equal footing. There are ignorant people and their opinions count for dirt.

When you can out bench me, out squat me and out run me while staying leaner, tighter and eating cleaner, then you can give me your opinion. Until that happens, shut the hell up and pay your dues.

[glwanabe]

I like it EH.

[BendtheBar]

Thanks Ehubbs.

This quote resonated with me:

Don’t tell a 215 lb guy who just squatted 930 lbs that his form sucked and he got lucky to sneak one past the judges. Don’t tell someone their biceps could use a nicer peak when yours don’t even exist. Watch, listen, learn: until you’ve been there, this is all you should be doing.

I am far from an expert on many topics, but there are certain pet topics that I like to help younger lifters with. I also know that these topics will instantly receive a pool of the same type of responses. For example...

If I recommend the Warrior Diet for someone morbidly obese who needs a big nightly meal to survive weight loss, someone will jump in and tell him to split his meals into 7 smaller meals, eat a 40/40/20 ratio, and call the WD a dangerous fad.

If I post a video of a world record deadlift attempt, the video will get attacked because Bolton had a "rounded back" and he doesn't know how to deadlift.

Anyway, I'm sure we've all seen the same type responses.

[ehubbard]

I am far from an expert either, but I am not a young kid anymore and I made LOTS of mistakes the first ten years I was farting around the gym, some of which contributed to a torn labrum in my shoulder. I used to bench, bench, bench, and while I didnt completely ignore my legs, I sure wonder where I would be if I had started squatting and deadlifting early on. All that benching and now its probably my worst lift. LOL

[ricka182]

Good stuff...I try not to bother anyone when I lift at a gym..just keep to myself and focus on my own training. If I'm asked to spot, I can do that. If I'm asked for advice; unless I feel I can confidently give an answer that will lead them in the right direction, I generally tell them I'm not the right person to answer the question and direct them to the counter, or help find someone else who may be able to assist better..

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by ehubbard

I am far from an expert either, but I am not a young kid anymore and I made LOTS of mistakes the first ten years I was farting around the gym, some of which contributed to a torn labrum in my shoulder. I used to bench, bench, bench, and while I didnt completely ignore my legs, I sure wonder where I would be if I had started squatting and deadlifting early on. All that benching and now its probably my worst lift. LOL

I hear what you're saying. I made many mistakes as well, and doing heavy benches twice a week was one of them. I also didn't deadlift, primarily because very few bodybuilding routines in Muscle and Fiction during the 80's used deadlifts - or even talk about them for that matter.

My back thickness has improved dramatically since I've started using deadlifts, and I regret not using them from day one.

Regarding the deadlift, I know this to be true...if I mention that deadlift works the back, I will get bombarded with confused posters who think that deadlifts are simply a glorified leg press, and only work the legs.

[nighttrain]

^^^ that is soo true, Steve... i get tired of hearing that deads are just for leg day...

[jhuse2]

I am glad to have the experience behind me to help me not mistakes. I don't have the best form in this forum, but I listen and take advice well. I try and change thing help me be stronger. I rather be safe than sorry. I much weight can I lift if I throw my back out I thought I was doing it right.

Everyone can teach and everyone can be taught. There is a time to teach and alwys a time to be taught.

[BendtheBar]

Originally Posted by nighttrain

^^^ that is soo true, Steve... i get tired of hearing that deads are just for leg day...

I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling this way.

[ehubbard]

Don’t tell a 215 lb guy who just squatted 930 lbs that his form sucked and he got lucky to sneak one past the judges. Don’t tell someone their biceps could use a nicer peak when yours don’t even exist. Watch, listen, learn: until you’ve been there, this is all you should be doing.

I am going to vent here. I am helping someone with a training program. He is someone I met at a former gym and posts over on one of the strongman forums. I sometimes which I hadn't wasted my time helping him out because he is one of those peoples who DO NOT think the above is true. He thinks he should have a say. This is someone who has never step foot on a platform. I am not saying that I should have a say either, but to me you got to have at least some experience before you start running your mouth, especially in a negative fashion. Of course, the good guy in me will be there to help him out at his first meet but still, it just pisses me off. I guess I was raised different.