As an example, today I saw a trainer (the same one I mentioned in this post) that was having his client do bicep curls….laying on her back….on the cable row machine….while he assisted by pulling the cable down. I am not sure how this was more effective than grabbing some dumbbells and going to town with those. What made it worse was that she didn’t even struggle with the weight, even before his assistance.

The only thing I could think of was that this was for a “Wow” factor for the client. She must have thinking to herself “Wow! I would have never thought of doing this on my own! I am definitely going to be signing up for another 6 week training course at the affordable rate of $199!”

I have to admit that I, too, have done a lot of dumb exercises in my lifetime (P90x Crouching Cohen Curl anyone?). It’s my goal to try and educate people that going to the gym doesn’t have to be about using the fanciest of equipment or coming up with the most interesting exercise to use with a ball.  Working out also doesn’t have to be hours in the gym.  Most of my workouts consist of 4-5 exercises and I always incorporate a compound movement into the mix and I am usually in and out in 45 minutes.

What crazy exercises have you seen in the gym lately?

I am guessing my current weight is hopefully still around 190. I dont think I have hopped on a scale at all in the last 3 months. I hate scales. I really do. They depress me and make me think dark thoughts about myself. Ok, maybe that is a bit too far but I really do dislike them. They never make me feel good about what I am trying to accomplish.

Bench Press
Back in October I was benching 205lbs eight times. Today I benched 230lbs five times with my ultimate goal being 285 at a 1RM. My calculated 1RM currently sits at 280lbs but that is unproven at this time. Bench pressing has always been my weakness and I used to forgo it all together. It feels good to be doing it now and I am hoping that my strength will only increase as time goes on.

Pull-Ups
In October I was able to do six pull-ups with a combined weight (including body) of 235lbs. Last Friday I did four pull-ups at 245. Not a huge increase but I do know for a fact that last month I was pulling more. I switched gyms and for some reason, my pull-up weight went down a bit. It’s starting to go back up but I am still a bit disappointed in both pull-ups and chin-ups.

Chin-Ups
My chin-up weight/rep is the same as my pull-up. Calculated 1RM for both is 254 and the goal that I am hoping to reach by year end is 285.

Squat
In high school the squat was my exercise. I could push 400lbs like it was nothing. Now I really cant say the same thing. Last Friday I squatted 235 at three reps. That is actually a 50lb decrease over last October but since then I have altered my form and started doing them correctly. I am now breaking plane and doing them correctly. I will take the 50lb loss knowing that I can look in the mirror at night and know that I am not cheating myself. My goal is 360lbs and my calculated 1RM is 374lbs.

Deadlift
On Monday I deadlifted 325lbs four times with a calculated 1RM of 368lbs (again, untested). Back in October I was only able to deadlift 225lbs six times. So in the last 3 months I was able to increase my deadlift by 100lbs! Now that is some exciting news! I am still 150lbs away from my 475 goal though. I will get there by year end unless my gym kicks me out for making too much noise!

I am a little disappointed in my progress but at least I am making some. The goals set forth were for advanced lifters so any progress towards them is a positive in my book.

What goals have you set and achieved recently?

1. Grabby Hands – This is the guy that at the first sign of a struggle with the weight, he immediately grabs the weight and lifts it back onto the rack. I hate this. Only grab the weight if and when I tell you too. And when you do grab it, just offer light assistance until I yell the words “TAKE IT!”.
2. Drippy - Nothing like getting ready to do a PR in bench only to have the guy spotting you drip his own sweat onto your face. Been there. Trust me. It’s gross.
3. Gazer –  Gazer is too busy either watching himself in the mirror or watching every body else. Once he finally puts his focus back on your, the weight is already crushing your bones into little pieces.
4. Over Enthusiastic - The over enthusiastic spotter is the guy that is yelling at you from the moment you lift the weight to several minutes after completion.  His face is right next to yours and he is yelling things like “YOU GOT THIS!” and “THIS IS ALL YOUR BRO”.  Upon completion, he is offering up a knuckle punch or doing an ass slap while telling you how easy that appeared.
5. Junker – Junker feels that the only way that he could possibly assist with the lift is if he has nearly straddled your head with his legs and that any upward gaze would be an unwelcoming site.

So there you have it.  That is my top 5 list of spotters. I am sure there are more out there and I would love to hear other user’s accounts of spotting gone wrong.

I was quite surprised today to see three guys doing bench presses in the walk in  squat rack.  They had the bar on the dead-lift mounts and they were lying on the ground on a mat. Six things really bothered me about these guys.

1. There are 4 bench press benches in this gym. 2 were not being used.
2. Two of the guys were personal trainers at the gym.
3. The weight they were using was very light and I didnt see anything special about the movement that warranted using this particular piece of equipment.
4. In between sets, they walked over the cable machine were they did incline cable flies. All three would go at the same time. This left the squat rack alone with their weight on it for about 4 minutes each time.
5. Two of the guys were wearing skin tight Under Armour shirts. I am a huge fan of Under Armour and wear quite a few of their products and even own a skin tight one. But I only wear it under other shirts and only when I really needs its moisture wicking ability. Skin tight Under Armour shirts should never be worn by themselves in my opinion.
6. One of the guys proceeded to ask me, immediately following my first set of dead-lifts, if I was almost done. I guess the two pieces of equipment they were already hogging weren’t enough. When I did finish, he proceeded to put on 135lbs for squats and then screamed so loud while doing them, that the entire gym took notice. 135lbs.