Minor rant about not having a training partner

[schutzhundk9]

So who else's gains are being held back by lack of a training partner? I go to a golds gym that only has one cage (and 3 smith machines ). So I rarely have a chance to work out till failure.

For those of you with good training partners don't take them for granted.

 

[chaos13]

when i don't have a spotter or a training partner i can't go push myself as hard as i should. i can never seem to keep a training partner for more than a month or two.

 

[Tryn2]

So who else's gains are being held back by lack of a training partner? I go to a golds gym that only has one cage (and 3 smith machines ). So I rarely have a chance to work out till failure.

For those of you with good training partners don't take them for granted.

There are some pretty big guys who train alone, safely. You have to be creative, one way I have found to really maximize this is to do this:

Using things as you mentioned, Smith Machine but also, dumbells and the new hammer strangth mahcines. If you are at Gold's I am sure they have all the above.

What you want to do is failure, safely. So, lets say you are doing bench, Dumbell bench, Hammer strangth bench, or Smith which actually works less effective than these other 2 for this excersise.

Say you are doing 3 or 4 sets of 8 to 12. On your last set, last rep you know when you are going to fail, on the rep right before that, the rep where you usually rack the weight, instead of racking, bring it down really slow and controlled, as slow as you can, all the way to the bottom, get a good strecth and drop the Dumbells/release the hammer stregnth.

See with a smith machine the bar may be to low, but, the other 2 this works great.

Plus with all other lifts you can do the same technique safely.

NOW NO EXCUSES!

Good question though and a common problem.

Also this last rep to failure downwards is also something you may find in a DC Workout.


Have a good day, and good luck!

 

[chaos13]

definaly better to have a training partner. it acts as extra motivation.

 

[drsketch]

My partner rairily shows up.. I am in the gym every workout day, I would love to get those reps that a light tap on the bar would help me get but you have to do what you got to do.

 

[bba2]

who needs training partners? no need to go to failure that much anyway. I go to failure on 1 set, once every 4th week as a test after a small deload.

you need to get volume in at a given rep range and weight to create an adoptive reponse from the body, going to failure isnt needed.

 

[Tryn2]

definaly better to have a training partner. it acts as extra motivation.

You will find those that cannot motivate themselves in this sport are the weakest ones.

Grow up, you don't need a gym Mommy to tell you to drive it! Get an ipod if you are mentally weak!

 

[Big_BK]

I train alone for the most part in that nobody at my gyms lift near what i do. On event days though i train with a group of people and im the small guy so it pushes me to work hard which i love. Just remember the saftey bars are there for a reason, if you have never crashed you have never done enough weight.

 

[dirty~d~]

^^^!!!
Nothing wrong with needing the safety bars.

Whether or not you're more productive with a partner usually depends on where your motivation comes from. Are you more competitive with yourself or with others around you? I've always preferred to lift alone so I can stay focused on what I want to accomplish. If I ever need a spotter then my membership pays for someone's salary and they are usually more than happy to help.

 

[Blane]

When cycling for a pl meet it is great to have a partner. Especially when squatting....And especially at the end of the cycle...the last 2 squat sessions prior to a meet are brutal for me. The weight its so heavy!!!lol