Unsolicitated Gym Advice - I'm mad!

[riverrock]

Hi Guys,

I'm as mad as hell! Was in the gym tonight. Strength is my game. It means way more to me that mass, even though the heavy lifting causes you to get big anyhow. Anyhow, my favourite exercise is the Deadlift. Tonight I decided to go a few pounds over my maximum. I gave it loads and with a struggle got there. You could see my knees trembling! Anyhow, some guy (a regular - a regular dickhead too!) comes over and starts tut-tutting and says "You'll fuck up your back, use the smith machine for rows instead". What a prick. For a start, my technique was perfect, and secondly I don't appreciate having to explain myself to a juice-head who's size is 100% thanks to HGH, Test, and Deca by his own admission. Certainly not thanks to good training and proper technique as he hasn't got either.

I'm sorry to go on guys, but I'm as mad as hell!

 

[Diggerman]

Every gym has a guy like that. Ignore. In fact, don't even give him the time of day. Otherwise you reduce yourself to his level. Once had a group of guys criticise me for my dumb-bells curls. Then later I seen them swinging the weight like hell. Anyone can curl with a good swing. They can stick their advice and go away and practice what they preach instead. Maybe they shouldn't as they know jack-shit anyhow.

So to cut it short - Keep away from people like that

 

[MsBeverlyHills]

maybe he was hitting on you

 

[Diggerman]

maybe he was hitting on you

Maybe Riverrock should have hit him!!!!!

 

[Saint V]

Last week I was squatting and this 40 something guys who is just there to look at the young babes, comes over and tells me they have a foam pad at the front, to put around the bar to protect my back. I looked at him and said "no thanks, that's what I have these traps for".


Fuckers hey.

 

[riverrock]

The worst thing is, you can hear this loud-mouth in the gym long before you see him. Even if he's down the bottom of the gym and the place is packed, you can still hear him doing someone else's head in!!!!

 

[H_T_]

i workout at a "hardcore" gym, mostly free-weights, few machines, but still, there are hardly any guys that squat or deadlift. just know that you are out working any fool who is not doing these exercises.

 

[eat big]

The only time I ever give advice is if someone is actually at risk to hurt themselves.

 

[musketeer]

It's good for your sanity to post stuff like this Rrock!

The only time that you should interrupt someone's workout to offer this kind of advice is if they are doing something dangerous and you think that they could injure someone else, or if you genuinely care about whether they are going ot hurt themselves. Assuming that he generally cared about you it's probably that guy's way of trying to be a good bro. He obviously either had no social skills when putting his point across, or was talking to you for his own personal gratification.

I am long past telling people how to work out. I suppose that if I see someone doing something crazy I might say something to them, but I would find the right time/place and the right angle to start talking from. I'd do it without anyone else listening and I'd be very careful not to seem confrontational or condescending.

Here's one back to you:

Today I had some idiot flip out on me!

I was supersetting cross bench dumbel pullovers with bent over barbel rows, just going back and forth with the same weights for 10 reps each. When I started doing this I was practically alone in the freeweights room. 15 minutes into this and some guy sees me finish a set of pullovers and puts a pair of 60lb dumbells on the bench that I was using. I ignored it because I was about to start my rows. I finished my rows, and he picked the dumbels up and started doing shrugs. I got down and did my next set of pullovers on the same bench. The dude thew his dumbells down, and when I finished my set he went into some massive tirade about me monopolising the equipment in the gym. I refused to get into an arguement with him and asked him to to slow down and talk to me reasonably but he was just going on and on about how I thought that I owned the gym! He was screaming and shouting but I just stayed calm and went off to do my rows. Funny thing is he was about 5'4" and 140 compared to my 6'0" 225; the little bastard simply wanted to have a good shout at the biggest guy in the gym.

I hate it when I see assholes using things like benches for dumbel/barbell racks (runing the finish on the bench), or when people use the power rack as a curl stand. It's like they can't be bothered to pick up a weight that they can easily use for 10+ reps and they don;t care if they tie up a completely useful piece of equipment for their own convenience at the expense of others.

I went over to the guy at the waterfountain after our workouts and made peace with him but I still think that he's a stupid little fucker. That's my rant over!

 

[musketeer]

Last week I was squatting and this 40 something guys who is just there to look at the young babes, comes over and tells me they have a foam pad at the front, to put around the bar to protect my back. I looked at him and said "no thanks, that's what I have these traps for".


Fuckers hey.

Some guy came over and told me that I should use that foam thing and I told him that I call it the Maxi because it's a pussy pad! Took the glint right out of his squat workout!

 

[riverrock]

Good post Musketeer. Your right, some people are either trying to help but come across all wrong, or just a proper pain in the neck. He's not a bad guy, don't get me wrong, but I was annoyed that he patronised me expecially when you consider I could pick him up and fire him out the window!!! As for people using equipment like you explained - thats right. Every gym has guys who don't give a fuck and leave dumb-bells and plates everywhere as well as leaving heavy bars on benches etc. The responsibility of the gym employees to put a stop to that. A few weeks of the gym instructer on your back and you'll stop mis-using equipment.

 

[musketeer]

Funny one about giving advice that I heard, was this guy pushing 60 who obviously had no idea about working out (beyond gleaning over last month's Men's Health - in the waitingroom of the local HRT centre).

There he was, telling the gym manager (235lb solid bodybuilder, benchs 315 for 10 clean reps) that the gym should purchase another lat pulldow bar with parallel grip handles at 2 feet wide (we already had 3 different hadle attachments). He justified this by saying:

"Because that affects the muscle differnetly too, you see. You have to use variety to keep your body guessing and build muscles!"

I'd have puched him in his fucking fat mouth (jk), but Jurt just politely agreed and said that "pretty much any way you hold the bar affects the muscle differently." Was funny as hell to see that pathetic bastard passing on his wisdom to the biggest most knowledgeable guy in the gym!

 

[anthrax]

It all depends if the guy sincerely wants to help or if he's trying to show off/being condescendant

If he just wants to help you avoid being injured and even he's saying some moronic advice you can't blame him

 

[Madcow2]

Those who talk do not know and those who know do not talk - Zen saying but applicable here also.

 

[musketeer]

" "

 

[Klown]

"no thanks, that's what I have these traps for".

hahaha I like that, I might steal that one

 

[curgeo]

Great quote madcow....how have you been man?

As for the advise....we have a women trainer in our gym who is always butting her nose in other people's workouts. It really bothers her I think when people see us with our chains and boards and suits and start asking questions. Our gym got a GH raise in and the trainer asked us how to do it. We politley showed her and not an hour later she was showing a BEGINNING OVERWEIGHT WOMEN how to do the most difficult hamstring exercise around. It was messed up and so was the lady that she was showing how to do it when she was done.

I had just started training there and was doing standing abs with my training partner. She told us that we can isolate the muscle better doing crunches. I told her I don't want to isolate the abs, I want to work the hipflexors along with the abs. She told me I should do crunches for "upper" abs and leg raises for "lower abs." I told her there is no upper and lower....just the rectus abdominis in the front of the body and you can't isolate upper and lower. EMG anaylisis proves this. She was arguing with us and then finally gave up.

Another time we were showing a 17 year old kid (who my training partner just got to squat 500 for the 1st time) how to do goodmornings. She started shaking her head at us. The next day we weren't there but the kid was. She came up to him and said how bad that was for your back and he shouldn't be doing them. When I heard this I went up to her the next day and told her that I don't interfere with the clients she is training so I would appreciate it if she would keep her opinions on powerlifting, which she knows nothing about, to herself.

She doesn't like the fact that she has to go and tell somebody what they are doing wrong, when people come up to us and ASK us what is wrong.

I am not saying I am a great trainer or anything like that, but our group has done it's fair share of reading and experimenting. This trainer pretty much quotes pumping iron and gets clients that way. We are not trainers, just a bunch of fat powerlifters in the gym having fun.

*Sigh*......That lady bugs me. I feel your pain!

 

[rbtrout]

Boy, do I hear you folks! I get quite mad when some one comes over and tells me how to do an exercise. The first thing out of my mouth (which I have trouble controlling in this situation) is "Did I ask you?". Then if they keep going, I tell them to lift what I just did or shut the *#)$*%& up. That usually works. If they keep going, I usually then ask them to step outside and we'll "discuss it" like men. That has never failed me.

 

[*MissFit*]

There will always be ppl who give un wanted advice.. i was told to stop lifting and start skipping.. it still makes me mad....

 

[curgeo]

Start skipping?.....I just shake my head at people sometimes.

 

[*MissFit*]

the trainer said i was too muscular for a girl..

Start skipping?.....I just shake my head at people sometimes.

 

[sweed]

I loved this one.....

" why do u go down so low? (for squats) I heard the best way is to only go to 45 degress then back up. It's so bad for your knees"

 

[curgeo]

Too muscular? By his standards? What balls that guy has. That's like walking up to him saying, "You should really work your calves...they really suck by my standards."

The nerve of some people just infuriates me. Before I got married I had a girlfriend that was really into training and doing fitness. She was told that same thing by a trainer and it really hurt her emotionally. She questioned what she was doing in the gym. Mind you, this girl had a similiar build to you CandadianCutie.....Tiny waist, thick abs and nicely sculpted back and shoulders. Here is a girl who looked better than 99 percent of the women on the planet and here is some fat trainer telling her that she is too muscular, messing with here head.

Hehe....she dumped me later to become a stripper and married a rich guy but that's besides the point....LOL

Don't let idiots deter you or question yourself CC....I'm sure it doesn't, but it pisses me off nonetheless.

 

[riverrock]

I loved this one.....

" why do u go down so low? (for squats) I heard the best way is to only go to 45 degress then back up. It's so bad for your knees"

Thats the worst ever. Anyone who knows their weight-lifting knows that knees have nothing got to do with squatting and it takes a real idiot to offer the kind of advice you got of that guy!

 

[Griz1]

the trainer said i was too muscular for a girl..

You should have shot back
"Why? Are you afraid I'll kick yer ass? Ya fuckin pussy!"

or

"Yea? Well you're too wimpy for a guy, but I'm not buggin you about it am I?"

Do you think he would have cried?

 

[*MissFit*]

his gf is the one they have on the gym flyers.. funny she looked like the flyer for about 2 weeks

You should have shot back
"Why? Are you afraid I'll kick yer ass? Ya fuckin pussy!"

or

"Yea? Well you're too wimpy for a guy, but I'm not buggin you about it am I?"

Do you think he would have cried?