Why no legs/squatting in commercial gyms?
Replies
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thesupremeforce wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »I do squats once a week and not very heavy along with five other leg exercises, my legs are out of proportion to my upper body and I could give a sh1t what other than one woman thinks about the way I look. I ride a bike 400+ miles a month, extremely limber, long time martial arts/ gymnastics and could put my foot in some ones chin really freaking quick.. So to the people who verbally comment on other people's legs in public- be careful you never know when you might set someone off and get your butt kicked
Wait. Did you just (kind of) threaten people for making comments about something in which you'd already claimed to not care what other people think about anyway?
singing "isn't it ironic"0 -
thesupremeforce wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »I do squats once a week and not very heavy along with five other leg exercises, my legs are out of proportion to my upper body and I could give a sh1t what other than one woman thinks about the way I look. I ride a bike 400+ miles a month, extremely limber, long time martial arts/ gymnastics and could put my foot in some ones chin really freaking quick.. So to the people who verbally comment on other people's legs in public- be careful you never know when you might set someone off and get your butt kicked
Wait. Did you just (kind of) threaten people for making comments about something in which you'd already claimed to not care what other people think about anyway?
singing "isn't it ironic"
"don't you think?"0 -
Where I go, of the people who are not there for rehab, I'd say about half of the people squatting get adequate depth. I don't see much difference between the men and the women in that regard.
We've got a pretty clear split between athletes and other people who have clearly been lifting for quite a while and know what they're doing, and people who are really new to it and don't appear to have done any research on the subject. Then there's a few like me who aren't as flexible/coordinated as the long-term folks, but we know what we're supposed to be doing and are trying to get as close as possible. Some days it's a little hit or miss.
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_incogNEATo_ wrote: »thesupremeforce wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »I do squats once a week and not very heavy along with five other leg exercises, my legs are out of proportion to my upper body and I could give a sh1t what other than one woman thinks about the way I look. I ride a bike 400+ miles a month, extremely limber, long time martial arts/ gymnastics and could put my foot in some ones chin really freaking quick.. So to the people who verbally comment on other people's legs in public- be careful you never know when you might set someone off and get your butt kicked
Wait. Did you just (kind of) threaten people for making comments about something in which you'd already claimed to not care what other people think about anyway?
singing "isn't it ironic"
"don't you think?"
"it's like raaaaiiiiaaaaaeeeennnnnnnnnn on your weddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddding day"0 -
Packerjohn wrote: »
If you don't want to do squats or deadlifts, that is fine. But for the average person, those would be the top 2 exercises to spend time on if one is looking for the maximum return.
This.
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_incogNEATo_ wrote: »thesupremeforce wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »I do squats once a week and not very heavy along with five other leg exercises, my legs are out of proportion to my upper body and I could give a sh1t what other than one woman thinks about the way I look. I ride a bike 400+ miles a month, extremely limber, long time martial arts/ gymnastics and could put my foot in some ones chin really freaking quick.. So to the people who verbally comment on other people's legs in public- be careful you never know when you might set someone off and get your butt kicked
Wait. Did you just (kind of) threaten people for making comments about something in which you'd already claimed to not care what other people think about anyway?
singing "isn't it ironic"
"don't you think?"
"it's like raaaaiiiiaaaaaeeeennnnnnnnnn on your weddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddding day"
It is really getting close to gif time in here.0 -
I think the bigger question is why do you care?0
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Coming from an athletic background I was introduced to lifting/gym work from a functional POV but still loved the way I ended up looking aesthetically (big and powerful) as a teen. I always worked lower and upper body, and end up with a fairly balanced physique.
I guess everyone hears about guys in commercial gyms who only curl/bench, etc. etc., but the reality is actually worse than I ever thought.
Virtually NO MEN in commercial gyms squat to decent depth. You have the most effective exercise on the planet and no men seem remotely interested in even trying it. Furthermore, a lot of men- not all- basically just totally ignore their whole lower body...
Why is that?
It's a vanity thing for a lot of guys, I think. I mean, I don't personally "get" it, but I see it all the time.
We have a lot of great powerlifters at my gym, and I love that about the place. Guys who know how to lift, who squat and deadlift, and squat to depth.
But there are those guys who come in, never touch the squat rack, and spend all day on the dumbbells getting "pumped" up from the waist up. They have the same routine, every time I'm in there. Never see them squat.
I remember having a conversation with one of those guys one time. Me and a couple other guys, we were giving him *kitten* about it because his bench press max was way more than his squat max. He said he didn't care. He just wanted to look huge up top.
Like I said... I don't get it.
And yeah, sometimes you see the guys who don't squat to depth either. I don't understand that much either.
I really think it's all about vanity.0 -
Packerjohn wrote: »Which is fine, saves the equipment power racks for me.
That's the way I feel.
We have two squat racks and two deadlift platforms. Something is always open for me to lift. I like that.
Curl boys can have their dumbbells all they want.
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colors_fade wrote: »
I really think it's all about vanity.
and while I'm not against some pure vanity motivation- seriously- half the reason I work out is because I love looking great!! But what I don't understand is why they think it doesn't help. To me an unbalanced body isn't attractive. and having a front only body isn't attractive. whole package.0 -
colors_fade wrote: »Coming from an athletic background I was introduced to lifting/gym work from a functional POV but still loved the way I ended up looking aesthetically (big and powerful) as a teen. I always worked lower and upper body, and end up with a fairly balanced physique.
I guess everyone hears about guys in commercial gyms who only curl/bench, etc. etc., but the reality is actually worse than I ever thought.
Virtually NO MEN in commercial gyms squat to decent depth. You have the most effective exercise on the planet and no men seem remotely interested in even trying it. Furthermore, a lot of men- not all- basically just totally ignore their whole lower body...
Why is that?
It's a vanity thing for a lot of guys, I think. I mean, I don't personally "get" it, but I see it all the time.
We have a lot of great powerlifters at my gym, and I love that about the place. Guys who know how to lift, who squat and deadlift, and squat to depth.
But there are those guys who come in, never touch the squat rack, and spend all day on the dumbbells getting "pumped" up from the waist up. They have the same routine, every time I'm in there. Never see them squat.
I remember having a conversation with one of those guys one time. Me and a couple other guys, we were giving him *kitten* about it because his bench press max was way more than his squat max. He said he didn't care. He just wanted to look huge up top.
Like I said... I don't get it.
And yeah, sometimes you see the guys who don't squat to depth either. I don't understand that much either.
I really think it's all about vanity.
Some men like that wedge look.
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thesupremeforce wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »I do squats once a week and not very heavy along with five other leg exercises, my legs are out of proportion to my upper body and I could give a sh1t what other than one woman thinks about the way I look. I ride a bike 400+ miles a month, extremely limber, long time martial arts/ gymnastics and could put my foot in some ones chin really freaking quick.. So to the people who verbally comment on other people's legs in public- be careful you never know when you might set someone off and get your butt kicked
Wait. Did you just (kind of) threaten people for making comments about something in which you'd already claimed to not care what other people think about anyway?
Nope I could careless what people think but I'm not against smacking someone for VERBALLY saying something to my face especially if its to bully me.. Its the irish german red head temper.
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This content has been removed.
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Michael190lbs wrote: »thesupremeforce wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »I do squats once a week and not very heavy along with five other leg exercises, my legs are out of proportion to my upper body and I could give a sh1t what other than one woman thinks about the way I look. I ride a bike 400+ miles a month, extremely limber, long time martial arts/ gymnastics and could put my foot in some ones chin really freaking quick.. So to the people who verbally comment on other people's legs in public- be careful you never know when you might set someone off and get your butt kicked
Wait. Did you just (kind of) threaten people for making comments about something in which you'd already claimed to not care what other people think about anyway?
Nope I could careless what people think but I'm not against smacking someone for VERBALLY saying something to my face especially if its to bully me.. Its the irish german red head temper.
If you'd just squat, you wouldn't have that problem to begin with.0 -
http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/one-workout-every_incogNEATo_ wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »yopeeps025 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »I'm pretty new to weight lifting, but my small community gym has some guys that squat and others who do not.
Personally I don't squat or work legs because I have made a plan that strengthens the muscles I need to strengthen with a particular activity in mind. Sometime down the road my goals may change and I might work on strengthening legs at that time. Maybe your goals are different than mine, and your goals require you to squat. Great for you! That doesn't explain why I should squat, though.
Ok so what if I told you that squats and deadlifts can overall make you stronger. Would you want to add that to your goals?
Not right now. At some point, I might be interested in overall strength. For now, I'm focusing on a few specific muscles.
Do you mind telling what your training is focused around and what you're training specifically for. What is your goal?
I am trying to get in shape for rock climbing. My shoulders are my weakest area and I need to improve upper body strength to be able to pull myself upward and to hold for longer times.
These are the types of exercises that I'm trying to start with: http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/one-workout-every-climber-should-do0 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/one-workout-every_incogNEATo_ wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »yopeeps025 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »I'm pretty new to weight lifting, but my small community gym has some guys that squat and others who do not.
Personally I don't squat or work legs because I have made a plan that strengthens the muscles I need to strengthen with a particular activity in mind. Sometime down the road my goals may change and I might work on strengthening legs at that time. Maybe your goals are different than mine, and your goals require you to squat. Great for you! That doesn't explain why I should squat, though.
Ok so what if I told you that squats and deadlifts can overall make you stronger. Would you want to add that to your goals?
Not right now. At some point, I might be interested in overall strength. For now, I'm focusing on a few specific muscles.
Do you mind telling what your training is focused around and what you're training specifically for. What is your goal?
I am trying to get in shape for rock climbing. My shoulders are my weakest area and I need to improve upper body strength to be able to pull myself upward and to hold for longer times.
These are the types of exercises that I'm trying to start with: http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/one-workout-every-climber-should-do
OK so again squat will improve overall strength which includes upper body. So why do you not want to squat?
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midwesterner85 wrote: »http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/one-workout-every_incogNEATo_ wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »yopeeps025 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »I'm pretty new to weight lifting, but my small community gym has some guys that squat and others who do not.
Personally I don't squat or work legs because I have made a plan that strengthens the muscles I need to strengthen with a particular activity in mind. Sometime down the road my goals may change and I might work on strengthening legs at that time. Maybe your goals are different than mine, and your goals require you to squat. Great for you! That doesn't explain why I should squat, though.
Ok so what if I told you that squats and deadlifts can overall make you stronger. Would you want to add that to your goals?
Not right now. At some point, I might be interested in overall strength. For now, I'm focusing on a few specific muscles.
Do you mind telling what your training is focused around and what you're training specifically for. What is your goal?
I am trying to get in shape for rock climbing. My shoulders are my weakest area and I need to improve upper body strength to be able to pull myself upward and to hold for longer times.
These are the types of exercises that I'm trying to start with: http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/one-workout-every-climber-should-do
I can see smaller legs being of benefit for rock climbing. That was what I figured you would be training for if leg strength was of no benefit whatsoever. Actually, mass gained from squats could be counterproductive since you would be adding extra weight to carry with your upper body.
ETA: However, squats could improve overall balance which would be useful.0 -
Depends on the gym... When I used to go to Xsport fitness, very few people would squat (let alone to depth or below). I go to a more hardcore/athletic gym now and it's flipped around now more so.
I would say most avoid it because it's a difficult lift, as are deadlifts. Most people don't want difficult.0 -
yopeeps025 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/one-workout-every_incogNEATo_ wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »yopeeps025 wrote: »midwesterner85 wrote: »I'm pretty new to weight lifting, but my small community gym has some guys that squat and others who do not.
Personally I don't squat or work legs because I have made a plan that strengthens the muscles I need to strengthen with a particular activity in mind. Sometime down the road my goals may change and I might work on strengthening legs at that time. Maybe your goals are different than mine, and your goals require you to squat. Great for you! That doesn't explain why I should squat, though.
Ok so what if I told you that squats and deadlifts can overall make you stronger. Would you want to add that to your goals?
Not right now. At some point, I might be interested in overall strength. For now, I'm focusing on a few specific muscles.
Do you mind telling what your training is focused around and what you're training specifically for. What is your goal?
I am trying to get in shape for rock climbing. My shoulders are my weakest area and I need to improve upper body strength to be able to pull myself upward and to hold for longer times.
These are the types of exercises that I'm trying to start with: http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/one-workout-every-climber-should-do
OK so again squat will improve overall strength which includes upper body. So why do you not want to squat?
It just isn't targeted enough. Again, there are a lot of things that I can do that would be good for me, but I can't do all of them... so I do what I believe will give me the best "payback" (i.e. benefits:resources ratio is highest).0 -
_incogNEATo_ wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »thesupremeforce wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »I do squats once a week and not very heavy along with five other leg exercises, my legs are out of proportion to my upper body and I could give a sh1t what other than one woman thinks about the way I look. I ride a bike 400+ miles a month, extremely limber, long time martial arts/ gymnastics and could put my foot in some ones chin really freaking quick.. So to the people who verbally comment on other people's legs in public- be careful you never know when you might set someone off and get your butt kicked
Wait. Did you just (kind of) threaten people for making comments about something in which you'd already claimed to not care what other people think about anyway?
Nope I could careless what people think but I'm not against smacking someone for VERBALLY saying something to my face especially if its to bully me.. Its the irish german red head temper.
If you'd just squat, you wouldn't have that problem to begin with.
Now that is funny I have to squat (which I already do) to stop a potential negative remark-- No I prefer to just pound on the person..
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Michael190lbs wrote: »_incogNEATo_ wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »thesupremeforce wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »I do squats once a week and not very heavy along with five other leg exercises, my legs are out of proportion to my upper body and I could give a sh1t what other than one woman thinks about the way I look. I ride a bike 400+ miles a month, extremely limber, long time martial arts/ gymnastics and could put my foot in some ones chin really freaking quick.. So to the people who verbally comment on other people's legs in public- be careful you never know when you might set someone off and get your butt kicked
Wait. Did you just (kind of) threaten people for making comments about something in which you'd already claimed to not care what other people think about anyway?
Nope I could careless what people think but I'm not against smacking someone for VERBALLY saying something to my face especially if its to bully me.. Its the irish german red head temper.
If you'd just squat, you wouldn't have that problem to begin with.
Now that is funny I have to squat (which I already do) to stop a potential negative remark-- No I prefer to just pound on the person..
But you could care less at the same time?0 -
This is pointless_incogNEATo_ wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »_incogNEATo_ wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »thesupremeforce wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »I do squats once a week and not very heavy along with five other leg exercises, my legs are out of proportion to my upper body and I could give a sh1t what other than one woman thinks about the way I look. I ride a bike 400+ miles a month, extremely limber, long time martial arts/ gymnastics and could put my foot in some ones chin really freaking quick.. So to the people who verbally comment on other people's legs in public- be careful you never know when you might set someone off and get your butt kicked
Wait. Did you just (kind of) threaten people for making comments about something in which you'd already claimed to not care what other people think about anyway?
Nope I could careless what people think but I'm not against smacking someone for VERBALLY saying something to my face especially if its to bully me.. Its the irish german red head temper.
If you'd just squat, you wouldn't have that problem to begin with.
Now that is funny I have to squat (which I already do) to stop a potential negative remark-- No I prefer to just pound on the person..
But you could care less at the same time?
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I'd just like to say that I am Not a Fan of this persistent shorts-as-culottes fashion thing for men. Back in my day, the lads didn't skip leg day because the world actually could see above the knee when you wore swim trunks or basketball shorts.
And, the cultural oppression of the Female Gaze was glorious. Down with clown shorts. Up with snazzy Don Draper shorts and nice quads.
That is all.0 -
wuhhhh?
Who is "virtually NO men"?
Who are the men I am talking about?
The men who populate commercial gyms i've frequented around the country for over a decade now since i've been out of college. I see virtually no men squatting to depth where I would call the movement a full squat, even less to ATG where MOST people without injury consideration probably should be squatting.
Country where you are from, because not in my country..
edited to add: I see you are in the country of Chicago... maybe it is this...
Just jumping in because I think the OP has an extremely valid point. I had no idea what full depth on a squat was before I joined Crossfit. I don't think I was the worst at my old gym, but I was probably going about 3/4ths of the way down at best.
The real reason I left my gym is the upper body bros he describes were always hogging the squat racks to do shoulder shrugs.
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_incogNEATo_ wrote: »thesupremeforce wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »I do squats once a week and not very heavy along with five other leg exercises, my legs are out of proportion to my upper body and I could give a sh1t what other than one woman thinks about the way I look. I ride a bike 400+ miles a month, extremely limber, long time martial arts/ gymnastics and could put my foot in some ones chin really freaking quick.. So to the people who verbally comment on other people's legs in public- be careful you never know when you might set someone off and get your butt kicked
Wait. Did you just (kind of) threaten people for making comments about something in which you'd already claimed to not care what other people think about anyway?
singing "isn't it ironic"
"don't you think?"
I think Alanis Morrisette didn't know the definiton of the word "ironic"0 -
bostonwolf wrote: »wuhhhh?
Who is "virtually NO men"?
Who are the men I am talking about?
The men who populate commercial gyms i've frequented around the country for over a decade now since i've been out of college. I see virtually no men squatting to depth where I would call the movement a full squat, even less to ATG where MOST people without injury consideration probably should be squatting.
Country where you are from, because not in my country..
edited to add: I see you are in the country of Chicago... maybe it is this...
Just jumping in because I think the OP has an extremely valid point. I had no idea what full depth on a squat was before I joined Crossfit. I don't think I was the worst at my old gym, but I was probably going about 3/4ths of the way down at best.
The real reason I left my gym is the upper body bros he describes were always hogging the squat racks to do shoulder shrugs.
Don't get me started on hogging equipment when it comes to crossfitters coming in my gym
. It really makes me wish there were more 'boxes' where I live as much as I hate to say it. 0 -
enterdanger wrote: »Maybe it's cause Chicago has like the best food ever and they just can't squat cause they just ate an Ann Sather Cinnamon roll or at some yummy mexican at Frontera.
OMG! I thought I was the only one who liked Ann Sather! My wife says: "What? You want to go for Swedish food? Are you crazy?"
I live and work out in Sacramento, CA. I have been to many gyms. I agree with the OP. I would estimate that I see 10 guys benching or doing some kind of chest exercise to every 1 guy I see squat.
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As far as depth goes, I can speak from personal experience, it is fear (no one wants to fail at a rep), and ego (I can hit depth really well in my warmup sets and the first work set or two, but as the weight gets real heavy on my back, lack of confidence or that fear I mentioned earlier kicks in and I find myself wanting to stop before I hit parallel. I'm thinking of going a little lighter on the weight and switching to box squats for a while to make sure I start hitting proper depth on all my reps.
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Leg day is physically the most demanding and many out there don't like doing the challenging stuff. People are people, and choosing the easier option sometimes wins over. I have seen more than a few people with over sized bodies on matchstick legs and that's why I never skip leg day. Also, im lazy at heart myself and leg day is the quickest of my routines - I like that about leg day!0
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bostonwolf wrote: »_incogNEATo_ wrote: »thesupremeforce wrote: »Michael190lbs wrote: »I do squats once a week and not very heavy along with five other leg exercises, my legs are out of proportion to my upper body and I could give a sh1t what other than one woman thinks about the way I look. I ride a bike 400+ miles a month, extremely limber, long time martial arts/ gymnastics and could put my foot in some ones chin really freaking quick.. So to the people who verbally comment on other people's legs in public- be careful you never know when you might set someone off and get your butt kicked
Wait. Did you just (kind of) threaten people for making comments about something in which you'd already claimed to not care what other people think about anyway?
singing "isn't it ironic"
"don't you think?"
I think Alanis Morrisette didn't know the definiton of the word "ironic"
Which is somewhat...ironic. Also thank you for getting that song in my head...
To the OP: Stop frequenting Planet Fitness. Problem solved.0
This discussion has been closed.
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