Feeling silly with my first few attempts at NROL4W

kmbweber2014

So I got the book, I read it, I studied the workouts, I was pumped and ready. I got to the gym and some jerk left big giant weights on the barbell. Try as I might I could not get those darn things off and no one was willing to help me (my gym is filled with obnoxious meat head bros and cardio bunnies. And no I can't switch gyms because I live in a small town and we only have one, ugh.). Then I started thinking I should probably have a spotter or something? Now I had done squats before with a spotter there to help and what not but never without. How important is a spotter and what do you do if you run into my situation?

BarbellCowgirl

I've gone through NROL4W and am going through Supercharged now. Never had a spotter.

Is the staff at the gym helpful at all? My gym has great staff and they're always available to assist with whatever. I probably would have nicely asked the guy to re-rack. If he didn't I would have reported it to the staff. It's considered very poor etiquette to leave weights on the bar.

Hope your situation gets easier!

heatherloveslifting

Agree with cowgirl! So there are some jerks at your gym- there are some at mine as well, but also nice people will will help or even offer. Worst case scenario I would do them anyway with dumbbells or even body weight. Good luck!!!

MyOwnSunshine

I've never had a spotter and have completed NROLFW and moved on to Supercharged.

If someone forgets to re-rack, I just consider it a little extra workout within my workout. The big plates are 45 pounds. You should be able to very carefully re-rack them, or ask someone who works at your gym to help you. That's what they're getting paid for.

Perswaysion

I do most of my workouts at home so I typically just yell at the last person to not put things back aka The Husband. That being said the gym should help you. Find a worker and tell them it's to much weight for you to move by yourself. They have liability insurance for a reason.

As far as a spotter I haven't seen a need yet but I have only finished Stage one.

kmbweber2014

The staff isn't very friendly and at this particular time there wasn't anyone around (the guy that had used it before had left before I had realized what he had done). I attempted to remove the weights but I'm a shorty and apparently the last guy likes the bar over his head. Maybe I'll just try it with dumbbells next time. I ended up just getting frustrated and going back to running. I think I was being a bit oversensitive and just need to put on my big girl panties and stop being a baby.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

next time see if you can find a pre-weighted bar and do front squats or trophy squats. The douche bags who refuse to re-rack are even worse than the ones who curl in the racks. I swear I spend 5 minutes at the beginning of each of my lifting sessions trying to figure out if someone is still using the cage.