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What to do when the squat rack is busy?

5minty

I have been fairly lucky in going to the gym when it is relatively quiet and don't have to wait for the squat rack, but since today is a holiday and the gym may/may not be full- I was just curious what workouts do you guys do if the squat rack & or bench (with the rack) is busy/unavailable?

Replies

mom23mangos

We have a crossfit type of cage with 4 bars but no safeties. I'll use that to warm up on and hope the squat rack frees up if I'm going to be pushing a weight I'm afraid I'll fail at.

For BP, I use dumbbells if necessary. Dumbells on a yoga ball if really necessary.

5minty

No, we have nothing like that in my gym :-(
But luckily I timed it right today and it was free when I got in and right when I finished squats and started bench presses it got busy.
Yes, dumbbells are a good replacement mom23mangos- I have, in the distant past, used DB's in place of the olympic bar, just wondering what workouts others have done. Though tbh, if I tried to use dumbbells on a yoga ball I would just fall over! :-)

canadianlbs

i goblet a lot with kettlebells, or just faff around doing other stuff like my accessory lifts while i wait. it sort of depends on what my 'issues' are on a given day. right now i'd probably be doing manic tfl/it stretches and all kinds of glute work.

or i grab a free bar and do front squats with it. front squats are one of those things on my guilty 'i know i should but' list of accessory things.

or, since i'm doing wendler 5-3-1 instead of stronglifts, i might just change my plan for the day and do one of the other lifts. wendler just says 'do one lift a day and lift four times a week' so i have a little more flex than i used to get doing 5x5.

canadianlbs

canadianlbs wrote: »

i goblet a lot with kettlebells, or just faff around doing other stuff like my accessory lifts while i wait. it sort of depends on what my 'issues' are on a given day. right now i'd probably be doing manic tfl/it stretches and all kinds of glute work.

or i grab a free bar and do front squats with it. front squats are one of those things on my guilty 'i know i should but' list of accessory things.

or, since i'm doing wendler 5-3-1 instead of stronglifts, i might just change my plan for the day and do one of the other lifts. wendler just says 'do one lift a day and lift four times a week' so i have a little more flex than i used to get doing 5x5.

or . . . [don't be mad at me] i'm always happy to get an excuse to do overhead press. it's kind of my go-to for 'oh gee what a shame i don't get to do [lift that i hate]. guess i'll just [lift that i always like] with a light weight instead'.

mzbek24

I do 20 mins of bike after my workout, so I just do that before the workout if it's busy. Or I might skip squats and do deadlifts first.

5minty

Great suggestions guys, I always feel like a dog whose bowl has been moved on the rare days in the gym that the rack is busy- I don't know what to doooooooo, but now I do!

jessiferrrb

it's always pretty busy on the weeknights that i go, but it's always the same people, so we've got it worked out so that everyone gets a chance. the guys are always a little more flexible in their routines than my lifting partner and i are on SL. so we'll see what can be worked in with who. there's one power rack, one smith machine, one olympic bar, one hex bar, one trap bar, etc. i much prefer saturdays when nobody is there except a couple of people on treadmills.

SideSteel

I alternate between staring at the person in the squat rack and staring at the clock, in an obvious manner.

If they are curling in the rack I also fart in their direction.

5minty

Haha very good SideSteel!

jessiferrrb, that is pretty good that you all are able to work around each other! :-)

jessiferrrb

i've been using the gym there for about 2 months, 3 times per week, and of all the times i've gone i've seen no more than 8 people who use the free weights at all. so it's the same crew day after day. a lot of the equipment, the bars, the rack, etc. were actually donated by the tenants so it's a pretty nice environment. i got lucky when my brother moved into the building and smuggled me the fob. lol.

5minty