2 questions: 1) Etiquette 2) Form

Josalinn

Hi, so I've been off and on with lifting and I have recently redoubled my efforts to stick to a routine. After reading so many comments about form and etiquette, I am still confused and terrified of pissing someone off.

1)Etiquette: From what I have read and gleaned from forum posts is that the Squat Rack is for squats, nothing but squats and if you do anything other than squats you are an a$$hat.

Question: What about when you are following a routine that says to do a micro circuit and move 1A is Squats and say move 1B is curls or pushups or something. Do you completely unrack all your weights move out of the cage to do move 1B and hope no one takes the cage or do you stay in the cage and run the risk of pissing off other people by "not using the squat rack for squats"? I personally try to have "active rest periods" between sets because I'm trying to keep my hear rate up. So I'll do dynamic stretching for 30 seconds or so.

2) Smith Machine. Apparently everyone hates this invention, and at least for squats I do too. I really screwed up my back trying to use it. My question is for using the Smith machine for bench press. I want to figure out my 1 rep max but I don't have a gym buddy, and I don't want to get squished. How accurate would a 1 rep max bench press be with the Smith machine? I know that using the regular bench press is better for sets because you use more muscles to stabilize.

Any input would be great.

SideSteel

1) That's debatable.

In my opinion it depends on the availability of squat racks and it also somewhat depends on what you're using the squat rack for.

In my opinion, overhead pressing in the squat rack is totally fine. Something like a curl typically isn't because the weight that people curl should easily be pull-able from the ground. With overhead press, not everyone trains the power clean and I don't think it's reasonable to suggest that everyone should -- so actually getting the OHP weight up to proper height to press it isn't something that should be expected.

Using the squat rack when nothing about the rack is benefiting you is a huge no-no in my opinion. For example I see people occasionally deadlifting in the squat rack. I'm specifically talking about a deadlift from the floor and not a rack pull, and not using the safeties to elevate the bar for someone who is using less than 45# per side. I mean the bar is on the FLOOR and they are deadlifting in the rack. That one gets me worse than anything because they literally are not even using any feature of the rack.

Regarding your question with supersets, if I were in your position and there was only 1 squat rack available and the gym was busy I wouldn't superset, but again that's just my opinion on this situation.

2) I wouldn't test 1rm on a smith because it's not going to have much relevance to your 1rm on a freeweight bench. Additionally, can you clarify what reason you have for needing your 1rm?

If you need to know your true 1rm, ask for a spotter. Although I'd first ask why you need to know it, since you may not actually need it and additionally there may other methods for estimating it depending on your reason for needing it.

Let me know if you have more questions. The gym etiquette one is obviously subject to plenty of opinion.

Josalinn

Thanks SideSteel. I worry about etiquette so I'm thankful to get the perspective of someone who lifts more regularly than I do.

As for the 1rm I belong to another site that uses that number as part of a calculation determine how strong you are in the upper body. While I know I am not very strong in the upper body, the question of "how much can you lift in one go" greatly intrigued me, and now I want to know just for the sake of knowing. I did it for my legs and was genuinely surprised by how much I could leg press once, and that gave me a lot of confidence. My theory is that if I show myself how much I can bench press once it will help me gain confidence in that area as well.

I've been doing rock climbing with my boyfriend on weekends. I don't have a partner where I live so I only do it on the weekends. But I can't pull myself up over ceilings and I can't do a pull up right now. But if I can bench press maybe 100 pounds once, that will give me the confidence that as I lose weight and get stronger, that those two measurements will meet in the middle and I'll be able bench press my maintenance weight and do a pull up. It's kind of a silly way of thinking about it, I realize that, but I really want to to be able to bench press my own weight someday.

gweneddk

Thanks SideSteel. I worry about etiquette so I'm thankful to get the perspective of someone who lifts more regularly than I do.

As for the 1rm I belong to another site that uses that number as part of a calculation determine how strong you are in the upper body. While I know I am not very strong in the upper body, the question of "how much can you lift in one go" greatly intrigued me, and now I want to know just for the sake of knowing. I did it for my legs and was genuinely surprised by how much I could leg press once, and that gave me a lot of confidence. My theory is that if I show myself how much I can bench press once it will help me gain confidence in that area as well.

I've been doing rock climbing with my boyfriend on weekends. I don't have a partner where I live so I only do it on the weekends. But I can't pull myself up over ceilings and I can't do a pull up right now. But if I can bench press maybe 100 pounds once, that will give me the confidence that as I lose weight and get stronger, that those two measurements will meet in the middle and I'll be able bench press my maintenance weight and do a pull up. It's kind of a silly way of thinking about it, I realize that, but I really want to to be able to bench press my own weight someday.

It really depends on the gym and how much equipment is available whether supersets are ok etiquette wise. I wouldn't unrack everything to go do your next exercise and then have to re-rack it; I would just stay close by and move back into the rack as quickly as possible. However, if the gym is busy and/or people are waiting for the rack, it is courteous to finish with the rack as expediently as possible. For someone doing straight sets though, they are still going to rest a minute or more between sets, so I don't see much of a difference between doing a set of pushups during that "rest" or just standing there. Of course, if you are walking halfway across the gym to do exercise #2, then it may appear as though you are abandoning the rack/not cleaning up after yourself.

Bench press capability isn't necessarily the same as pull up capability. If you want to work on pull ups I would just work on pullups! I would not use a smith machine for a bench press. I also would not test a 1RM bench press without at least a few weeks of lighter technique work practice (for which you shouldn't need a spotter). I have never had a problem finding a spotter in the gym for bench press; even though it's a little scary to think you are relying on a complete stranger and in many cases I don't even know their name. But I don't REALLY test a 1RM without someone I know and trust... eventually maybe you can make friends with others in your gym if that is where you want to take your training.

TriLifter

Using the squat rack when nothing about the rack is benefiting you is a huge no-no in my opinion. For example I see people occasionally deadlifting in the squat rack. I'm specifically talking about a deadlift from the floor and not a rack pull, and not using the safeties to elevate the bar for someone who is using less than 45# per side. I mean the bar is on the FLOOR and they are deadlifting in the rack. That one gets me worse than anything because they literally are not even using any feature of the rack.

I would normally agree with this but, since switching gyms, have amended my opinion LOL.

1. At my gym NO ONE else uses the power rack at 5 a.m., so I take full advantage of that fact.

2. Unfortunately, my gym doesn't have any floor space to deadlift so I do it in the cage. I prefer to only do squats in there, but I honestly don't have any other options :grumble:

SkepticalOwl

Using the squat rack when nothing about the rack is benefiting you is a huge no-no in my opinion. For example I see people occasionally deadlifting in the squat rack. I'm specifically talking about a deadlift from the floor and not a rack pull, and not using the safeties to elevate the bar for someone who is using less than 45# per side. I mean the bar is on the FLOOR and they are deadlifting in the rack. That one gets me worse than anything because they literally are not even using any feature of the rack.

I would normally agree with this but, since switching gyms, have amended my opinion LOL.

1. At my gym NO ONE else uses the power rack at 5 a.m., so I take full advantage of that fact.

2. Unfortunately, my gym doesn't have any floor space to deadlift so I do it in the cage. I prefer to only do squats in there, but I honestly don't have any other options :grumble:

Ditto on #2. If I don't deadlift in the cage, I will be deadlifitng on top of someone. Not cool.

I also do my OHP in the cage.

It's fine to do some pushups or whatever while you're resting for your next set, but...

No curls in the cage. Ever.

SideSteel

If there literally isn't a space to deadlift then you do what you have to I suppose. That's got to be an awfully crowded gym but I suppose it's possible. I set up just in front of (but outside of) the squat rack.

Josalinn

It's fine to do some pushups or whatever while you're resting for your next set, but...

No curls in the cage. Ever.

I'm sorry, the sternness of your response made me smile. It fits the look the owl is making.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I don't have a lot of competition for racks in the morning (6:30 yay!) but when I have gone in the afternoon it's....packed. There are only 2 racks and not a lot of room to dead lift.

I have been working on the pull ups, and now that I'm thinking about it, that might be a good use for the smith machine, because I am short and I can't reach the pull up bar without a bench or stepper.

TriLifter

I have been working on the pull ups, and now that I'm thinking about it, that might be a good use for the smith machine, because I am short and I can't reach the pull up bar without a bench or stepper.

oooohhh....fabulous idea, thank you!

SkepticalOwl

It's fine to do some pushups or whatever while you're resting for your next set, but...

No curls in the cage. Ever.

I'm sorry, the sternness of your response made me smile. It fits the look the owl is making.

Lol. Sometimes the owl is very appropriate.

MrGonzo05

Hi, so I've been off and on with lifting and I have recently redoubled my efforts to stick to a routine. After reading so many comments about form and etiquette, I am still confused and terrified of pissing someone off.

1)Etiquette: From what I have read and gleaned from forum posts is that the Squat Rack is for squats, nothing but squats and if you do anything other than squats you are an a$$hat.

Question: What about when you are following a routine that says to do a micro circuit and move 1A is Squats and say move 1B is curls or pushups or something. Do you completely unrack all your weights move out of the cage to do move 1B and hope no one takes the cage or do you stay in the cage and run the risk of pissing off other people by "not using the squat rack for squats"? I personally try to have "active rest periods" between sets because I'm trying to keep my hear rate up. So I'll do dynamic stretching for 30 seconds or so.

2) Smith Machine. Apparently everyone hates this invention, and at least for squats I do too. I really screwed up my back trying to use it. My question is for using the Smith machine for bench press. I want to figure out my 1 rep max but I don't have a gym buddy, and I don't want to get squished. How accurate would a 1 rep max bench press be with the Smith machine? I know that using the regular bench press is better for sets because you use more muscles to stabilize.

Any input would be great.

1) I wouldn't say that. If the gym is not busy, I will often use the squat rack to do barbell rows and overhead press. That way I focus my energy on the lifts I need to do, instead of on deadlifting/cleaning the bar to get it into position. But if somebody wants the squat rack to squat, I get out of the way.

2) If you must know your 1RM max for bench press, you can either ask for a spot, or you can bench press in a power rack with safeties. But I don't know of any reason why you would need to know your 1RM max for training purposes, normally you can do just fine by calculating it off a 3RM.

Sarauk2sf

Just to weigh in on etiquette:

- in my opinion, if there is no-one in the gym/free weights section you can do what the hell you want in a power cage/squat rack

- if there are people there, then be very aware that someone may be waiting (even surreptitiously)

- it is fine to do things you cannot do without the help of a rack, even if busy. OHP is fine as many people cannot clean the bar up (I tried once to avoid using the squat rack end effed my wrist up), squats are obviously fine. If there are other people there, do not curl or dead in the cage.

- if you are squatting in the cage, do not rush through it - you should have adequate rest. If someone wants to work in, they should ask and its good 'form' to agree.