Does anyone else hate this? (mirrors in gyms)

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  • KyleB65
    KyleB65 Posts: 1,196 Member
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    I HATED gym mirrors when I first started going to classes! I made a point of staying at the back of the class as far away from the teacher and all the "good" students as possible!

    Now, I use the mirrors to make sure my form (Martial arts and weights) is correct.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    They are usually in the weight areas for a specific purpose: to check your own form from an outside view. Contrary to popular belief, they weren't put in there for the men to get semis over their own abs...which appears to be their most common function. :wink:


    I thought it was so we could check out hotties without being obvious...
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    So I can look to make sure that Im not lifting my butt first when I deadlift, or arch my back the wrong way when I squat, or lean back and use my chest when I overhead press, or push too far forward when I bench, so i can look at my arms and back when I use the lat pull down machine.

    mirrors are there for safety. You can close your eyes or face away from them. Thats what I do when I do jumping jacks. I cant see my boobs when I do jumping jacks or I'll cry and go home.



    Wha??? Everything else, sure. But why aren't you looking up during your bench? If I tried looking off to the side during my bench, I'd surely end up killing myself. Or at least not able to push jack besides the bar.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    So I can look to make sure that Im not lifting my butt first when I deadlift, or arch my back the wrong way when I squat, or lean back and use my chest when I overhead press, or push too far forward when I bench, so i can look at my arms and back when I use the lat pull down machine.

    mirrors are there for safety. You can close your eyes or face away from them. Thats what I do when I do jumping jacks. I cant see my boobs when I do jumping jacks or I'll cry and go home.



    Wha??? Everything else, sure. But why aren't you looking up during your bench? If I tried looking off to the side during my bench, I'd surely end up killing myself. Or at least not able to push jack besides the bar.

    Yup! Rip's form instruction is to get your eyes directly under the bar while it's in the rack. Stare past it to a spot on the ceiling and commence.
  • Queen_JessieA
    Queen_JessieA Posts: 1,059 Member
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    They are only in the free weight area and the class areas at my gym. I go to neither part of the gym. I guess I am a bit intimidated by free weights and I really just don't like the class rooms at the moment.
  • scottdeeby
    scottdeeby Posts: 95 Member
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    They are usually in the weight areas for a specific purpose: to check your own form from an outside view. Contrary to popular belief, they weren't put in there for the men to get semis over their own abs...which appears to be their most common function. :wink:
    \
    I duno I kind of think they're there for the guys to look at themselves.
    because during lifts, you can't be lifting properly while looking up and down in the mirror to check your form.

    mirrors are one of the worst things to have in front of you while squatting/deadlifting IMO
    agree
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
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    for some reason i always think i look much more muscular in the mirrors in the locker room. i swear they have some kind of fun house mirrors that make you look better that they put in gym locker rooms
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
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    I duno I kind of think they're there for the guys to look at themselves.
    because during lifts, you can't be lifting properly while looking up and down in the mirror to check your form.

    mirrors are one of the worst things to have in front of you while squatting/deadlifting IMO


    this doesn't make any sense to me. tell me a lift that its bad form to look directly infront of you.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    I duno I kind of think they're there for the guys to look at themselves.
    because during lifts, you can't be lifting properly while looking up and down in the mirror to check your form.

    mirrors are one of the worst things to have in front of you while squatting/deadlifting IMO


    this doesn't make any sense to me. tell me a lift that its bad form to look directly infront of you.


    The problem lies in that your eyes - and then head and potentially the rest of your body moves - tend to not focus where they should. One thing that I sometimes do is look at my knees/butt to make sure I'm squatting low enough. When that happens, I can sometimes feel my head moving downward. The only time - so far - that I've failed on squats is the time I didn't catch myself soon enough and I ended up rounding my back. I may have been able to get the weight up, but I wasn't about to risk injury because I had done something I knew I shouldn't.
  • NikoM5
    NikoM5 Posts: 488 Member
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    They are usually in the weight areas for a specific purpose: to check your own form from an outside view. Contrary to popular belief, they weren't put in there for the men to get semis over their own abs...which appears to be their most common function. :wink:

    So true. I love how they are pretending to check out their abs but really they're just hoping other people will look too.
  • gracielynn1011
    gracielynn1011 Posts: 726 Member
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    I do agree with you. I hate mirrors still, but I do like to watch myself during strength training. It helps me keep proper form, and I can watch my muscles get stronger. I just ignore the parts of me that I don't like yet.

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