" in other words, 'cat . . . watermelon . . . lake; why are you talking to me?' "
There's your problem!! You're thinking friendly things. Try skunk, hemerrhoids, toxic waste..... I generally use images of all my clients that irritate the living **** out of me. Apparently if I think of this my face reflects it.

@crabada at least he didn't ask you to finish cleaning up, little lady.

^^ I see people do that, especially on bench and less frequently squat. Guy is putting up a bunch of weight and his spotter holds the bar for him and helps him lift it backup. I think that's cheating. I've also seen the spotter hold the bar while someone "maxes out" quarter squatting. Both should just drop the weight and/or use the smith machine.

There is a new guy at the gym who has been consistently showing up to bench press (if what he is doing can be called that) for over 30 mins 3 to 4 times a week. At first when I saw him in the weights area I was thinking good for him for taking up lifting because he looks about middle age and almost sickly skinny. His arms are about half the size of mine.

Then I saw him actually lift. He does nothing but bench presses, with his neck and head lifted up off the bench like he is about to do a crunch and legs straight forward bent at the knees so that his feet are on the bench. 10 lb plates on each side. His lift is always lopsided and he always hits the metal thing where you put the bar on each time he lifts. So the bar goes up, clank on the metal then, then down. I can't tell if he is hitting the thing on purpose or if he is so lopsided and not in control of the bar that he is hitting it inadvertently. It is literally the craziest thing I have ever seen at the gym.

This has gone on for over 3 weeks now. Normally, I would never criticize other people's form or training method because I don't think I know enough to know what they are doing. But it hurts me to see this guy. I can't convince myself he is doing some super advanced move because he is obviously not in control of the bar and I'm afraid he is going to hit his head one of these days.

The sad thing is that it his crazy lifting doesn't appear to be a result of a bad ego. He looks like he is trying and he has stayed with 10 lb plates on each side of the bar for as long as I have seen him. Plus he seems like a nice enough/considerate person. The benches are always busy now that he uses one out of the three that are at my gym for almost the whole time I'm there so sometimes I go over and ask him how many sets he still has. I realized that every time I ask him, he always says he only has one left then does it really fast and moves on to some incline bench to continue doing his crazy lifts. Then he moves back to a normal bench as soon as there is one available.

I've been debating whether I should say something to him for a while. One one hand, I feel like I am not the most qualified to be telling someone how to do something. And I don't want to make him feel bad and I'm not sure if advice is welcomed since he keeps to himself. And I like to mind my own business.

So I've been hoping that one of the trainers or someone will say something to him to help him. I hoped that maybe if he kept coming back, he will see that no one else benches like he does and will try to copy what they do or actually look how up to do a bench press or something. I saw him reading something on a smart phone today so its not like he does not have the ability to google bench press. But he has been in the gym since before the new year and still continues to do the same thing.

Today all the benches and all the bars were in use (wtf?) so I ended up just standing there for a while after my squats waiting. I watched the crazy bench guy for a few minutes and decided that somebody had to help him and if no one else was going to do it then today was the day that I would. So I went over and asked to work in with him hoping to chit chat a little and smoothly interject with some bench tips. But he didn't understand. He was reading something in Korean so I'm not sure if it was his English or if he just didn't understand the term but he asked me if I need the bench. I say yes but can I use it in between while he is waiting. He looks like he doesn't understand then says he is done and proceeds to move over to the incline bench. I had already decided I was going try to help him so I I ask him if he would mind if I told him something I noticed on his lifts. His response was to profusely shake his head and say he is okay so I leave it alone.

Still not sure if not sure if I did the right thing or if I should have just minded my own business but at least now I will not feel guilty if he ends up straining his neck or hitting his head with the bar one day.

It's a shame he couldn't understand you but I think you did the right thing by talking to him. Speaking up when someone is doing something potentially dangerous is different than offering unsolicited advice.

Today, as I was walking on the treadmill, I watched a guy use the TRX to stretch. Basically he jumped up and grabbed the top like he might try and do pull ups or something with it. Instead, he just hung there for a moment then jerked his body around before letting go and walking away.


Last night there was a girl using the leg press with 2 45 plates but they were both on the same side. That was kinda interesting.


Not only is the guy who is probably around 70 still coming to the grit strength class, he also is convincing other's in his age range. Not the guys but he's got a couple of ladies trying out the class. He had one ask him questions about the clean and I ended up joining in on the conversation about how some seem to almost jump and such, discussing momentum and getting used to the move. It was an interesting, short discussion. Hope she keeps going to the class sometimes.

When lifting with someone, trying to pick when to mention form and when to not can be a slight struggle. I got a comment once on having my right foot slightly forward compared to the left and honestly, I wasn't too worried because with weight, it's hard to look down and make sure they are the exact same.

Watching though, to me it seems like what is being done by fellow lifter is half attempt at squat and half attempt at good morning. Starts to move down with legs but doesn't get far then seems to bow forward a bit but not all the way down like a good morning either.

Say something or let it go? I'm no expert on form but with a buddy, it would seem more applicable to speak up. Yet it's a little awkward.

EW. Just ew.

@AbsoluteTara79 er ma gerrd that's gross. Especially on a foot that's been on the locker room floor/in a gym shoe.

@canadianlbs‌ that's what she said! I had a guy do the mad rush over to me when I was carrying two 35-lb plates over to the squat rack. If I'm going to work out with them, I can lift them, k thx bye. Def will try to work in a dick joke next time that happens.

"I get a taco" hahaha. Best part!

As I was taking off the plates from squat and moving to overhead press, had a guy ask me if I was done with the cage. I said I didn't mind switching if he needed it cause I can do ohp over on the squat rack instead. He declined and said he was going to be doing curls. *blink blink* Yeah... Then the girl he was with came over with one of the lighter fixed bars and they did well, nothing. They moved away and took their stuff and he didn't even curl in the squat rack.

Yep, guy asked for the power cage to do curls.