I love gym stories! Tell me your funny/inspirational/cringe-worthy tales!

camlbella
camlbella Posts: 13 Member
edited July 2015 in Social Groups
I know you all have them, because let's face it - gyms are weird places to be. Put a bunch of sweaty, pre-workout fueled, adrenaline loving folks in the same room with heavy equipment, and stuff is bound to go down. So share away!

My contribution:
I was doing a warm-up progression for snatch that included some overhead squats. Nothing out of the ordinary, until about halfway through a set of 8, I squatted down and started to feel myself tip backwards. My arms were holding a bar above my head, so no help there, and I was at the bottom of the motion, so there was really no way to correct it. Realizing that I was screwed, I went into damage control mode. I threw the bar onto the rails in front of me, and somehow managed a perfect backward roll and finished in a standing position. It was like I decided to become a gymnast in the middle of my lift. The best part is the trainer standing behind me who saw it all and started clapping - naturally, I did a bow. I don't think he knows my name - probably just thinks of me as "the gymnast," or maybe I'm being self-congratulatory and it's actually "the klutz."

:p

Replies

  • charitys_aloette
    charitys_aloette Posts: 42 Member
    My worst story is a workout in which we had to complete several different lifts... The hitch was: every minute, on the minute, we had to do 5 Burpees. I hate burpees. I was so slow that I was only getting 1-3 lifts in after my burpees. About halfway through I started sobbing... Horrible, gut wrenching sobs. Kept mentally telling myself to stop but I just couldn't. (I knew it was going to take me forever to complete my lifts. One minute, I even just laid on the floor after my burpees waiting for the next round. I was the last one to finish by about 3 minutes.) Worst experience EVER. First and only time I've cried during a workout. I apologized to everyone after. Wow. Sad.
  • Julieboolieaz
    Julieboolieaz Posts: 658 Member
    My worst gym moment was doing box squats, and you guessed it, missing the box! I kept dipping lower trying to find the box...and it was behind me too far! I ended up ok, got back up and kept going, but I sure felt and looked like a moron!

    Another fun gym memory was doing sumo deadlifts. I had previously pulled a muscle in my low back doing regular DLs, so I was worried about my form. All was going well, until I decided to check my form to make sure I wasn't rounding my back. Turning to the left to see how my back looked in the mirror, mid lift, was a big mistake! I pulled a muscle (same one, feels Ike you're throwing your back out and is excruciating !!). So sad that in trying to prevent the injury I caused it!! :neutral: now? I don't deadlift anymore. Chiropractor says i have s severely compressed disk. I do weighted hip thrusts instead.
  • charitys_aloette
    charitys_aloette Posts: 42 Member
  • charitys_aloette
    charitys_aloette Posts: 42 Member
    For whatever reason, my comments don't always post. It's annoying. Just wondered if you had given physiotherapy a try, Julieboolieaz? A chiropractor told me my SI joint was my issue. After dealing with the pain for over a year I finally went to physio. (At my back's worst, I couldn't drive to work because the pain was so bad.) Turns out I had two partially herniated discs (L4 & L5). After several months of ongoing therapy, I am finally able to do everything again. (Deadlifts were one of the movements I couldn't do.)
  • I'm a little late on this one but thought I'd share. My teeny tiny gym finally got comcast or something; I guess the whole package..no pun intended. I was on the stair climber and there was a couple guys on the treadmills. I was trying to get to one of the music stations which is one of the last channels and ended up in the porn section! Channel after channel of raunchy porn! I was so flustered and embarrassed I could barely operate the remote. One of the guys commented "Now that will get your heart pumping!" Umm yeah! Awkward!
  • Merrysix
    Merrysix Posts: 336 Member
    Dropped a kettle bell on face doing Turkish get ups
  • retirehappy
    retirehappy Posts: 4,756 Member
    Merrysix wrote: »
    Dropped a kettle bell on face doing Turkish get ups

    Oh, ouch, ouch, ouch. It hurt reading that one.



  • FromFattie2Fittie
    FromFattie2Fittie Posts: 139 Member
    I'm a little late on this one but thought I'd share. My teeny tiny gym finally got comcast or something; I guess the whole package..no pun intended. I was on the stair climber and there was a couple guys on the treadmills. I was trying to get to one of the music stations which is one of the last channels and ended up in the porn section! Channel after channel of raunchy porn! I was so flustered and embarrassed I could barely operate the remote. One of the guys commented "Now that will get your heart pumping!" Umm yeah! Awkward!

    Oh my gosh! Haha that would have definitely embarrassed me! Kudos to you for staying haha :)
  • I'm a little late on this one but thought I'd share. My teeny tiny gym finally got comcast or something; I guess the whole package..no pun intended. I was on the stair climber and there was a couple guys on the treadmills. I was trying to get to one of the music stations which is one of the last channels and ended up in the porn section! Channel after channel of raunchy porn! I was so flustered and embarrassed I could barely operate the remote. One of the guys commented "Now that will get your heart pumping!" Umm yeah! Awkward!

    Oh my gosh! Haha that would have definitely embarrassed me! Kudos to you for staying haha :)

    Thanks lol! The management was horrified when I let them know that they had gotten a package that contained porn.
  • denelifet
    denelifet Posts: 27 Member
    bahaha! good time to quote the famous line, "I'll have what she's having!"
  • KiiAttitude
    KiiAttitude Posts: 207 Member
    I bounced a medicine ball onto a trampoline not expecting it to bounce back as fast as it did and it smashed into my face..... no damage apart from my ego! I just told the instructor I was good to continue as I couldn't face leaving and everyone watching!
  • retirehappy
    retirehappy Posts: 4,756 Member
    edited November 2015
    I bounced a medicine ball onto a trampoline not expecting it to bounce back as fast as it did and it smashed into my face..... no damage apart from my ego! I just told the instructor I was good to continue as I couldn't face leaving and everyone watching!

    Wow that had to HURT. Glad only the ego was damages :)

    I love this thread, thanks to the OP for starting it.
  • saladfairy
    saladfairy Posts: 10 Member
    Ha, these are fun to read! I had one day where I was just a klutz... first, when i pressed the button that flipped my water bottle's straw open, liquid shot out like a rocket all over me and the floor (my fault for mixing the rest of a monster and my pre-workout with my water.)
    Then, as I was heading up the stairs to do a little cardio after my lifting, I tripped and almost fell forward!(thankfully caught myself.)
    BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! ha. After I had made a fool of myself twice in front of a half-full gym, I managed to knock my phone off the machine I was using, and it pummeled to the floor, pulling my headphones out with it! When I stopped the machine and got off for a second to grab my phone (and pride) off the floor, the legs of the machine (similar to an elliptical) swung back and hit my shins pretty hard. :|:D
    Oh, man. Glad that's not how it goes every time.
  • Marcelynh
    Marcelynh Posts: 974 Member
    I'm always amazed at the things you hear at the gym, people talk like nobody is lifting right next to them. Once I was using free weights and these two guys, the type I refer to as "muscle monkeys" were loudly talking. One of them was expounding on how steroids had helped him so much to develop his "perfect" physique (couldn't put his arms by his sides due to ridiculously large muscles). His friend told him that steroids were vilified and people just didn't understand..... to which the first guy replied... "yah, my girlfriend keeps telling me they are bad and I'm going to be sterile as a result... I mean it's not like I want any kids any time soon. I told her it was just male birth control." REALLY? And it's conversations like that which prompt the muscle monkey label.....
  • LeonorGuzmn
    LeonorGuzmn Posts: 4 Member
    edited November 2015
    Hello , my name is leonor and I live in Spain . I would like to know things related to fitness and nutrition. Forgiven the expression, I am learning the language. thank you.





  • ellenoel87
    ellenoel87 Posts: 11 Member
    Great stories! I was doing the bench press feeling the burn , but feeling strong ... On the third set I was really starting to struggle but I had been doing so well so I decided to push through it. I decided I would do one more rep- I felt like I could get one more in without failure and I was Right! What I was wrong about was getting the bar properly placed. Yup it fell on my face - my hand broke the fall and luckily I didn't have clips at the end so the plates slid off - but still I had to roll the bar off my face... Which meant the bar rolled onto my neck and the weight started to choke me. Just in that moment 2 gym angles lifted everything off me. I swear it all happened so fast they left as fast as they came after asking me if I was okay and legitimately saving me. I took a breather... And proceeded to complete my set at a lighter weight I was soooooo embarrassed but refused not to complete my workout lol. I can laugh about it now but it was Crazy and could have gone much worse - I got lucky and I'm grateful- super newb mistake always have a spotter!!!! lesson learned though I bench pressed in power racks after that!
  • GemimaFitzTed
    GemimaFitzTed Posts: 260 Member
    A few years ago, I was doing weighted squats with a 25kg barbell. I was fine getting the bar on my shoulders. After completing my first 10 reps, do you think I could get the barbell off?!?! I called out "help" and four guys came to my assistance. I was so embarrassed! One of the guys helped spot for me. I was so grateful.
  • ellenoel87
    ellenoel87 Posts: 11 Member
    A few years ago, I was doing weighted squats with a 25kg barbell. I was fine getting the bar on my shoulders. After completing my first 10 reps, do you think I could get the barbell off?!?! I called out "help" and four guys came to my assistance. I was so embarrassed! One of the guys helped spot for me. I was so grateful.

    Makes you greatful that not everyone wears headphones at the gym no?

    Glad you were able to get some help!
  • retirehappy
    retirehappy Posts: 4,756 Member
    Bumping for the giggles in here.
  • KiyaK
    KiyaK Posts: 519 Member
    Old thread, but I had to add mine. A while ago I was doing lots of handstand drills. One day at the end of a nice upper body workout & several handstand drills, I decided I should do a hollowback handstand. (Butt is on the wall, hands are away from the wall & the upper body is doing a cool backbend.) Great shoulder stretch. Until it's time for the dismount. I had NO strength in my arms/core to get stacked back over my hads, so I fell straight onto my face! A nice teen & his dad asked if I was ok...
  • retirehappy
    retirehappy Posts: 4,756 Member
    Face plant, ouch.