5x5 Stronglifts - what do you do when the squat rack is taken at the gym?

stanmann571 · July 2017

skymningen wrote: »

What can I do if my gym only has one bench press rack and I would have to move that to do bench presses, as it is used as a "storage rack" for all of the barbells people regularly use. And of course one of them is full of weights that at my stage just getting off and putting away would be a workout in itself?
I am training alone, so no one is spotting me and I am a beginner. I am quite scared of doing bench presses without a "safety rack". What if I lose strength and it crashes down on me because I can't put it away?

Use dumbells

skymningen · July 2017

stanmann571 wrote: »

Use dumbells

So I put half the weight I am supposed to do in each hand? Or more/less?

cs2thecox · July 2017

skymningen wrote: »

stanmann571 wrote: »

Use dumbells

So I put half the weight I am supposed to do in each hand? Or more/less?

I find dumbbell presses harder because the weight is less stable, so if you *know* your bench press barbell weight, then your dumbbell weight would probably be a bit less than half.
If you're just starting out, and can do half the suggested weight, then go for it and just be consistent about whether you're using dumbbells or a bar. Progression is progression, as long as you're doing the same thing each time.

Also, I've failed barbell bench press without a spotter and not in a safety cage before, and it's never been uncontrolled or a crash down - I was scared about that too. I had someone teach me what to do when I started out - basically take no risks when you're at the bottom of the movement. If you think you're not going to get it up again, then lower it fully onto your chest, roll down to your waist, and sit up. Let one end of the bar fall to the floor, and then lever it off yourself. Hopefully by then, someone will have noticed and come to help!

My trainer taught me to always leave one rep in the tank. If your fourth rep is horrid and shaky, don't try the 5th. Or re-rack, wait a few seconds, take a deep breath, and then go back for the last rep if you think you can. If you're not confident, then don't. It's better to miss one rep, or do a "broken set" (3+2 instead of straight 5) than risk it.

stanmann571 · July 2017

cs2thecox wrote: »

skymningen wrote: »

stanmann571 wrote: »

Use dumbells

So I put half the weight I am supposed to do in each hand? Or more/less?

I find dumbbell presses harder because the weight is less stable, so if you *know* your bench press barbell weight, then your dumbbell weight would probably be a bit less than half.
If you're just starting out, and can do half the suggested weight, then go for it and just be consistent about whether you're using dumbbells or a bar. Progression is progression, as long as you're doing the same thing each time.

Also, I've failed barbell bench press without a spotter and not in a safety cage before, and it's never been uncontrolled or a crash down - I was scared about that too. I had someone teach me what to do when I started out - basically take no risks when you're at the bottom of the movement. If you think you're not going to get it up again, then lower it fully onto your chest, roll down to your waist, and sit up. Let one end of the bar fall to the floor, and then lever it off yourself. Hopefully by then, someone will have noticed and come to help!
My trainer taught me to always leave one rep in the tank. If your fourth rep is horrid and shaky, don't try the 5th. Or re-rack, wait a few seconds, take a deep breath, and then go back for the last rep if you think you can. If you're not confident, then don't. It's better to miss one rep, or do a "broken set" (3+2 instead of straight 5) than risk it.

A bit less than half. Usually 90% rounded down. So 115 would be 50s 120 50s or 55s. etc.

And absolutely this. It's better to fail at the bottom when you've still got something left to control the bar.. than 3/4 of the way up.

Savyna · July 2017

I ask them how many more sets do they have and that lets me know if I should hang around or go do something else. For some reason at my gym, people act surprised if you ask them if they'd like to work in. 2 times so far while I've been in the middle of my exercise, men have hovered to finally ask how much more do I have (usually they ask when I'm in the middle of the squat portion of 5x5) so I say, quite a bit, do you want to work in? them:

Maybe the gym has a reputation for people who don't want to share the equipment, or they're shy. Idk it doesn't hurt to ask. Either a yes happens or a no happens. It does bring to memory how at my school gym nearly 6 or 7 years ago there were people who didn't like it when you worked in. I went to go do some pull ups and the guy came over asking me if I could just wait until he was done. /shrug/

ritzvin · July 2017

skymningen wrote: »

What can I do if my gym only has one bench press rack and I would have to move that to do bench presses, as it is used as a "storage rack" for all of the barbells people regularly use. And of course one of them is full of weights that at my stage just getting off and putting away would be a workout in itself?
I am training alone, so no one is spotting me and I am a beginner. I am quite scared of doing bench presses without a "safety rack". What if I lose strength and it crashes down on me because I can't put it away?

[1] Maybe time to change to a gym with better priorities. That is weird though that no one is regularly using the 1 bench press where barbells are being used regularly.
[2] If you fail at bench press, the weight is going to slowly come down (you're not going to suddenly drop it with full momentum onto your chest). If you are currently too weak to re-rack other people's weights, then you are likely not able to bench press enough weight to actually suffocate underneath it. If you fail, you can just roll the weight down to your lap and then to the bench at this point.

King_Spicy · July 2017

MotherOfSharpei wrote: »

You can do a power clean to get the bar up to position and do OHP from there. You can also use dumbbells for OHP. If there's another bar, get creative with locations to rest the bar...I've balanced it on machines, shelving units, other racks...anything sturdy enough to hold the weight and give you room to get under the bar and set up.

I've done this once next to someone using the power rack for a substantial amount of time. They must have been doing a 20x10 or something, because that *kitten* was ridiculous. Instead of squatting my full amount, I put enough on there for me to lift over my head but still work me out.

I picked up an olympic barbell and placed it on the floor right next to the power rack and loaded it up. I power cleaned it and started doing my squats in the open area and then pushed it back up and over before laying it down.

Zipbsky · July 2017

I used the Roman chair (seat for vertical knee lifts, I'm not sure what it's called) to rack the barbell for squats and OHP when the squat rack was occupied. The barbell was at a decent height resting on the handles. This only works at beginner weights though, because the handles are too close to balance when loading heavier weight.

kevinf2380 · July 2017

Had this happen to me for the first time yesterday. A guy and his gf were using the power racks. Not sure why they didn't just share one. I did my lifts out of order. Did the barbell rows first then the squats. I would use dumbbells but holding up two 50+ ain't easy for me at the moment. The situation is really annoying and it has led me to research buying my own rack for at home.

blakejohn · July 2017

I walk over to the rack and ask how many sets they have left. then I just stand there and stare, and shake my head no with each rep they do!!

5x5 Stronglifts - what do you do when the squat rack is taken at the gym?

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