jhc7324 Member

I've seen this in the power cage at my gym. You remove the safety bars, lay the bar on the floor and do deadlifts inside the cage, but not using any part of it. This is for people who apparently don't realize you can take a bar off the rack and go to an empty area of floor and deadlift there without taking up equipment.

I can use mine as a squat rack for warmup level weights, but I would never be able to do a full working set using it. Most of the racks that say they double as a squat rack have a curved lower bracket where the bench rests on when its down flat. These benches usually incline, so when you squat you just flip the bench all…

I would almost expect to have a frustrating time dealing with this, as it sounds like a bureaucratic "policy" and those are hard to change, even if the policy doesn't make any sense. Does your school factor phys ed grades into GPA? Some don't, and if that's the case, I probably wouldn't worry about it. Just make sure your…

Yep

I'd clarify what the point of the HRM is with the gym teacher. If the gym teacher is using the HRM as a means of identifying who is "working hard" in class, then you might want to point out that it would be a good idea to compare the class HR info against some kind of baseline for each student. It sounds like the way this…

EDIT since I apparently quoted the wrong post... Serena has played co-ed matches and gotten whooped. I don't recall what ranking the male player was, but Serena and Venus both played matches against a man and got whooped... I just looked it up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Sexes_%28tennis%29 A fourth event…

At my old gym, a guy in the squat rack next to me had the bar flip with just 70 lbs on one side and 0 on the other. It scared the ____ out of me since I was not paying attention and all of a sudden a bar was spinning through the air next to me. Since then I've always made sure to alternate sides when unloading the 45s. No…

Then you should be all set. The regulars in the weight room will be able to tell that you're new at what you're doing, and will "probably be willing to overlook any accidental breaches of weight room etiquette while you're learning the ropes. As long as you're not going going out of your way to be a nuisance to anyone else…

Also (I don't know if this is the situation in your case or not) many doctors have very little practical knowledge of physical therapy/strength training. A lot of times they'll just recommend you avoid something (like heavy lifting) because they don't understand it, and not that it really is important that you avoid it. If…

Sounds like DOMS, or normal muscle soreness after a new workout. As for tips on form, take videos of yourself lifting. Don't be afraid to post them and see what others think.

You can also get olympic dumbell handles much more inexpensively than buying a bowflex or other adjustable dumbell set. It lets you use your olympic plates on the bar (you just need to make sure to have 4 of each size) and you can adjust the weight to pretty much whatever you want. The handles I have weigh about 6 lbs…

Also, check craigslist in your area. People are constantly selling lightly used free weight equipment. If you're patient and look frequently enough, you can find more than what you need and save a ton of money compared to buying it new. I've picked up 2x 300 lb olympic bar and plate sets, an adjustable olympic bench, plate…

I tend to leave the straps off until my final heavy set, and then strap up for the last set for reps, and for accessory work (10 reps at lower weight). My grip hasn't been a limiting factor at all, and I'm close to 400 at 175 body weight.

I'm a little confused about the restrictions. The point of strength training is to get stronger. That said, if you go into the process saying muscle group x isn't strong enough to do strength training it seems like you're missing the point. If your triceps are weak, do some lifts to increase your strength there. If your…

I did the body pump class at my gym once, but it did use a very light (I think it was plastic and maybe weighed 5 lbs) bar, and plastic weights of various sizes. They run those classes in the basketball court at my gym and there's a stack of these bars, collars and a couple of racks of the weights for them.

You could also consider using the gym at the college instead of the videos. Video workouts can be great when you don't have access to a gym, but in your situation, that probably won't be an issue. Besides, you're most likely already paying for the gym in your tuition/activity fee.

There's no need to be afraid to ask for a spot on the bench. I used to feel like that, when one day my lift fluttered, and I could tell i was going to fail to get the bar up and rack it. I was prepared to do the roll of shame when a guy ran over, spotted me off of the bottom and encouraged me to finish the rep. I'm a…

1. Your shoulder flexibility probably isn't great enough to hold the bar as "close" as you'd like to, which means you aren't keeping as tight an upper back as is ideal. That's fine, just stick with the low bar position, and hold the bar with a wider hand grip. Each time you lift though, actively try to get a closer grip on…

If you're following Stronglifts, you should be using a "low-bar" technique. The bar should be situated between your traps and shoulders, and it shouldn't be uncomfortable or painful. If it is, your form is probably a bit off. Hit Mehdi's site and check out his info on bar placement.

One of biggest benefits to using the free weight flat bench that hasn't been mentioned yet is time efficiency. You're new to a lifting routine, so planning a workout that uses 10 different exercises to target your chest is probably overkill, its going to take a lot more time than you're comfortable with and will probably…

Genetics will definitely impact how you look when you add muscle to your body. I've always had skinny legs, a flat butt, and carry my extra weight in my stomach/chest. Now, I'm squatting 300 lbs, and my legs are still small, but much more muscular, my butt isn't quite as flat and I still carry my extra weight in my chest…

The free weight recommendation is mainly because its more efficient than using machines. A compound lift using free weights will work a lot of muscles, including some little stabilizer muscles that don't get used on a weight machine. Basically, you can do 1 set of squats and work out a whole bunch of muscles, or do a set…

Well, its a Les Mills Pump class, so I'm going to guess you did something like 50 reps. Its very tough to keep your form right with that high of a rep load. As you fatigue your form will weaken bit by bit. If you're new to this workout your form might have started out alirght, but it probably fell apart halfway through…

I like the idea of crossfit for a couple of reasons. I hate doing cardio and know that doing cardio is a beneficial thing I love lifting heavy things People who do crossfit are motivated to exercise My main problem with it (outside of the form issues and such that have been discussed over and over) is that outside of an…

Says a guy who has obviously never been married...

I've never really thought about it from the standpoint of training someone else, but just from an individual working alone. If you're training other people, I think 5/3/1 would have even more of an advantage over a 5x5 type program since it builds in the teaching of "what to do" when you plateau. Of course, the downside is…

This is just about exactly my experience. My form sucked at about that same weight, I deloaded a couple times, and wasn't getting the recovery I needed to keep going with the program (I was using Starting Strength instead of 5x5). Now, I'm in cycle 15 of 5/3/1 and I just hit a 300 lb squat this month.

First off, is that a typo? going from 95 - 275 in 5 months is very impressive. And yes, you can't keep progressively loading forever. Its probably time to switch from whatever beginner program you were using to an intermediate program. There's a couple of different ones you can use (I use Wender's 5/3/1), or you can lower…

If you're in PT now, why not ask the therapist to help you out with form/recommendations for weighted squats? I would trust their advice on form above any trainer at a gym or random advice on the forums.

Starting strength (imo) has a much more intelligent starting point. Rippetoe says to start your first workout on the program with 1 set using just the bar, and add 10 lbs for the next set... do that until you feel like its slower to complete a rep at that weight, and that's the weight you start it. Not super scientific,…