Do you even gym? (Weird/Bad workouts you've seen people do)

[thehobbes]

There is an epidemic happening at my gym where every single time I see people doing squats (ok quarter squats) in the power racks they throw the safety bars on the ground before they start. Most of the people who do this have horrific form with those shaky little baby fawn legs that look like they're going to snap, lower back shaking and going all over the place, and the bar wobbling - and they purposely ditch the safety bars! I cringe so hard hoping I don't have to see someone's knee explode into a bloody, broken mess. If you're not going to use the bars then you may as well go do your quarter squats in the parking lot behind the dumpster, because you're wasting a power rack at that point.

And then there are all the people who DL in the power racks, I don't understand that one. There are a lot of extra bars and open floor space, don't hog a rack to do that! That's like me setting up a tea party in the power rack and saying I have the right to do whatever the fuk I want in there... no, no you don't.

[Spark77]

And then there are all the people who DL in the power racks, I don't understand that one. There are a lot of extra bars and open floor space, don't hog a rack to do that!

I've posted a in a few other threads about how tiny the weight room is at our local community center. Sadly, people DO have to DL in the (only) power rack because that is quite literally the only floor space big enough to do it in. I kid you not.

[Spark77]

OK, so there was this guy several months ago who goes to the power rack, puts a bumper plate on each side of a barbell, and proceeds to use the barbell as an AB ROLLER. In the power rack.

There is another room in the community center fitness area that has actual ab rollers along with all the other little auxiliary items.

Thankfully the only people in the free weight room were me and him, and I was busy with something else at the time and didn't need the rack.

[rdferguson]

There's not a lot I haven't seen, so I'm pretty unphased by things. I work in a PL gym, so you don't see too much idiocy there, and the commercial gym I hang out in at uni also has a PL team there, plus mostly knowledgeably staff, so there isn't too much room for stupidity. But the other week I saw a grimy half-man/half-neanderthal watching TV while sitting for 20min(+) on the good girl/bad girl machine.

I saw someone riding the smith machine like a horse once. That one confused me. He was a big guy, definitely looked like he gyms regularly. But that move was so....interesting. :/

Was he doing this?

http://www.dellanave.com/how-and-why...rson-deadlift/

[Ajsii]

I dont know know what I was doing in this..I sit there(not like the guy in the photo,I sit with my butt) and I was kind of doing an exercise from my own mind..it was damn weird and a boy was laughing looking at me and finally a nice girl came and explained me how to use it ..so yeah lol

[Frozenarcticguy]

Some guy stacked all the stepping blocks about three feet high, laid on them and did one arm dumbbell rows. Even the trainer that looks like she works out gave the guy a weird look

[VO2Maxima]

I saw someone riding the smith machine like a horse once. That one confused me. He was a big guy, definitely looked like he gyms regularly. But that move was so....interesting. :/

Was he doing this?

http://www.dellanave.com/how-and-why...rson-deadlift/

Yeah I was going to say, that sounds like a Jefferson squat. I haven't ever seen it on a Smith, but I don't see why not either.

[SpartanRN]

I go to a small mom & pop gym which is owner by a bodybuilder. It had a ton of equipment & I love it. It's full of regulars and everyone gets to know each other. We have the old guy who wears jeans. Another old guy who wears sweat bands on his head and wrists & sports goggles and then proceeds to bounce around on a stability ball right in the middle on the floor lifting 2 lb dumbbells lol.

Of course there are flocks of women who come in groups and do squats with 5 lb dumbbells & stiff legged deadlifts with 20 lb barbell so they don't get 'too bulky'. My gym has a women's ******** page which I've given up on. My posts about strength training are met with comments like "I don't lift weights anymore because I was gaining too much muscle. That muscle above my collar bones was getting too big." Oh gosh, I wish I had that problem and gained too much muscle lol. They post pictures of their salads and tons of stupid Fitspo that is thinly veiled self-hate. I may be one of 3 women that regularly use the weights.

[tiffbham]

I wish I could see some of that stuff at the gym I go too.

Besides 5 guys herding from one area of workout to another to chit chat and stand by the door to say bye to eachother nothing really happens. There was one guy who would do flips off the pull up bar and do backflips through the gym and handstands. That's about it.

I started at the gym when it opened so there was no one there while I was learning. I am sure I do some crazy looking stuff myself as I am still learning. Let's see .. how to I put a lat pulldown bar on the chain ??? I can't get it on I will set it down ... after evaluating it I came to the conclusion I was trying to put it on the chain wrong. Woops ! No wonder that latch wouldn't fit the hole.

[itsagoodday]

Pretty sure I'm the weirdo at my current gym

[anjanjanja]

I've managed to bang myself in the head a couple of times trying to change the handles for the lat pull down machine.

I also got stuck in the Leg Curl machine when I was trying to adjust the seat and am now scared to walk within 6 feet of it.

[mietz]

Pretty sure I'm the weirdo at my current gym

I've managed today to fall from the dip bar.

Some weeks ago the incline bench collapsed under me with a HUGE noise. Several people then rushed to my help. So embarrassing.

[LollyLifts2015]

I've managed today to fall from the dip bar.

Some weeks ago the incline bench collapsed under me with a HUGE noise. Several people then rushed to my help. So embarrassing.

I lol'd, I'm sorry. At least people helped you. I think after a couple times of collapsing though in a day, you're on your own. :P

[shesprints]

Pretty sure I'm the weirdo at my current gym

I feel like that lately doing the 100s of walking lunges with random weird weights for PT up and down the gym floor. PT exercises are confusing even for me, especially the balance-based ones--I keep thinking, while I stand one one leg doing a side/front/backwards lunge matrix and then side lunges with a band around my feet... that someone thinks I look like this guy



I want to wear a shirt that conveys the message that I am injured and doing rehab exercises, not that I think what I am doing is better than barbell squats and deadlifts.

Actually, I can do band pullthroughs but not deadlifts, so I do those. Band pullthroughs, as a female in a gym full of men, get me MANY looks.

[vhenley164]

I feel like that lately doing the 100s of walking lunges with random weird weights for PT up and down the gym floor. PT exercises are confusing even for me, especially the balance-based ones--I keep thinking, while I stand one one leg doing a side/front/backwards lunge matrix and then side lunges with a band around my feet... that someone thinks I look like this guy



I want to wear a shirt that conveys the message that I am injured and doing rehab exercises, not that I think what I am doing is better than barbell squats and deadlifts.

Actually, I can do band pullthroughs but not deadlifts, so I do those. Band pullthroughs, as a female in a gym full of men, get me MANY looks.

I am doing exercises that my physio has given me and some of them are a bit weird and imagine I am getting some looks.

Like I have to stand in a squat and the do rows with the cable machine, first doing both arms at the same time and then going one arm at a time (not sure if that makes sense). It's stability work that forces me to take equal weight on both legs. It looks like a stupid exercise but I gotta do it

[mietz]

I lol'd, I'm sorry. At least people helped you. I think after a couple times of collapsing though in a day, you're on your own. :P

and obviously this mishap had to happen in front of a guy I've a massive crush on and been trying to impress for some time... oh well

[Awesana]

Saw a guy using the leg press without any plates on it...to do calf raises.

[LollyLifts2015]

and obviously this mishap had to happen in front of a guy I've a massive crush on and been trying to impress for some time... oh well

Mietz around her gym-squeeze. <3

[vhenley164]

Saw a guy using the leg press without any plates on it...to do calf raises.

I see this all the time - even though there is a perfectly good calf raise machine.

[VO2Maxima]

Saw a guy using the leg press without any plates on it...to do calf raises.

I do this (with plates, though keep in mind the sled does have a starting weight) because I can get a better contraction and better mind-muscle connection than with the calf raise machine at my gym.

[Artemis00]

I do this (with plates, though keep in mind the sled does have a starting weight) because I can get a better contraction and better mind-muscle connection than with the calf raise machine at my gym.

Agree with that, plus doesn't put any stress on your shoulders like some of the calf raise machines at certain gyms.

[CRascoll]

Ha, this thread is golden!!!

I'm usually really lucky with my gym and ridiculous sightings (apart from lazy PTs....grrrr) are pretty unusual. There was one random morning though where all the **** hit the fan all at the same time! I detailed my horror in another thread, so I'm copying it from there (http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...post1322433401)

- I was in the exercise room doing some barbell curls. For the best part of half an hour, two middle-aged men walked back and forth across the room backwards. And barefoot. Talking loudly to each other all the while.

- They leave, and almost on cue, a woman walks in. She asks if she can turn off the lights so she can ''do yoga''. Somebody (not me!) says yes, so the lady proceeds to severely dim the lights and lie motionless on her yoga mat, leaving the half dozen or so other people in the room doing weights and other exercises in darkness.

- I leave and go to the chest machine. Opposite me, another lady arrives in the gym and lies down on a yoga mat. She's wearing a shockingly revealing top, tits hanging out. Seriously, this top would turn heads in a NIGHTCLUB with its inappropriateness! The usually-respectful men who frequent my gym are staring at her, mouths agape. So are most women! She proceeds to put in earphones and call her friend about the plans for the weekend. This (loud) call lasted about twenty minutes, consisted of lots of excited expletives, and seemed mostly centred about food. As in, most of the call was a list of ingredients for Xmas treats and menu items for various restaurants. Not distracting at all! The lady did (I counted) two sit ups while lying on the mat during this time. Then, after the call, she stood up and did jumping jacks, tits flying everywhere, and when her Ipod inevitably fell out of her pocket, the lady made this ridiculously loud sex giggle, thus drawing even more attention to herself, distracting the men, and p1ssing off the women.

- I move to the shoulder press machine and it is moist and visibly dripping with sweat from the previous person who used it.

Grrr.

O.M.G bahahahahhaha

[CRascoll]

Besides the usual Stands on 1 Leg on a Bosu Ball and Does Something ridiculous With a Dumbbell....there was one guy who took one of those yellow lightweight bars and proceeded to practice his golf swing for 15 minutes, almost hitting several people. Oh! There is also this chic who sticks her azz out after every straight bar pulldown and looks around to see who's watching before resuming set.

[pamplemousse27]

I am intrigued as to what that looked like

Haha everyone around him was intrigued. About 3 or 4 of us were just standing there watching to see what he does.

[pamplemousse27]

Yeah I was going to say, that sounds like a Jefferson squat. I haven't ever seen it on a Smith, but I don't see why not either.

Not exactly this. His body was turned sideways, not in front. He did have his legs over the bar though with weights on each side. Then he kind of went up and down LIKE a squat but not very deeply.

[vhenley164]

I do this (with plates, though keep in mind the sled does have a starting weight) because I can get a better contraction and better mind-muscle connection than with the calf raise machine at my gym.

Agree with that, plus doesn't put any stress on your shoulders like some of the calf raise machines at certain gyms.

Interesting point. I don't do a lot of calf raises but if I incorporate it into my routine in the future I will try the leg press. Learning new things every day

[Awesana]

I do this (with plates, though keep in mind the sled does have a starting weight) because I can get a better contraction and better mind-muscle connection than with the calf raise machine at my gym.

Except he wasn't actually doing calf raises. His knees were bending and he was sort of just bouncing the foot plate up and down. It was bizarre.

[Spark77]

Saw a guy using the leg press without any plates on it...to do calf raises.

Community center does not have a calf raise machine. Choices are to use the leg press machine (with plates) or get creative with the Smith machine.

[chocogyrl098]

Saw a guy using the leg press without any plates on it...to do calf raises.

I always superset leg presses with calf raises. Just because I don't like resting in between sets and I don't have to move around or switch machines.

[AshleyStAndrews]

I always superset leg presses with calf raises. Just because I don't like resting in between sets and I don't have to move around or switch machines.

I do this as well