Gym Superstitions

These are mild forms of neuroses and/or obsessive compulsive behaviour.I used to have
many rituals in the gym but as I got more confident about my lifting I lost those.
I don’t have to untie and re-tie my shoe anymore to have a good lift,lol.

Before a heavy set of squats I hike my socks and underwear up - not quite ERkle-high but pretty close. It’s not so much a superstition thing as much as a reminder to keep tight and get down to biz. Set’s over, let 'em down so the blodd can recirculate.

The only thing I can think of that aproaches superstition is my obsession with balance. The number of sets for back MUST be equal to the number of sets for chest, and the number of sets for hamstrings MUST be equal to the number for quads, etc. applying to every agonist/antagonist group. I’ve pulled away from it a few times to work on weaknesses, but it drives me insane.

On heavy leg day, before I begin my brutal dead-lift routine
or unrack my first set of squats ,I like to say a little prayer
and ask God for forgiveness of my transgressions,and to
bless the workout that I am about begin…then I go out there
and tear the fucking place apart!

Before squatting I push up against the bar twice before actually geting it off the rack on the third. I’m not sure why, but I do it before each set.

Lipo, I would suggest that regardless of whether you put the numbers in or out, you should keep it the same for the same weight pair. The center of gravity is not at the center of the thickness of the plate due to the hollowed out side, therefore, if the numbers are facing the same direction, then the center of gravity would be shifted, oh…about an inch to one side. That could make a significant difference, assuming that you are gripping the bar evenly. If one of your pecs is bigger, now you know why :wink:

Dooh! That explains why I walk in a wide circle right after I squat. Uh, I don’t actually do what I suggested. Well maybe when I used to lift drunk [years ago].

berzerker69, “these are mild forms of neuroses and/or obsesive compulsive” so? you make that sound bad, we ALL have things we do in our life that has NO basis in reality (some people go to church, some tie their shoes a certain way, some say how confident they are, ect…) it just adds routine or comfort to some things and I don’t see how that could be negative as long as it does not effect your ability to function on a daily basis ( which I can’t see any of these things doing) and maybe, just maybe before saying we have “mild forms of neuroses …” you should wonder why you call yourself berzerker69? confident in your lifting, sure, confident with your …

Hetyey225:Sorry if I made it sound like a bad thing to go through those types of rituals.Actually I believe that man has a certain need of ritual in their lives.If it helps your performance then great!Personally I
found that the rituals were triggered by anxiety,like when trying for a PB I would repeatedly secure my grip in a certain sequence.As far as my nick goes the “69” refers
to yin/yang,good/bad,that sort of thing,maybe not what you had in mind(?).

First when I come to the gym, I always wear the same clothes. Black t-shirt and black warmup pants with white Reebok sneakers, Nike socks and navy boxers. This is important. If the clothes are not available, I will show up without them, rather than replace with an unsuitable item. This is not so bad if I am out of socks, but the time that my black pants were in the wash was memorable to both myself and the other gym members. Then I will take 3 peppermint Tic-Tacs. Immediately in the gym, I proceed to the women’s restroom, because it’s quieter. Also the first time I lifted there I went in by mistake, and set PRs, so now I have to go in there every time. In front of the sink, I will take 4 long expired D-Bol tablets, then proceed to stall number 3, occupied or not, and inject myself with vitamin B-12 in each quadrant of my buttcheeks. I then will do the same workout that I have been doing since I discovered it in the May 1961 issue of Strength and Vigor. 3x10 Sissy Squat, Iron Boot Leg Curl, Universal machine benchpress, Chinups, Nautilus Pullover, Arm Curl, Shoulder Raise, Back Lift, and the Charles Atlas dynamic tension. Each exercise must be done with precise form, for example the Universal bench press, I must drag the red bench over, but it’s hard since the only things that may touch it are what touches it when i press, i.e. my butt cheeks and my shoulderblades. Then I need to lift with my head under the weight stack. I will detail each exercise’s specific ritual in each of my next 10 posts to the forum. When I arrive home, I must touch everything with first the left hand then the right, pick up every bit of paper overlapping every other bit and spin around 2 3/4 turns so that I even out. I feed my eleven cats, and then look for women in the internet chat rooms. I have been following this routine since June 1961 except that I now drink Surge after workouts instead of Hoffman Official Sawdust and Fish Drink and I use the internet chat rooms and not the personal ads in the newspaper in my search for the elusive woman of my dreams.