I want to get this exactly right. I know most people don’t read Maxim for the words on the pages, neither do I, but this one piece caught my eye, “Screaming at the Gym”. The subtitle reads: “Attention, dudes who can’t lift quietly: We’re seriously considering dropping a 45-pound plate on your beet-red head.”
Summary, in direct quotes:
“It’s been awhile since we pumped iron, so it was somewhat alarming to discover gym rats are still letting out guttural screams on the bench. Don’t get us wrong - we plead guilty to singing along with the Kelly Clarkson remixes in our hip-hop dance class. But we expect more from the angry man-beasts…It sounds like these vein-popping maniacs are undergoing a particularly sadistic colon exam…So until these guys learn to keep their pie holes shut while pushing weight, we’ll stay plugged into our iPod, silently mouthing the words to the club version of ‘Since U Been Gone’.”
I couldn’t believe it when I finished the article. Does the general public really think like this? Or just the bitches writing at Maxim? Even if they do, it’s not going to stop me from pushing myself in the gym. T-Nation has taught me so much, and I am a better person now because I push myself in the gym.
I’m sure we should be terrified of the dudes singing Kelly Clarkson. That threat of dropping a 45lb plate on our heads would be a little more intimidating if I actually thought they could lift that plate high enough to drop it where it could do damage.
EDIT: Was it an online article? I’d like to read the whole thing.[/quote]
2nd … I think I might write a rebuttal to the pansy-ass writers at Maxim. It’s obvious they don’t know what it’s like to pull a max Deadlift or push out heavy ass to grass squats. I think they should stick to what they DO know about, bad jokes, air brushed bikini clad women (nttawwt), and metro fashion advice from todays leading dick sucking fag men.
When they start training like they mean it, then maybe I’ll consider their opinion. But until they stop saying they know all the words to Kelly Clarkson songs they can eat my sweat drenched boxer briefs and lick the sweat from the floor that dripped off my neanderthal brow. Fucks.
some pictures of chicks that can found in 3 seconds on the internet
bad sex & relationship advice for guys with no clue how to make a woman remotely happy
reinforcement of the sloppy, drunk, slacker lifestyle
advertisements for shit in which I have no interest
I’m not sure when it was, but I distinctly remember picking up a copy and wondering why it was no longer funny or interesting to read. I think at some point the entire magazine was dumbed down to some sub-moronic level to appeal to the perceived overall retardation of the 18-35 year-old American male demographic.
Haven’t read that class of mag since I was maybe 13-14. What kind of faggot shit is this? (No disrespect to homosexuals) This just sounds extremely camp, I can’t even imagine the worst metro/gay stereotype thinking this.
[quote]Trance27 wrote:
I want to get this exactly right. I know most people don’t read Maxim for the words on the pages, neither do I, but this one piece caught my eye, “Screaming at the Gym”. The subtitle reads: “Attention, dudes who can’t lift quietly: We’re seriously considering dropping a 45-pound plate on your beet-red head.”
Summary, in direct quotes:
“It’s been awhile since we pumped iron, so it was somewhat alarming to discover gym rats are still letting out guttural screams on the bench. Don’t get us wrong - we plead guilty to singing along with the Kelly Clarkson remixes in our hip-hop dance class. But we expect more from the angry man-beasts…It sounds like these vein-popping maniacs are undergoing a particularly sadistic colon exam…So until these guys learn to keep their pie holes shut while pushing weight, we’ll stay plugged into our iPod, silently mouthing the words to the club version of ‘Since U Been Gone’.”
I couldn’t believe it when I finished the article. Does the general public really think like this? Or just the bitches writing at Maxim? Even if they do, it’s not going to stop me from pushing myself in the gym. T-Nation has taught me so much, and I am a better person now because I push myself in the gym.
I’m sure we should be terrified of the dudes singing Kelly Clarkson. That threat of dropping a 45lb plate on our heads would be a little more intimidating if I actually thought they could lift that plate high enough to drop it where it could do damage.
But I’ll never understand this faux-macho idea that we haven’t exerted maximum effort unless we scream and yell at the top of our lungs. Watch a very heavy, low rep event in World’s Strongest Man, for example. Only a very small percentage of the competitors will do that. So the argument that “you aren’t lifting big” unless you’re doing that holds absolutely no water.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d say that making some sound is almost inevitable, but I get tired of these guidos in muscle shirts screaming as loud as they can on their first set of incline dumbbell presses. It’s “look at me” bullshit.
[quote]The Red Monk wrote:
Maxim is a complete joke.
But I’ll never understand this faux-macho idea that we haven’t exerted maximum effort unless we scream and yell at the top of our lungs. Watch a very heavy, low rep event in World’s Strongest Man, for example. Only a very small percentage of the competitors will do that. So the argument that “you aren’t lifting big” unless you’re doing that holds absolutely no water.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d say that making some sound is almost inevitable, but I get tired of these guidos in muscle shirts screaming as loud as they can on their first set of incline dumbbell presses. It’s “look at me” bullshit.[/quote]
I hardly make any outward noise at all when lifting. The few times I have made noise truly warranted it. I agree, most of the guys I see truly yelling in the gym are weak looking bastards who seem to just be trying to get more attention.
However, there are serious lifters who get more amped up and even perform better by not acting like the gym is a library.
Would Ronnie have been putting up over 800lbs for squats without a few, “lightweight babies” and a couple of “ain’t nuttin’ but a peanuts”?
Bottom line, that article is a joke…and I won’t be dropping the soap around anyone who has a subscription to the mag.
I hardly make any outward noise at all when lifting. The few times I have made noise truly warranted it. I agree, most of the guys I see truly yelling in the gym are weak looking bastards who seem to just be trying to get more attention.
.[/quote]
I think this is what annoys people. It’s not so much the grunting, it’s who does the grunting. Usually when I hear it, it’s not the big guy making all the noise.
If you put two guys in front of any of the maxim girls, one “man” who lip-syncs Kelly Clarkson, and one who loudly lifts, I wonder which one she is taking home for a romp, and which one she’s taking dress shopping?
I don’t lift that much weight compared to most here, but I’ll get vocal on heavy deads or squats. More of a growl than a scream, and it’s only when the weight is heavy enough that the only thing going through my head is “don’t stop moving!”
I hardly make any outward noise at all when lifting. The few times I have made noise truly warranted it. I agree, most of the guys I see truly yelling in the gym are weak looking bastards who seem to just be trying to get more attention.
.
I think this is what annoys people. It’s not so much the grunting, it’s who does the grunting. Usually when I hear it, it’s not the big guy making all the noise.[/quote]
x2 … it’s annoying to look over when someone’s making a lot of noise expecting to see them pumping out 500lbs squats for reps ass to heels only to see some 160 lb kid with a bad hair cut incline bench pressing 40 lbs dumbbells and his life partner yelling “You’re so money you don’t even know it.”
Unfortunately there’s no distinction between those two scenarios to the writers of that Maxim article.
…it’s not going to stop me from pushing myself in the gym. T-Nation has taught me so much, and I am a better person now because I push myself in the gym.
[/quote]
obnoxious scream do not always = pushing youself.
we’re all better now b/c we’ve been pushing ourselves in the gym. hell i’m better thanks to t.nation and ‘pushing myself’
but i don’t find the urge to scream out when i lift.
granted, when i see two HUGE mofo’s lifting serious weight in the gym, and they grunt or scream, it’s pretty motivating.
that being said, i find anyone who has the urge to grunt who doesn’t look like the lift in clothes is retarded. kind of like the guys with rice burner cars who only put on exhausts and then try to drag race.
however, i am NOT one for kelly clarkson on the ipod. that’s just…i don’t even know
[quote]jstines wrote:
That magazine has become nothing more than
some pictures of chicks that can found in 3 seconds on the internet
bad sex & relationship advice for guys with no clue how to make a woman remotely happy
reinforcement of the sloppy, drunk, slacker lifestyle
advertisements for shit in which I have no interest
I’m not sure when it was, but I distinctly remember picking up a copy and wondering why it was no longer funny or interesting to read. I think at some point the entire magazine was dumbed down to some sub-moronic level to appeal to the perceived overall retardation of the 18-35 year-old American male demographic. [/quote]
I’m not convinced that the overall retardation of the 18-35 yr old male is simply perception. I think it’s quite real for the majority/general population. I don’t consider anyone who lifts regularly “general population.”
Side Note: I live and work on my school’s campus, and somehow I get Maxim for free. I’m not complaining about free mags, but I have never and will never pay for Maxim.
The gym isn’t the same place it use to be. I don’t grunt or do anything to call attention to myself. About the only time I make any noise is doing legs, and it’s a little banging and some hyperventilating between reps. I keep it to a minimum as much as I can, yet I still have been bitched at.
I’m actually looking to meet people and I do everything I can to make myself accessible. No tough guy clothing, no MP3 player. I try to talk to everyone, even brief eye contact and I’m quick with, “Hi, how you doing?” I’ve been blown off a few times, but I’ve met a few people I talk to pretty regularly. Even with them, I get the “I saw someone in here the other day lifting more weight” on whatever exercise I’m doing. I don’t really mind, I take it as a compliment, but it is so different from a while back. I recognize it’s a business, I understand they are catering to women mostly…because they outnumber the men in my gym…but I wish it was more like it use to be. I work hard no matter what the condition…but I think guys work even harder when there are other people around them working hard. I feel antisocial for sweating profusely.
…it’s not going to stop me from pushing myself in the gym. T-Nation has taught me so much, and I am a better person now because I push myself in the gym.
obnoxious scream do not always = pushing youself.
we’re all better now b/c we’ve been pushing ourselves in the gym. hell i’m better thanks to t.nation and ‘pushing myself’
but i don’t find the urge to scream out when i lift.
granted, when i see two HUGE mofo’s lifting serious weight in the gym, and they grunt or scream, it’s pretty motivating.
that being said, i find anyone who has the urge to grunt who doesn’t look like the lift in clothes is retarded. kind of like the guys with rice burner cars who only put on exhausts and then try to drag race.
however, i am NOT one for kelly clarkson on the ipod. that’s just…i don’t even know[/quote]
I know screaming doesn’t equal pushing yourself. I don’t scream. At most, I exhale louder than normal. And I’ll admit, a little bit of spit came out a couple times. But it was accidental.
But I think it should be ok to grunt/yell if necessary to lift a substantially large amount of weight particularly on squat/deadlift. Obviously, the guys in Under Armour with chicken legs doing 10 different types of curls 3 times a week don’t count (as people).
Interesting side note: I saw a guy doing curls with the ez curl bar on a bosu ball today…curls… Why the fuck do you need to do curls on a bosu ball?! And another guy was having his girlfriend help him do standing curls (not on a bosu ball). He was curling the ez curl bar with 10lbs on each side. I wanted to punch him in the face. Both of them. All of them.
that being said, i find anyone who has the urge to grunt who doesn’t look like the lift in clothes is retarded. kind of like the guys with rice burner cars who only put on exhausts and then try to drag race.
[/quote]
I don’t mind people pushing themselves and making appropriate noise. I do it on occasion.
But, usually loud grunting is done by kids training in a pack accompanied by unnecessary dropping of weights, strutting with imaginary lat syndrome and not putting weights back.
I’m not saying the occasional grunt is annoying, but there are guys who use it as a tool to get attention.
There are a few guys at my gym who relentlessly grunt with all sets above their warm-ups. And they’ll even grunt on the first few reps of a 8-10 rep set.