Talking Crap about Heavy Weight

Wouldn’t you fucking know it! I go to Chico State’s on-campus gym for some power cleans, heavy deadlifts (3x3 day for the 5/3/1 program), assistance work and some farmer’s walks with 120lb dumbbells and some dude on the Oly platform next to me is deadlifting with straps, gloves and a belt and is struggling to finish sets of 5 with my warmup and he looks over at me as I’m pulling 435 for 4 reps with no belt, glove or straps and he actually has the fucking bottle to tell me that the gym doesn’t allow barefoot lifting (I took off my shoes for the last set) and that I shouldn’t drop the weight!

I looked at him, looked down disparagingly at the weight he was struggling to pull (2 plates and a couple 10’s), snickered and proceeded to ignore him. One of the employees comes up and tells me I can’t lift without shoes right after that. But he was understanding and explained that he’s been trying unsuccessfully for weeks to get his boss to allow dropping of the weight from overhead on the Oly platform and to allow barefoot lifting.

Then he asked me if I wanted to compete in the strongman competition they’re holding in October and commented that I’m the only person he’s seen in there doing any sort of dynamic work whatsoever. I have never been approached by anyone in that gym, EVER, for any reason other than to ask how many sets I have left. And after my mini-rant on here it happens twice in 30 seconds. Go figure.

[quote]DBCooper wrote:
Wouldn’t you fucking know it! I go to Chico State’s on-campus gym for some power cleans, heavy deadlifts (3x3 day for the 5/3/1 program), assistance work and some farmer’s walks with 120lb dumbbells and some dude on the Oly platform next to me is deadlifting with straps, gloves and a belt and is struggling to finish sets of 5 with my warmup and he looks over at me as I’m pulling 435 for 4 reps with no belt, glove or straps and he actually has the fucking bottle to tell me that the gym doesn’t allow barefoot lifting (I took off my shoes for the last set) and that I shouldn’t drop the weight!

I looked at him, looked down disparagingly at the weight he was struggling to pull (2 plates and a couple 10’s), snickered and proceeded to ignore him. One of the employees comes up and tells me I can’t lift without shoes right after that. But he was understanding and explained that he’s been trying unsuccessfully for weeks to get his boss to allow dropping of the weight from overhead on the Oly platform and to allow barefoot lifting.

Then he asked me if I wanted to compete in the strongman competition they’re holding in October and commented that I’m the only person he’s seen in there doing any sort of dynamic work whatsoever. I have never been approached by anyone in that gym, EVER, for any reason other than to ask how many sets I have left. And after my mini-rant on here it happens twice in 30 seconds. Go figure.[/quote]

Get vibrams…

I had a trainer at my gym (just employee) approach me with that “you need to wear shoes” bullshit when I was lifting barefoot. I had logical rebuttals to all of her arguments then she got all flustered and said “it’s gym policy and management will say something” so I told her well then that’s between me and management and proceeded to finish my workout.

A couple weeks later the manager approaches me and we have a conversation about me having to wear shoes while in the gym. She gave me the same arguments and I gave her all the same rebuttals. To which she said it’s a liability issue with the insurance company. So, I bought a pair of vibrams and now she talks to me about how comfortable they are. To her credit she agreed with me on every point (the manager) and said she had never really thought about it that way, but there’s no problem with the vibrams and they serve the same purpose as the barefoot lifting.

I was wearing them one day and this jabronie in sneakers says to me “man it’d hurt a lot if you dropped a weight on your foot wearing those huh.” To which I replied, “Yea, probably just as much as you dropping a weight on your foot.” A few weeks later he asks me where I got my vibrams and that he’s been thinking about getting a pair.

[quote]polo77j wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:
Wouldn’t you fucking know it! I go to Chico State’s on-campus gym for some power cleans, heavy deadlifts (3x3 day for the 5/3/1 program), assistance work and some farmer’s walks with 120lb dumbbells and some dude on the Oly platform next to me is deadlifting with straps, gloves and a belt and is struggling to finish sets of 5 with my warmup and he looks over at me as I’m pulling 435 for 4 reps with no belt, glove or straps and he actually has the fucking bottle to tell me that the gym doesn’t allow barefoot lifting (I took off my shoes for the last set) and that I shouldn’t drop the weight!

I looked at him, looked down disparagingly at the weight he was struggling to pull (2 plates and a couple 10’s), snickered and proceeded to ignore him. One of the employees comes up and tells me I can’t lift without shoes right after that. But he was understanding and explained that he’s been trying unsuccessfully for weeks to get his boss to allow dropping of the weight from overhead on the Oly platform and to allow barefoot lifting.

Then he asked me if I wanted to compete in the strongman competition they’re holding in October and commented that I’m the only person he’s seen in there doing any sort of dynamic work whatsoever. I have never been approached by anyone in that gym, EVER, for any reason other than to ask how many sets I have left. And after my mini-rant on here it happens twice in 30 seconds. Go figure.[/quote]

Get vibrams…

I had a trainer at my gym (just employee) approach me with that “you need to wear shoes” bullshit when I was lifting barefoot. I had logical rebuttals to all of her arguments then she got all flustered and said “it’s gym policy and management will say something” so I told her well then that’s between me and management and proceeded to finish my workout.

A couple weeks later the manager approaches me and we have a conversation about me having to wear shoes while in the gym. She gave me the same arguments and I gave her all the same rebuttals. To which she said it’s a liability issue with the insurance company. So, I bought a pair of vibrams and now she talks to me about how comfortable they are. To her credit she agreed with me on every point (the manager) and said she had never really thought about it that way, but there’s no problem with the vibrams and they serve the same purpose as the barefoot lifting.

I was wearing them one day and this jabronie in sneakers says to me “man it’d hurt a lot if you dropped a weight on your foot wearing those huh.” To which I replied, “Yea, probably just as much as you dropping a weight on your foot.” A few weeks later he asks me where I got my vibrams and that he’s been thinking about getting a pair.[/quote]

Yeah, I need to get me some of those. I work out barefoot-only at my house, but in the summer it’s too fucking hot here (avg temp is about 97) to lift in my garage so I go to the gym. My Etnies aren’t cutting it anymore and I refuse to wear Chuck Taylor’s.

I’ve never heard anyone say stupid things like that at a commercial gym, but at my school gym one of the football coaches always used to give the stupidest advice. He’d say things like “round your back so you work your spinal erectors more” when I did cable rows, or " keep your elbows in so you can keep the weight on your tris" when I did incline dumbbell presses. He found a problem with practically everything I did in the weightroom.

[quote]DBCooper wrote:
It’s funny. I certainly don’t bench or squat in the upper-echelon range in my gym, but I’ve never seen anyone deadlift nearly as much as I can and I’m the only one who I’ve ever seen perform standing overhead bb presses or cleans and snatches of any kind.

And yet, I’ve never had anyone come up to me and make one single comment about anything I do in there. No one’s ever said “why do you overhead press? It’s bad for your shoulders?” or “You can deadlift 475 with no straps? My brother can deadlift 480 with no straps.” or “Gee what is that funny-looking movement where you seem to kind of ‘snatch’ the barbell over your head in one movement? It looks really dangerous.”

Seriously. What kind of gym do you guys work out at where you’re constantly being challenged by those around you? Maybe there’s something about you guys that invites these sorts of comments.[/quote]

Agreed. About the only thing I’ve ever heard from anyone is the question “what does that do?” regarding my foam roller.

My policy in the gym is “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Meaning: Don’t ask me ANYTHING and I’ll refrain from telling you what an asshat you are for doing half reps of everything or benching with your legs in the air like a dead roach.

I think having a determined look on your face and avoiding eye contact is the best way to ward off conversation there.

[quote]BobParr wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:
It’s funny. I certainly don’t bench or squat in the upper-echelon range in my gym, but I’ve never seen anyone deadlift nearly as much as I can and I’m the only one who I’ve ever seen perform standing overhead bb presses or cleans and snatches of any kind.

And yet, I’ve never had anyone come up to me and make one single comment about anything I do in there. No one’s ever said “why do you overhead press? It’s bad for your shoulders?” or “You can deadlift 475 with no straps? My brother can deadlift 480 with no straps.” or “Gee what is that funny-looking movement where you seem to kind of ‘snatch’ the barbell over your head in one movement? It looks really dangerous.”

Seriously. What kind of gym do you guys work out at where you’re constantly being challenged by those around you? Maybe there’s something about you guys that invites these sorts of comments.[/quote]

Agreed. About the only thing I’ve ever heard from anyone is the question “what does that do?” regarding my foam roller.

My policy in the gym is “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Meaning: Don’t ask me ANYTHING and I’ll refrain from telling you what an asshat you are for doing half reps of everything or benching with your legs in the air like a dead roach.

I think having a determined look on your face and avoiding eye contact is the best way to ward off conversation there.[/quote]

No eye contact is definitely the best way to avoid dipshits in the gym. I’ve found that the best way to avoid eye contact is to keep your eyes rolled into the back of your skull.

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]bcingu wrote:
I asked this guy to spot me on the bench one time. After I finished my set, he asked me why I don’t dumbbell bench (which I do, in addition). He then proceeded to lecture me on how barbell benching “isn’t real strength.” I’m still not sure what that means, but I’m fairly certain I can bench more than him.[/quote]

You’re full of shit. No complete stranger has ever come up to you in a gym and outright questioned your lifting methodology.[/quote]

Well, you’re kind of right; I had asked him to spot me, which isn’t quite the same as some stranger “coming up to me” to critique my lifting. Thanks for clearing that up. This thread could have gotten really out of hand.

[quote]bcingu wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]bcingu wrote:
I asked this guy to spot me on the bench one time. After I finished my set, he asked me why I don’t dumbbell bench (which I do, in addition). He then proceeded to lecture me on how barbell benching “isn’t real strength.” I’m still not sure what that means, but I’m fairly certain I can bench more than him.[/quote]

You’re full of shit. No complete stranger has ever come up to you in a gym and outright questioned your lifting methodology.[/quote]

Well, you’re kind of right; I had asked him to spot me, which isn’t quite the same as some stranger “coming up to me” to critique my lifting. Thanks for clearing that up. This thread could have gotten really out of hand.[/quote]

No prob. You’re right, this thing was really starting to spiral out of control. But I’m sure if we work together we can reign this thing in with relative ease.

[quote]Ct. Rockula wrote:
This is a friends mom.

I hit it.[/quote]
ultimate hijack! I salute you!!!

[quote]silverblood wrote:

[quote]Ct. Rockula wrote:
This is a friends mom.

I hit it.[/quote]
ultimate hijack! I salute you!!![/quote]

Not until he goes into very explicit detail about all the horrors he visited upon her. For instance, was it brown rice or white rice?

[quote]polo77j wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:
Wouldn’t you fucking know it! I go to Chico State’s on-campus gym for some power cleans, heavy deadlifts (3x3 day for the 5/3/1 program), assistance work and some farmer’s walks with 120lb dumbbells and some dude on the Oly platform next to me is deadlifting with straps, gloves and a belt and is struggling to finish sets of 5 with my warmup and he looks over at me as I’m pulling 435 for 4 reps with no belt, glove or straps and he actually has the fucking bottle to tell me that the gym doesn’t allow barefoot lifting (I took off my shoes for the last set) and that I shouldn’t drop the weight!

I looked at him, looked down disparagingly at the weight he was struggling to pull (2 plates and a couple 10’s), snickered and proceeded to ignore him. One of the employees comes up and tells me I can’t lift without shoes right after that. But he was understanding and explained that he’s been trying unsuccessfully for weeks to get his boss to allow dropping of the weight from overhead on the Oly platform and to allow barefoot lifting.

Then he asked me if I wanted to compete in the strongman competition they’re holding in October and commented that I’m the only person he’s seen in there doing any sort of dynamic work whatsoever. I have never been approached by anyone in that gym, EVER, for any reason other than to ask how many sets I have left. And after my mini-rant on here it happens twice in 30 seconds. Go figure.[/quote]

Get vibrams…

I had a trainer at my gym (just employee) approach me with that “you need to wear shoes” bullshit when I was lifting barefoot. I had logical rebuttals to all of her arguments then she got all flustered and said “it’s gym policy and management will say something” so I told her well then that’s between me and management and proceeded to finish my workout.

A couple weeks later the manager approaches me and we have a conversation about me having to wear shoes while in the gym. She gave me the same arguments and I gave her all the same rebuttals. To which she said it’s a liability issue with the insurance company. So, I bought a pair of vibrams and now she talks to me about how comfortable they are. To her credit she agreed with me on every point (the manager) and said she had never really thought about it that way, but there’s no problem with the vibrams and they serve the same purpose as the barefoot lifting.

I was wearing them one day and this jabronie in sneakers says to me “man it’d hurt a lot if you dropped a weight on your foot wearing those huh.” To which I replied, “Yea, probably just as much as you dropping a weight on your foot.” A few weeks later he asks me where I got my vibrams and that he’s been thinking about getting a pair.[/quote]

Or you can also get wrestling shoes. I think they are cheaper than Vibrams and they are pretty much the same as lifting barefoot.

[quote]clip11 wrote:
This old head was at the gym. He was eeking out a few chin ups with bad form. I overhear him talking and he says being able to bench press 400 pounds is nothing, and the real way to be strong is to do some chins and pushups. To paraphrase him. And I think to myself WTF? I find that many guys say that because they cant do that kind of weight, so they dont want to feel weaker than the guy that can bench 400 or deadlift 600. I can personally witness that doing some pushups, like 75 or 100 and chinups is infinetly easier than trying to bench 400 pounds FOR ONE REP. I hate when people say nonsense about bodyweight exercises outdoing lifting with iron simply because they cant do alot of weight.[/quote]

Thats what weak people say to feel better about them selves a bit like how unattractive people say true beauty is on the inside not the outside.

I’ve only ever had someone say anything to me in the gym a few times, and most of the time it’s polite, complimentary, and friendly. One time though, I was working out with Mr Popular, and in between sets I was flexing in the mirror. I don’t know about you guys, but we both always do this whenever we are working out. At my old gym, it was more common, now at the commercial gym you almost never see anybody flexing or looking at themselves in the mirror. I don’t know WHY…even the guys with small legs wearing cutoff shirts and grunting on every rep of every set of every exercise, don’t flex or anything in between sets.

Anyway, at my old gym, this guy who I hadn’t ever seen before, who was probably a little bigger than us, asked me if it was my first time working out. I certainly don’t hold any illusions of being the biggest guy in the gym, but I don’t think I looked like it was my first time picking up a weight. I said no, and he said “oh, it’s just that usually the guys flexing and talking are new to working out.”

Fuck me right?

[quote]DBCooper wrote:
Seriously. What kind of gym do you guys work out at where you’re constantly being challenged by those around you? Maybe there’s something about you guys that invites these sorts of comments.[/quote]

Agree with this TBH.

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:

[quote]roybot wrote:
This one has a surprise ending. The “old head” of the tale was HH and Clip was actually having a conversation with himself in the mirror.[/quote]

As I read the OP, these were my exact thoughts, Roy.

LOL!!![/quote]

“This old head was at the gym”

That explains how HH got his name…doesn’t explain how he did the pull ups without a body, though.

[quote]roybot wrote:

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:

[quote]roybot wrote:
This one has a surprise ending. The “old head” of the tale was HH and Clip was actually having a conversation with himself in the mirror.[/quote]

As I read the OP, these were my exact thoughts, Roy.

LOL!!![/quote]

“This old head was at the gym”

That explains how HH got his name…doesn’t explain how he did the pull ups without a body, though.[/quote]

LMFAO!!!

[quote]DBCooper wrote:
It’s funny. I certainly don’t bench or squat in the upper-echelon range in my gym, but I’ve never seen anyone deadlift nearly as much as I can and I’m the only one who I’ve ever seen perform standing overhead bb presses or cleans and snatches of any kind.

And yet, I’ve never had anyone come up to me and make one single comment about anything I do in there. No one’s ever said “why do you overhead press? It’s bad for your shoulders?” or “You can deadlift 475 with no straps? My brother can deadlift 480 with no straps.” or “Gee what is that funny-looking movement where you seem to kind of ‘snatch’ the barbell over your head in one movement? It looks really dangerous.”

Seriously. What kind of gym do you guys work out at where you’re constantly being challenged by those around you? Maybe there’s something about you guys that invites these sorts of comments.[/quote]

Ditto

I thought DBCooper worked out at home?

[quote]byukid wrote:
I thought DBCooper worked out at home?[/quote]

I do, for the most part. But my garage gets no shade in the summertime and Chico, CA has an avg temp between June and August of about 138. So this summer I’ve started working out at Chico State’s gym instead. I kinda like it. Once all the students come back into town it’ll get crowded in there. But they have really nice Oly platforms so I’ll probably still go there to do the Oly lifts. No one ever uses the platforms since there’s probably about three people there other than myself that don’t think of pussy and then a movie when they hear the word “snatch”. I think of pussy then the lift and then the movie when I hear it.

[quote]DBCooper wrote:

[quote]polo77j wrote:

[quote]DBCooper wrote:
Wouldn’t you fucking know it! I go to Chico State’s on-campus gym for some power cleans, heavy deadlifts (3x3 day for the 5/3/1 program), assistance work and some farmer’s walks with 120lb dumbbells and some dude on the Oly platform next to me is deadlifting with straps, gloves and a belt and is struggling to finish sets of 5 with my warmup and he looks over at me as I’m pulling 435 for 4 reps with no belt, glove or straps and he actually has the fucking bottle to tell me that the gym doesn’t allow barefoot lifting (I took off my shoes for the last set) and that I shouldn’t drop the weight!

I looked at him, looked down disparagingly at the weight he was struggling to pull (2 plates and a couple 10’s), snickered and proceeded to ignore him. One of the employees comes up and tells me I can’t lift without shoes right after that. But he was understanding and explained that he’s been trying unsuccessfully for weeks to get his boss to allow dropping of the weight from overhead on the Oly platform and to allow barefoot lifting.

Then he asked me if I wanted to compete in the strongman competition they’re holding in October and commented that I’m the only person he’s seen in there doing any sort of dynamic work whatsoever. I have never been approached by anyone in that gym, EVER, for any reason other than to ask how many sets I have left. And after my mini-rant on here it happens twice in 30 seconds. Go figure.[/quote]

Get vibrams…

I had a trainer at my gym (just employee) approach me with that “you need to wear shoes” bullshit when I was lifting barefoot. I had logical rebuttals to all of her arguments then she got all flustered and said “it’s gym policy and management will say something” so I told her well then that’s between me and management and proceeded to finish my workout.

A couple weeks later the manager approaches me and we have a conversation about me having to wear shoes while in the gym. She gave me the same arguments and I gave her all the same rebuttals. To which she said it’s a liability issue with the insurance company. So, I bought a pair of vibrams and now she talks to me about how comfortable they are. To her credit she agreed with me on every point (the manager) and said she had never really thought about it that way, but there’s no problem with the vibrams and they serve the same purpose as the barefoot lifting.

I was wearing them one day and this jabronie in sneakers says to me “man it’d hurt a lot if you dropped a weight on your foot wearing those huh.” To which I replied, “Yea, probably just as much as you dropping a weight on your foot.” A few weeks later he asks me where I got my vibrams and that he’s been thinking about getting a pair.[/quote]

Yeah, I need to get me some of those. I work out barefoot-only at my house, but in the summer it’s too fucking hot here (avg temp is about 97) to lift in my garage so I go to the gym. My Etnies aren’t cutting it anymore and I refuse to wear Chuck Taylor’s.[/quote]

Converse sells a non-Hightop version.