Why Do Men 'Lift' More Than They Can Lift?

It’s kind of a funny topic. I can’t tell you how many times I see someone load up 3 plates on the bench or 4+ on the squat and I think “Well I’ve got to see this to believe it.”. These are types that when you see them, you know there’s no way they’re lifting that weight. And then it happens,the quarter rep.

I will admit that the other 1% is a holy shit moment. I saw a short, built kid who was probably 170lbs that made 365 his bitch on the bench press.

[quote]AlisaV wrote:
I used to do that.
Why?

  1. I didn’t know what I looked like. (Is proproception the right term?) I couldn’t “feel” what a squat to depth was. I had to have strangers come up and tell me “Hey, you’re not squatting to depth” before I figured it out.

  2. I didn’t have any idea what the exercise was supposed to be. “Bench press is self-explanatory, right?” Well, at some point you have to discover that the bar is supposed to go all the way down. (My dad had the same issue – he’d been “benching” for years and it had NEVER OCCURRED TO HIM that the bar is supposed to touch your chest. He was all, “do I really have to?” when I told him, and I said “yep” and he had to cut his bench weight in half. Then when I wasn’t around to nag him he went back to benching halfway down.)

[/quote]

See, this is why on bench day I always wish I had big tits so I wouldn’t have to lower the bar that far. Plus I bet you could really bounce that bar off those puppies. (Perhaps I am giving myself way too much time to think between sets).

[quote]sam_sneed wrote:
It’s kind of a funny topic. I can’t tell you how many times I see someone load up 3 plates on the bench or 4+ on the squat and I think “Well I’ve got to see this to believe it.”. These are types that when you see them, you know there’s no way they’re lifting that weight. And then it happens,the quarter rep.

I will admit that the other 1% is a holy shit moment. I saw a short, built kid who was probably 170lbs that made 365 his bitch on the bench press.[/quote]

Yeah man, there are a couple guys I’ve seen load up the squat machine to its max (12 plates) and quarter squat. I think he can tell people are watching him, I wonder if he thinks it’s because people are wowed by the “feat of strength” on display. When in reality it’s because he’s retarded

nards…

where is that gym? My god at the neon and escalators! How many floors is that place?

By comparison, the local sports club I go to when not training in my garage is pretty decent. bumper plates, lots of what appears to be the “crossfit” types doing Olympic lifts(very light weights albeit) and a few people do squats and deadlifts, of the few people who do squats, Me and one other guy are the only ones who squat deep with more than 200lbs though :frowning:

lots of bench and curl monkeys…but by comparison to your “gym” this place is positively hardcore! haha

Is this serious? You can’t figure out why people do more weight than they can actually do? Can’t think of any reasons?

few of my pet peeves when it comes to the average commercial gym.

People who shrug a ton of weight in the smith machine or power rack, but cant or dont deadlift even 1/3 of that weight. Is the goal of these people to have massively over developed traps in relation to the rest of their body? doubt it, it is a way to put lots of weight on the bar with a movement that makes them feel stronger than they really are.

1/2 1/4 squats. I understand that many people do not want to do free weight squats. With all my injuries, heavy squatting is out for me too after 25 plus years, but there are tons of alternatives that will build your low body up better than a partial rep squat. leg presses, lunges, deadlifts, etc. doing 5 1/4 reps with 405 in the squat is not going to build you better than 10 good deep reps with the same weight in the leg press machine.

partial rep bench pressing, again, I understand not being able to do full rom in the bench press, I can barely do bench nowdays…but use the pins in the rack, or floor press, or use boards, much safer and more effective. Doing partial reps where you stop 1/2 2/3 the way down looks and probably is very dangerous.

[quote]SmilingPolitely wrote:

[quote]AlisaV wrote:
I used to do that.
Why?

  1. I didn’t know what I looked like. (Is proproception the right term?) I couldn’t “feel” what a squat to depth was. I had to have strangers come up and tell me “Hey, you’re not squatting to depth” before I figured it out.

  2. I didn’t have any idea what the exercise was supposed to be. “Bench press is self-explanatory, right?” Well, at some point you have to discover that the bar is supposed to go all the way down. (My dad had the same issue – he’d been “benching” for years and it had NEVER OCCURRED TO HIM that the bar is supposed to touch your chest. He was all, “do I really have to?” when I told him, and I said “yep” and he had to cut his bench weight in half. Then when I wasn’t around to nag him he went back to benching halfway down.)

[/quote]

See, this is why on bench day I always wish I had big tits so I wouldn’t have to lower the bar that far. Plus I bet you could really bounce that bar off those puppies. (Perhaps I am giving myself way too much time to think between sets).
[/quote]

I thought the exact same thing SP. Maybe a boob job would help my bench press. Very, very funny.

[quote]heavythrower wrote:
doubt it, it is a way to put lots of weight on the bar with a movement that makes them feel stronger than they really are.
[/quote]

Well, I shrug a bit more than I can pull. (I pull 2x BW.)

But no, I do it for big traps, general body overload, and getting used to having that much weight in my hands period.

I think you may be assuming a little here.

Let me ask yall something. When you see a jackass put way too much weight either on a leg press or squat and only do 1/2 or 1/4 ROM, do you say anything or give him/her a look so they know they are a idiot? It really is pathetic and I seem to see it more and more.

[quote]Powerpuff wrote:

[quote]SmilingPolitely wrote:

[quote]AlisaV wrote:
I used to do that.
Why?

  1. I didn’t know what I looked like. (Is proproception the right term?) I couldn’t “feel” what a squat to depth was. I had to have strangers come up and tell me “Hey, you’re not squatting to depth” before I figured it out.

  2. I didn’t have any idea what the exercise was supposed to be. “Bench press is self-explanatory, right?” Well, at some point you have to discover that the bar is supposed to go all the way down. (My dad had the same issue – he’d been “benching” for years and it had NEVER OCCURRED TO HIM that the bar is supposed to touch your chest. He was all, “do I really have to?” when I told him, and I said “yep” and he had to cut his bench weight in half. Then when I wasn’t around to nag him he went back to benching halfway down.)

[/quote]

See, this is why on bench day I always wish I had big tits so I wouldn’t have to lower the bar that far. Plus I bet you could really bounce that bar off those puppies. (Perhaps I am giving myself way too much time to think between sets).
[/quote]

I thought the exact same thing SP. Maybe a boob job would help my bench press. Very, very funny.
[/quote]

Haha same here! Guess I just need to work on having a killer arch like PMPM.

[quote]farmerson12 wrote:
Let me ask yall something. When you see a jackass put way too much weight either on a leg press or squat and only do 1/2 or 1/4 ROM, do you say anything or give him/her a look so they know they are a idiot? [/quote]

NO

I ask myself:

Are they bigger than me?

Yes? Then they know what they are doing, and who am I to tell them what to do…

No? Then why do I gave a fuck what they are doing?

[quote]farmerson12 wrote:
Let me ask yall something. When you see a jackass put way too much weight either on a leg press or squat and only do 1/2 or 1/4 ROM, do you say anything or give him/her a look so they know they are a idiot? [/quote]

I would actually pull out my .38 and shoot there ass (and maybe there head, but for sure there ass).

I lift in my garage.

When I worked out in commercial gym, I was on a time limit cause I have a life outside of lifting. So I didnt want to engage with anybody in the gym. However I was not a dick I would have people come up and ask advice I would give it.

[quote]crimson_lily wrote:

[quote]Powerpuff wrote:

[quote]SmilingPolitely wrote:

[quote]AlisaV wrote:
I used to do that.
Why?

  1. I didn’t know what I looked like. (Is proproception the right term?) I couldn’t “feel” what a squat to depth was. I had to have strangers come up and tell me “Hey, you’re not squatting to depth” before I figured it out.

  2. I didn’t have any idea what the exercise was supposed to be. “Bench press is self-explanatory, right?” Well, at some point you have to discover that the bar is supposed to go all the way down. (My dad had the same issue – he’d been “benching” for years and it had NEVER OCCURRED TO HIM that the bar is supposed to touch your chest. He was all, “do I really have to?” when I told him, and I said “yep” and he had to cut his bench weight in half. Then when I wasn’t around to nag him he went back to benching halfway down.)

[/quote]

See, this is why on bench day I always wish I had big tits so I wouldn’t have to lower the bar that far. Plus I bet you could really bounce that bar off those puppies. (Perhaps I am giving myself way too much time to think between sets).
[/quote]

I thought the exact same thing SP. Maybe a boob job would help my bench press. Very, very funny.
[/quote]

Haha same here! Guess I just need to work on having a killer arch like PMPM.[/quote]

Sad thing is, with my arch, the bar ends up below my perkily huge tatas. When I get my fakes put in, I will have them be low, like the bottom of my rib cage, to really shorten the stroke.

[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
Is this serious? You can’t figure out why people do more weight than they can actually do? Can’t think of any reasons?[/quote]

Dude, I cannot, for the LIFE of me, figure out ANY POSSIBLE reason why ANYONE would do that in a world.

[quote]LankyMofo wrote:

[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
Is this serious? You can’t figure out why people do more weight than they can actually do? Can’t think of any reasons?[/quote]

Dude, I cannot, for the LIFE of me, figure out ANY POSSIBLE reason why ANYONE would do that in a world.[/quote]

Whats up Lanky fix your avi man throws me off.

[quote]LankyMofo wrote:

[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
Is this serious? You can’t figure out why people do more weight than they can actually do? Can’t think of any reasons?[/quote]

Dude, I cannot, for the LIFE of me, figure out ANY POSSIBLE reason why ANYONE would do that in a world.[/quote]

Utterly ridiculous.

What’s wrong with shrugging more than you can deadlift?

/confused

[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
What’s wrong with shrugging more than you can deadlift?

/confused[/quote]

x2

Can’t most people shrug more than they deadlift?

[quote]therajraj wrote:

[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
What’s wrong with shrugging more than you can deadlift?

/confused[/quote]

x2

Can’t most people shrug more than they deadlift?[/quote]

shrugs