Gym Complaints

A couple days ago I was reading a Facebook feed from Gold's Gym, the subject matter being complaints about people who train at gyms. Needless to say, there were lots of comments in response. And at discussion boards such as the one at Bodybuilding.com, threads on gym complaints are often the most active.

My feeling on gym complaints is pretty simple - if someone flaunts safety and/or courtesy rules, I'm not happy. But other than that, there's just not much that bothers me to a serious extent.

Racking weights and wiping down equipment are my two major concerns. I always do both, unless I simply forget. And I don't like it when people don't bother to do one or the other.

But many of the complaints I read are kind of nit-picky. For example, there are many complaints about people using cell phones at the gym (which I don't do by the way). But if someone wants to chat on the phone during a workout it's their loss, not mine. Why should I care?

Another peeve is grunting. Again, I'm not a grunter, but if someone grunts - even if they don't seem to be pushing a lot of weight - why should that bother me? I am bothered by Maria Sharapova's grunts during her tennis matches, but her grunt is actually a blood-curdling scream, and I don't hear those in the gym.

In summary, my suggestion is to just relax - gyms are a public place after all. As long as people obey safety rules and are reasonably clean, I'm not going to complain. Besides, whom among us doesn't do at least one or two things that others probably find a little unusual?

Weekend Warfare

I don't think of myself as a weekend warrior, since I also train during the week. But I do like to hit the gym on both weekend days whenever possible, since I usually have more energy on Saturdays and Sundays.

This weekend was no exception. I did a 'no-weight' workout Saturday - a short stint on the bike followed by a long stint at the heavy bag of close to 30 minutes. Again, I kept moving to promote stimulation in the calves in particular. Following that, 3 sets totaling 50 reps on the hack squat machine (no weights added), then the horizontal leg press for 50 reps using 90 lbs.

Sunday was shoulders day, with 3x5 on standing barbell presses, rear delt work, standing DB presses, and finally machine lateral raises. I did a bit of Farmer's Walking around the gym too, with two 45-pound plates.

Overhead Press

This T-Nation article on the overhead press contains a good explanation of this exercise and why it's been largely forgotten in bodybuilding circles. By "overhead" press, the article is referring primarily to what is often known as the "military" press, and its variations.

The distinguishing factor is the standing nature of this press. The seated overhead press is, after all, still quite common in gyms. But how many lifters are performing the standing overhead press? Not many; in fact, in my gym, I've observed very few performing the move.

Fact is, the overhead press is a fine barometer of overall strength as well as key in developing the deltoids. And unlike that current barometer of strength in the mind of most people, the bench press, the overhead press can actually be performed with less risk to the shoulder joint.

3/2/1

Today was my first day on Jim Wendler's 3/2/1 program, which I'm going to try for a while. Here's the gist:

Each week for 3 weeks, you do 3x5's of squats, deadlifts, bench press, and overhead press. On the third week you do a 3/2/1 set scheme, trying to hit a personal record - during the weeks prior you do only a certain percentage of your one-rep maximum. This is all followed by a week of de-loading.

My first session was deadlifts. I made one mistake, I started with too much weight. By the end of the session, which totaled 45 reps, I was very tired and too close to my max. That's a recipe for getting hurt, especially on an exercise as demanding as the deadlift. I should have started lighter and moved up more incrementally.

But other than that, the session was fine and certainly a challenge.

Night Work

I usually train right after work on weekdays - between 4:00 and 5:00 PM. Today I trained in the evening. It's not my peak time, but the workout went well.

I started with heavy bag work. The same 'rule' applied - no flat-footed punching. Stick and move. Work the calves. Get the hips moving. After 20 minutes, I did dumbbell presses (incline and flat, 3 sets each) and then 3 sets of 5 reps on incline barbell presses. Then back to the bag for 12 more minutes, once again with short rest periods of 30 seconds or less and constant movement. By this time, my calves were pretty tired.

The entire session lasted one hour. I noticed another guy in the gym jumping rope between every weight-lifting exercise. I must say, I liked his training method. He was constantly going. That's what I often try to do too - turn an activity like weight training into a more dynamic, aerobic workout.

Boxing

My workout on Sunday July 5th featured 20 minutes of heavy bag training. I set a 'rule' - feet must be moving constantly. No flat-footed punches. Minimal rest periods of 30 seconds or less.

The result was an excellent calf workout, not to mention the usual involvement of front delts, chest, and lats that come with heavy bag training.

Prior to this I was on the bike for 13:20. Afterward, Hammer-Strength machine pulls, 3 sets of 20, 12, and 10 reps using 90 lbs. Then some machine hack squats, 3 sets, two with no weight at all (not as easy as it might seem if you really bend your legs), then 50 lbs - light weight, but again, I was not looking for heavy-weight work during this workout.

The final result was the satisfaction of a good, hard workout (without heavy weights on this day) despite having a mild cold.

One Year On

This week marks a year since I joined the gym. More fat, less muscle! No, wait...

Here's a Report Card style summary of what the past year in the gym has done for my major muscle groups in two categories - Effort and Results:

1. Legs - My legs have always been strong from all the walking I do at work, but doing squats and deadlifts, along with regular calf work and isolated hamstring work has made my legs stronger and more muscular than at any time in my life - not bad for a 50-something. Grades: Effort A Results A

2. Shoulders - Always a sore point until this year, my shoulders were too narrow and bony. I've worked hard to pack meat on them, and I've been pretty successful. My upper traps are beefier too, mainly as a result of deadlifts. Grades: Effort A Results B

3. Chest - My chest was decent before joining the gym, but now looks 'deeper', with more visible separation in the pecs. I tend to put weight on in this area (as well as my belly), so I need to work especially hard to tighten things up, and more work is needed. Grades: Effort B/Results B

4. Back - I usually work my back harder than any other upper body area. I have seen good results, with visible widening and some thickening. But I when I flex, my back still lacks the muscle separation that you'll see in a well-defined posterior chain. More work is needed. Grades: Effort A Results C

5. Core - I don't much direct core work. Working abs via crunches causes pain in my middle spine, so I stopped doing those. Leg raises hurt in the area where I had hernia repairs - a convenient excuse, I know, but I am very prone to inflammation there.

Despite this, I have improved in overall core strength due to emphasis on exercises like squats, deadlifts, and overhead press. I also do unilateral training, which demands core stabilization. Still, my obliques are too thick, which detracts from the wider lats that every bodybuilder strives for. Grades: Effort C Results C

Arms - Triceps account for about 3/4 of arm mass, and I'm happy to report than my Tri's look bigger and better-defined. My biceps have always been big, and I just don't spend much time on them because 1) I prefer to work on weaker areas and 2) They get indirect stimulation with all the pulling I do. A few curls each week or so seems to be all they need. Grades: Effort C- Results B+