I just visited the gym where I’ll be working out when I move and start my job in the next month and a half.
Holy shit!!!
My friend who already lives there was showing me around. So I was taking the tour, and it looked like pretty-boy Bally’s, right? Only one squat rack, not too many free weights… then I walk over to the dumbell rack and what do I see???
4 Kettlebells!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:
I was like “Holy shit they have kettlebells here!!!” There were two 16kg ones and 2 8kg ones. They said russiankettlebell.com on the side, which is a link to Pavel’s site.
But I said to my friend “um, is there a place to deadlift here?” Cuz I don’t really want to join a gym if I can’t deadlift, you know? He’s like “hmm, let’s ask that guy.”
So we ask a guy working there if there’s a place to deadlift. He was like “well you could do it in the squat rack” and I’m like “yeah but that kinda sucks” and he’s like "well, downstairs behind the basketball courts theres a room with deadlifting platforms and bumper plates!
I was like: :eek:!
So I went to check it out. None of the gyms I’ve ever been at have had bumper plates before, so I was totally excited! There were TWO deadlifting platforms that were wood in the middle and rubber on the edges, and 6 or 8 20kg bumper plates along with another tree of regular weights!
I was like this:
So now I can’t wait to start working out there!
However, there are a couple things that suck:
All the bench press bars are the thin ones. I hate those. I don’t have big hands at all, but when I bench with them my fingernails stab into my palm because the bar is so thin in diameter. I have no idea how you guys with big hands do it.
There’s one place to do pullups, and it’s a narrow little bar in the squat rack.
It’s a mostly family-oriented gym with lots of cardio and machines, but the vital free weights are there so it’s all good.
All the bench press bars are the thin ones. I hate those. I don’t have big hands at all, but when I bench with them my fingernails stab into my palm because the bar is so thin in diameter. I have no idea how you guys with big hands do it.
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Thats because your holding the bar wrong. You have to remain open handed.
Hold the bar so it goes through you index finger and your thumb and lays along the crease of your palm.
It’s called a “false” grip as opposed to a “true” grip. If your not sure what I mean, ask someone at the gyme to show you a false grip when benching.
I personally like it more. You can focus on just pushing the bar away as opposed to holding the bar and pushing it away. But it is risky. Theres a chance of having the bar roll on you etc. But theres also a risk of choking when eating cheerios.
I hope this helped, and congradulations on your new find.
a YMCA I used to go to was similar to that I think Upstairs they had all the pretty weight machines and tredmills and such, but downstairs was for the barbarian weight lifters :D. It didn’t have anything pretty or fancey, just lots of heavy weights and big guys. I found it amusing.
All the bench press bars are the thin ones. I hate those. I don’t have big hands at all, but when I bench with them my fingernails stab into my palm because the bar is so thin in diameter. I have no idea how you guys with big hands do it.
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I hate the false grip. As far as I know, it makes no difference in muscle recruitment and it’s dangerous. It’s kind of like putting your feet up on the bench when you’re benching… it’s something bodybuilders think is useful but is actually counterproductive and dangerous
err which one’s false grip?
where your thumb goes all opposable and curls the opposite direction around the bar?
or where it curls the same direction as your palm?
I always did the second one, but I dunno if i like it so much.
Originally posted by IronFist I hate the false grip. As far as I know, it makes no difference in muscle recruitment and it’s dangerous. It’s kind of like putting your feet up on the bench when you’re benching… it’s something bodybuilders think is useful but is actually counterproductive and dangerous
It’s not really any more dangerous than the way you are currently holding the bar.
Originally posted by BMore Banga err which one’s false grip?
where your thumb goes all opposable and curls the opposite direction around the bar?
or where it curls the same direction as your palm?
I always did the second one, but I dunno if i like it so much.
Huh? False grip is when your thumb and fingers are on the same side of the bar. It makes it easier for the bar to roll out of your hands and fall onto your chest/head/etc. depending on what exercise you’re doing. In other words, it’s NOT when your thumb and fingers are wrapped around in opposite directions.
How is that not any less dangerous than the grip I’m currently using?
ok, basically what I meant, is hold the bar the same way you are doing now, but don’t close your fingers around the bar, leave them pointing up towards the ceiling when doing reps.
Most people who oly-lift use them. I don’t have bumper plates, so any weight I lift, I have to be able to lower to the ground under control. If I had bumper plates, I could lift more and just drop the weight from overhead onto the ground and watch it bounce harmlessly a few times.
ok, basically what I meant, is hold the bar the same way you are doing now, but don’t close your fingers around the bar, leave them pointing up towards the ceiling when doing reps.
Ohhhh… well in that case, that does somewhat weaken your press as it doesn’t allow the forearm muscles to fully contract, which lessens the overall amount of tension you can generate.
I thought you were referring to having your thumb on the same side of the bar as your fingers.
stubbs said:
whats good about bumper plates? do they just make it look like your lifting alot more?
I don’t know if they make it look like you’re lifting more… they’re a bit wider than regular plates so maybe they look like 100lb plates (which the gym also has :D) when they’re only 20kg plates, but that doesn’t matter. Besides, the only people you’d be impressing would be people who didn’t know how much they actually weighed.
As Ford said, bumper plates let you kind of drop the weight without damaging the floor or anything. There’s an Olympic lifter lady at my current gym and she has her own bumper plates and stuff that she keeps chained up so no one else can use them. Sometimes when all she has on the bar is the bumper plates, she’ll drop it and they’ll bounce back up a couple feet in the air.
Except I probably won’t use the KB’s too much because almost every KB lift is shoulder-intensive and you all know I don’t need any more shoulder development.
thought bumper plates had a good purpose. i saw a vid of one guy squatting 100kg’s with bumper plates and my jaw dropped because at first i didn’t know what weight they were or that they were bumper plates. i now know better, thanks.
Originally posted by blooming lotus
[B]so get some gripped gloves:rolleyes:
Ps..I wanna be that happy with my gym…feeling you there, nothing like it right [/B]
Gloves are for (no offence, BL :D) girls. You lose some strength through the indirection given by gloves. Plus you miss out on the cool callouses :D. [SIZE=1]I still continue to use my squat pads, though :o.[/SIZE]
Iron, my plates are all a cheapo rubber plate with 3 spokes on them so I get the softcock lifting ease as well. I also have rubber matting under my power rack so it’s all good, I can drop the bar at will (and I do when deadlifting). They were the 2nd cheapest plates they had when I bought them. My old gym had a few York and Eleiko bumpers. They were well used but still my favourites. I wish I could afford York or Eleiko equipment, but looking at the Ironmind catalogue, I’ll have to win Lotto first :eek:.
Originally posted by IronFist Except I probably won’t use the KB’s too much because almost every KB lift is shoulder-intensive and you all know I don’t need any more shoulder development.
Nah, keep going till your shoulders look like basketballs. It’ll focus attention away from your tiny girlish hands.
