Joined a new gym last night. Hilarious

[Jessica74]

So I managed to get a good deal with a local "commercial" type of gym. You know, the one with Les Mills classes and Hammer Strength equipment. My wife really wanted a gym that allowed her to do those stupid classes and run.

I only had a few questions for the guy. Where is the squat rack? Where can I deadlift? How do you feel about chalk? All good answers so I said, what the hey and signed up. No contract and it only costs 43.00 for my wife and I per month.

So i've literally JUST got in the locker room. I'm putting on my shorts and my Chuck Taylors next to this other guy who's also dressing out. He looks over at me and says, "You wear your Chucks to workout in? Man, I tried to do that once, but my heels just wouldn't move at all in them. The soles were way too hard!"

Naturally, I almost laughed out loud. I then tried to explain to him that that was the exact reason I use them to squat in and that shoes with a squishy heel weren't good for that reason. He just responded with, "Oh, okay. Well that makes sense."

There I was just doing my sets on bench press and waiting for my clock to hit at the 5 minute mark. In walks this guy that weighs probably 180#. He's cut, looks like he's at least been lifting for a while. The first thing I notice is his shirt. He's wearing one of those tees that is supposed to look like the sleeves are cut off. The collar is still intact, but you can nearly see his nipples from the way it is cut. The next thing I noticed was that his calves were about the size of my biceps. I don't even have huge biceps...

I'm watching him, and you'll never guess the very first exercise that he starts doing. That's right, bicep curls. He sits down, grabs a 25# dumbell in each hand and begins to pump these out for the next 30 minutes. He doesn't change the weight at all and I think he kept losing count because he had to have done at least 100 reps on each arm. The entire time I was there I never saw him do another exercise.

While doing some deadlifts back by the squat racks, these 2 guys walk in the gym together and make a b-line for the squat rack next to me(I guess that's what you'd call it. It was one of those Hammer Strength ones...). These 2 guys are fairly built so i'm hoping against hope that they are about to rep out some decent squats. Yeah...right.

Instead, they grab one of those bright green platforms for the Les Mills Body Step class and stick it in the rack. I'm thinking, okay, maybe they're gonna do some deadlifts then. They do.

All the while, i'm working up to 270 in front of them. I keep watching as they add more weight to the bar after every set of 10. I finally get ready to do my workset(270x1x5) and they are putting their last load on the bar as well. I count it up and it maxes out at 190lbs. As i'm resting to get this heavy censored load off the floor, I can hear them talking amongst themselves. "Dude, just remember, this is what our grip failed on last time so we've gotta make sure that we don't let that happen again!" The other replies, "Nah, I think it was a little more than this." This is when one of them pulls out some of those cotton wrist straps, "just in case."

I almost shit my pants from trying not to laugh directly at them as i'm getting ready to lift 270# 5 times off the floor.

Oh yes, I almost forgot about the guys doing their heavy "squats." As i'm warming up on the squat rack, there are these 2 guys next to me just going to town. They're screaming like they're about to prolapse and it is the heaviest thing in the world. Both of these guys are bigger than me and they are REALLY into this weight.

The whole thing wouldn't have been nearly as comical had they actually been using a real bar, squatted more than 1/4 of the way down, and not been on the Smith Machine while they did it. And they only had 2 plates on each side. This, of course, was immediately followed by a rush to the plate loaded press where they put 3! plates on each side and acted like it was about to crush them from all the weight.

This was probably one of the funniest 1.5 hours i've ever spent in a gym. I had no idea people like this existed and I can't wait to see more because I KNOW this is just the beginning.

As a side note, I sure did get a lot of stares when I was doing full squats at 225.

I got even more when I was DL the 270. This probably had something to do with the Arnold grunting I wasn't able to control. That, and it was nearing 6 o'clock so it was starting to get full. I really don't think anyone expected me to lift it...

I can't wait until Friday. It's gonna be biblical.

[usetopie]

That gym experience sounds like a comedy show! It's always amusing to see the variety of folks and workout routines at the gym. I bet your serious squats and deadlifts stood out among the entertainment. I also like having some fun at my Hitsona gym and fitness group. Keep lifting and enjoy the Friday adventures!