It almost makes me want to transfer schools (a rant and then the best moment ever)

[Altephor]

My school, has, by far, the WORST gym I've ever seen. Upstairs is packed with ellipticals and ****ty, 20 year old machines. Downstairs is our weight room. Picture trying to fit an entire campus in a home gym. It is the size of a garage (actually, it used to be a large garage :swear:); it has 1 flat bench, 1 incline bench, 1 preacher bench, 1 smith machine :cry:, 1 45 degree leg press, and 1 adjustable bench, and then dumbbells up to 100 lbs. My major keeps me pretty busy, so I can only workout at night after my classes (especially since the weight room opens at noon, despite the fact the rest of the gym opens at 6 am). It took me and hour to do tonight's workout, Starr's 5x5. Only five exercises and it took an hour. If I wasn't almost a senior I would consider transferring just to get a better weightroom.

And let's not forget about the people that go to this weight room (here comes the best moment I've ever had in the gym). This kid comes up to me tonight, hoodie, shoes that were in no way meant for the gym (i.e. boots), and shorts around his thighs, and goes 'Hey man your deadlift is all wrong, your form is terrible'. Now, normally I take people's advice, but here's his problem: I WAS DOING BENT OVER ROWS! I honestly just wanted to punch him in the face. But I decided to play with him. So I backed up and said ok show me how to do them. So he gets down... bar is about 6 inches from his legs, his knees aren't over the bar, his grip is way inside, his back is bent, and then he lifts with his back first and then his legs. So I sit there nodding, and then go ok.. well, a) I wasn't doing deadlifts, I was doing rows and b) here's how you ACTUALLY deadlift.. and then proceeded to show him. Granted my form is probably not picture perfect but it's at least decent. He left pretty quickly.

[Beast]

Nice. Are there any local gyms nearby?

[Altephor]

Yeah, I live fairly close to school and go to the Y on breaks, but I don't have the time or money to drive there during school. It's $250 for a parking pass, on top of the gym membership.

[Roddy]

yeah sounds like a gym close to my place, the equipment is so close its ******ed. 1 of everything.... annoying.

[Holto]

'Hey man your deadlift is all wrong, your form is terrible'. Now, normally I take people's advice, but here's his problem: I WAS DOING BENT OVER ROWS!

That reminds me of my favorite story ever. Some guy on this site was doing rows and a trainer that had been at his gym for a solid few years asked him what muscles it worked and what it was called.

[ValleyFR]

sounds like my college...where do you go to school at?

[Altephor]

University of Hartford


The most annoying part is they have a semi-nice weight room, but only for sports teams. Apparantly if you're not on a team you can't take care of your body. Ridiculous. I've petitioned them twice to put in ONE squat rack and was ignored both times.

[saia127]

Damn, there is no squat rack? That sucks.
How do you do your squats then?

[Altephor]

Hack Squats... or if it's super crowded and I have no other option available to me... the smith machine...:cry:

[McIrish]

If I wasn't almost a senior I would consider transferring just to get a better weightroom.

Now, I'm not sure if you're kidding or not, but... :whip:

Anyhow, lol @ the kid who told you that your "deadlifts" were off. No wonder the form looked bad... hahaha, every time I try to row up my deadlift weight my form goes right out the window! :)

[bjohnso]

The most annoying part is they have a semi-nice weight room, but only for sports teams. Apparantly if you're not on a team you can't take care of your body.

I can't stand that mentality. I'm not an athlete, and whenever I get asked by someone why I do what I do I think, "do I need a reason?!" Then I give them some bull**** answer to shut them up. The concept of wanting to be fit and look good just to please yourself is alien to some (most) people.

[offhegoes03]

I can't stand that mentality. I'm not an athlete, and whenever I get asked by someone why I do what I do I think, "do I need a reason?!" Then I give them some bull**** answer to shut them up. The concept of wanting to be fit and look good just to please yourself is alien to some (most) people.

I agree man, I get questions all the time about why I do everything I do (lift, eat 4000+ Cals a day, mix olive oil into my shakes, etc.) and most people just don't understand the work that we put in and why. Oh well, I just ignore them and keep on doing my thing. It's not for everyone, so I can see why they'd be puzzled, but I agree that we do tend to get a lot of **** for it. It's just a matter of not caring what people think since we know in our minds we're trying to better ourselves and our appearance.

[bjohnso]

I agree man, I get questions all the time about why I do everything I do (lift, eat 4000+ Cals a day, mix olive oil into my shakes, etc.) and most people just don't understand the work that we put in and why. Oh well, I just ignore them and keep on doing my thing. It's not for everyone, so I can see why they'd be puzzled, but I agree that we do tend to get a lot of **** for it. It's just a matter of not caring what people think since we know in our minds we're trying to better ourselves and our appearance.

It's not even the dumb questions that really bother me though, it's the fact that they think I don't have a legit reason for wanting to be big and strong because I'm not an athlete. That's just really dumb! It's like I need a coach's permission to lift and eat a lot. I had a guy (a rugby player) tell me in the gym a few years ago that unless you play a sport you really don't have a reason to lift weights. dumb dumb dumb.

[Switch]

I go to Shippensburg a state school in Pennsylvania. We have a pretty horrible gym right now, but next year were getting a brand new rec center, indoor track, cardio, free weights, pool. the whole deal :strong:

[Clifford Gillmore]

"What choo lifting them weights for?"

"Some one else was using the pink dbs."

[Rock Steady]

Ugh, I hate when people correct the wrong movement. I've had two guys at my gym tell me I'm doing a deadlift incorrectly while I was doing RDLs. When I told them what I was doing and it worked the hamstrings they each said 'That would only stretch your hamstrings, and it's bad for your back.'

[offhegoes03]

It's not even the dumb questions that really bother me though, it's the fact that they think I don't have a legit reason for wanting to be big and strong because I'm not an athlete. That's just really dumb! It's like I need a coach's permission to lift and eat a lot. I had a guy (a rugby player) tell me in the gym a few years ago that unless you play a sport you really don't have a reason to lift weights. dumb dumb dumb.

hah i hear ya on that one too. people just keep asking me why I want to gain more weight.. to be huuuge of course. hah people don't seem to understand that some people want a different build and are willing to work towards that for the sole reason of wanting to be bigger.

[ericg]

...BLA BLA BLAH dumbbells up to 100 lbs...Blah bla...

I think you can get one hell of a workout with 100lb DBs. You said you have NO other option available but to use the smith to do squats. Ever try lunges? Step ups? and all their variations? Give them a shot. Plus you can incorporate some OLY lifts with DBs and the BB. So you out grow the 100lb DBs on the bench, try doing single arm presses. There are a lot of ways to work around things.

[Altephor]

I never said the smith was my only option. I do hack squats, only if it's very very busy do I have to use the smith, because there's no room to do anything else.

[saia127]

I work out at UNO(University of New Orleans) and all the stuff is very nice and they have every thing you want and lots of them.