ExRx.net

I'm with pdellorto though that asking what someone is doing is perfectly reasonable - there's a chance you might learn something.

KPj, what's your position on someone wanting to work-in on the power rack but who is lifting a significantly different weight?

I never say no, but it sh!ts me if someone wants to come in and do 40 kg curls when I am squatting 100+. I don't need to waste calories re-loading the bar!

I get harrassed by trainers all the time. I think it's because I'm small (5'7", 155 lbs). They don't bother the big guys. I usually end up with them coming over while I'm warming up. Although once they see that I've got decent strength, they leave me alone. Even got a complement on my squat once, which was nice.

If they're working in and they take weight off your bar, they should put it back when they're done their set. To me that seems fair and you should do the same for them is you were working in on their sets.

I always try to note any weights or settings and adjust the bar or machine back to where they were at, if I have asked to work in.

I used to secretly hate the extra conditioning but I would still do it. I've always enjoyed helping people - which is why i'm trying to make a career out of it. However, i'm just used to it now. I train with 3 beginners along side me. I squat 2-3 times what 2 of them squat. I DL 3-4 times what those 2 DL. So, there's a lot of loading and unloading going on. When they just started, we used to have to change the box height to adjust depth for each beginner, too. So, the bar and the box would be loaded and unloaded between sets in accordance with each lifter. They all squat below parallel now so we don't need to adjust height. We used to also train with the previous manager in the gym, who lifted more than me, so it would be even worse for him! He pulled 640lbs and squatted 550lbs alongside beginners who were lifting 135lbs. You've got to 'pass it on', ya know.

However, we have a nice unspoken rule that the person who is doing the next set or has done the last set doesn't need to load. Which means my beginners typically load up the bar for me, then strip it back down

I've never had someone work in with me on squats to do curls, though. I've had a big freaky Bodybuilder do seated BB shoulder press with more weight than I was front squatting at the time. That was a shot to the ego.

It helps to use smaller discs. On squats we use no heavier than 15KG discs. No 20's. It's much easier to adjust and work up the weight for everyone. We do the same on bench. On DL's, we start with the 20's to get the propper ROM but everything after that is 15's, 10's, 5's, etc.

KPj

Couldn't you just have 2 bars going? One heavy, the other lighter.

In my gym, there's only 2 olympic bars. One sits on the squat rack, the other on the bench press. It's difficult to get just one of them....

It's not as bad or as complicated as it sounds, though. I make it sound very complicated especially when trying to explain the different squat heights but it runs like clock work. As soon as the bar is racked, weight discs come off/on and - if needed - the box height changes. Next guy just walks up and lifts...

Considering the lack of bars, you can see how angry you would get when you see some idiot doing curls in the rack using the Olympic Bar with a weight less than 100lbs (99% of the time) - we actually have 'fixed bars' going up to 100lbs. Not to mention an EZ bar. Yet, these idiots come in and use 2 vital things when they don't actually need any of them. They do it when the gym is very busy, too.

KPj

I know this pretty well. My gym sounds like it's bigger than yours, so the 5 olympic bars we do have(2 racks, 2 x bench press and 1 x inc. bench press) aren't really that much, seeing as someone is almost always on the bench press.

We also only have 2 x 20kg plates that are big enough for floor exercises(deadlift), and some guys like to take those and squat with them. Whenever someone does that or other exercises with less than what our fixed bars go up to(unless it's some lift that requires the length of an olympic bar, not the short barbells), I just ask them if they can't use the other barbells so I can do whatever exercise I need to do.
They're usually able to see the logic.

There was a curler in the power rack the other day (father, son team, regulars). I asked to work in and they were totally cool. I even said, maybe I should do Smith and they said no and gave me the rack to squat in and went off to do curls outside the rack (over at a bench press station actually). Not sure what they want the rack for (liftoff)? Anyhow, I liked how cool they were.

I lift at a downtown YMCA. Pretty decent amount of equipment really. Plenty of bars and benches. Only one power rack, but not everyone uses it, so it's not bad. No set aside space for deadlifts, so requires kind of grabbing some generic floor space. (I think a set aside area would be better for safety, vice in the passageway near benches.) There is an evening rush, but it seems like more of the evening crowd uses machines and more of the ironheads can lift during the day.