Together this is good advice. I look pretty darn unhealthy when my legs are covered.
This is what is known among reasonable people as a Dick Move.
The fact that you were stronger than this particular trainer doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be able to put your weights down without dropping them. I’ve seen guys who lift dumbells in the 3-figure weight range (i.e., over 100 pounds), and who can also lower them to the ground in a controlled manner when they’re done. I’m not saying there’s no force when they hit the ground, but they also don’t get dropped from a height.
I’ve heard these rules that PF has, and while I do think they take them a bit farther than they need to, they are good rules to have at the gym. I’m a member at my local Gold’s and I’m there 4+ days a week for a couple hours doing workout, so I’ll be happy to tell you why I agree with them.
Excessive grunting. Yes, grunting is sometimes important for getting out a rep or two. When I’m hitting that last rep or two on a set of heavy squats or presses or I’m nearing the end of a burn out set, I’ll grunt a bit. I don’t have a problem with that, and I don’t think most gyms do. However, I have seen people who will grunt on every single rep of every single set or when they don’t so much grunt as they scream at the top of their lungs. There was one guy who used to work out at my gym who would do both, essentially scream on every rep of every set, and it was beyond obnoxious and extremely distracting. It was distracting enough that if he was doing an exercise anywhere near me, I would make sure that I wasn’t doing my sets at the same time he was.
Dropping weights. There are times when this is necessary. Some exercises it’s safer to drop the weights when failing than to try to rack it, particularly with power movements. But beyond that, it just isn’t necessary. I will regularly see people doing what is clearly a relatively easy set, since they get 10-12 reps without struggling, and just drop the weight at the end. Why? If it’s not necessary, its distracting, it can potentially damage the weights and other equipment, and if it’s dropped without caution, it can injure someone. Yes, if I’m doing power movements and I fail, I’ll drop the weight to avoid hurting myself, but I’m also sure that no one is nearby to get hurt. But I’ll see people doing dumbbell benchpress just a few feet from someone else and just drop the weight, and a few times I’ve seen them bounce into someone’s leg.
The siren. I will agree that is completely stupid and unnecessary. Even if not pushing myself 100%, I could see a siren being distracting enough to lose focus and hurt myself.
That all said, while I don’t agree with a zero grunting/dropping policy, Plaent Fitness isn’t a gym that is trying to attract the sort of clients that will be doing sets to absolute failure. They are going after the people who want to be around “normal” people who are content to go in and do lighter sets or just stop before they get to complete failure and whatever. And from what I’ve gathered from your workout habits from other threads, it doesn’t sound like you’re the type of person they’re catering to so, really, it was only a matter of time before one of you got fed up with the other.
says you.
I’ve seen that too.
I didn’t drop them from a height.
The point is, after a certain point, it isn’t possible to put them down without generating a certain amount of noise - not because I am letting them fall from arm’s length, but because they are heavy pieces of iron. I was generating the “certain amount of force” you mention. The trainer couldn’t even let them down as easily as I could - that was the point.
Regards,
Shodan
Roughly speaking it means that the drama can really begin now the main character is here.
I have been in gyms on and off my entire adult life (I would be better off if there was more on than less off). I would have to say that is if not all, then mostly in your own head. Almost everyone is like me, involved in their own workout. I don’t talk to anyone unless I see a friend. No one is insulting strangers because they are fat. No one is even speaking to strangers. When I see someone out of shape coming into the gym I only have admiration for them taking the step to get healthy. If you needed help or advice most of those meatheads in the gym would be more than happy to share their knowledge and experience. In the dozens of gyms I have been in I have never seen someone mistreated because they are fat. I don’t know what kind of gyms you are going to. If you are intimidated then it might be you not them.
Before looking into it I was thinking about going to PF because of its location. After reading about it, no way.
That’s been the setup at the JCCs I’ve been to. Machines in a carpeted room with televisions, water fountains and the like; and freeweights in a bare, manly man’s room with no foo-foo amenities save for some floor pads, and a couple of so you can see how euuuj you are. The machine room is filled with those from all ages and levels, with the usual equipment noises and conversation, while the freeweight room is GRUUUUUNT ARRRGH FFF-FFF-FFF-FFF-FFF-FFF YAAAAH! CRASH! AAAAAAAAA!, nary a woman or out-of-shape body to be seen.
There’s a Planet Fitness near where I live now. Looked at it, and didn’t really care for it. Few amenities, no group classes, no steam or sauna.
The steam and sauna rooms had to be taken out-uncouth people kept sweating in them.
This seems to be a common meme, though. I wonder if it’s a phenomenon that might be found in high-end clubs in exclusive large-city neighborhoods.
Are there any old-school manly-man gyms around? You know, sompleace in an old warehouse or dank basement, with a boxing ring in the middle surrounded by various free weight racks, punching bags, and decrepit treadmills and stationary bikes. There’s an unkempt office to one side where the manager, Mac, yells at anyone who dares to disturb him while he’s reading the Daily Racing Form and smoking a White Owl.
Can’t have old Jewish guys intimidating the beginners with their schvitz endurance, can we?
Loudly.
This is basically what I came here to say. The attraction of PF (which I personally wouldn’t join) is to avoid the bad lifters out there who cause needless distraction and irritation to other gym membership. I know nobody here would think they’re in that category and all of the other people complaining on bodybuilding forums wouldn’t either, but they do exist and they are a bit intimidating to some gym patrons.
Unfortunately, any given group of people can include some inconsiderate assholes, and the inconsiderate assholes in the gym who lift are going to irritate people a lot more than, say, some guy who leaves his magazine on his treadmill or whatever. I’ve definitely been in gyms where I was doing cardio pretty close to the free weights, and it’s really aggravating to constantly lose focus and stride because some dipshit has to scream out during his reps and throw weights around loudly. I get grunting a bit toward the end of a set, I get dropping weights for safety, but there are definitely idiots who take it to the next level. Lots of lifters act like dicks – strewing weights around and never putting them back, ‘claiming’ a ton of equipment for the entire duration of their workout, et cetera. It’s annoying.
Now, PF isn’t marketing itself to serious lifters. It’s marketing itself to casual gymgoers. Sally Self-Conscious Housewife and Occasional Treadmill Dude don’t really want to work out next to Very Serious Grunting Powerlifter Guy, so PF is trying to discourage the latter. It’s hard to put out rules like “don’t be a dick” or “don’t annoy people”, so they put in rules about specific behaviors (but broad enough to be subjectively applied) that can be used to discourage Serious Lifter who annoys others (keeping in mind it’s good for their bottom line to keep the guy who comes in a couple of times a month to walk around over the serious weightlifter who uses heavy, expensive equipment a lot).
There are plenty of gyms out there that cater to lifters. Is it that wrong to have one that caters to easily threatened novice gymgoers who want to paddle along on a bike and listen to their iPods, and occasionally meander over to the machines? I personally would rather not go to that type of gym, and that’s why I don’t go to Planet Fitness, but I know plenty of people who would – even past me would. However, if I did go then I wouldn’t complain – PF is well known for these policies on fitness and bodybuilding forums, and presumably they explain it when you sign up, so it’s not like they’re playing gotcha. The alarm – stupid as it may be – has gone off repeatedly during your time there, and you never thought “hmmm, maybe me”? I find that unlikely.
I’m still trying to figure out how the Lunk Alarm is nutty and dangerous because it might prompt people to drop weights, yet dropping weights intentionally is supposed to be a cherished privilege. The former does sound insane to me, yet so does the latter outside of a gym specifically set up and controlled for that sort of thing (lots of space, careful rules to keep innocent feet out of the way at the wrong time, and so on), which PF obviously is not.
Fair enough. I agree that people who expect every weight to be placed on the floor as if it were a fragile piece of glassware are stupid. But i’ve seen people drop dumbells from waist, chest, and even shoulder height. If you can’t control it all the way to the floor, in a way that minimizes the impact to a bit of a thump, then you shouldn’t be lifting it.
I still don’t think this is relevant.
My wife couldn’t lift the dumbells that i use either, and she certainly couldn’t let them down as easily as i can. Similarly, i couldn’t lower a pair of 100-pound dumbells gently, because they would be too heavy for me. But that doesn’t mean that i shouldn’t let my weights down properly, or that a person who lifts 100-pound bells shouldn’t let his down properly.
I wouldn’t say you don’t judge, given by the fact that you’re calling people names like pussy and weakling, but regardless there are two major areas where I can see someone being attracted to a place like Planet Fitness:
- They’ve experienced bullying from athletic individuals growing up. This is really common. I’ve experienced this myself, because when you’re in school, going to “gym” is basically code for “go get picked on and victimized because you’re weaker/fatter/less athletic”. The ‘jocks’ play and exclude the others as much as possible, either overtly (if allowed) or through mockery, tricks and other bullying tactics.
So let’s say you’re in your early twenties, overweight and you’ve never been in a commercial gym before. Is it that hard to believe that you might figure that people would make fun of you? Is it incomprehensible to think that the big muscly guys in the weight room might intimidate you, especially if they’re making loud noises by grunting (or screaming) or dropping weights?
- There are gyms that foster a culture of exclusion, where it’s hard to get in to use the weights if you look a certain way or lift below a certain amount. Some people get told to go use the little dumbbells in the stretching room instead, or go in and everyone’s claimed a bench and equipment for long periods, or people just basically try to crowd them or stare them down. I’ve experienced some of these things. On occasion I’ve even gotten a couple of lifters clearly making fun, albeit quietly. Fortunately I was at a point where I was lifting a respectable enough amount (despite being fat and a girl) that they didn’t balk too much and I was confident enough by that point to take it, but I have read pretty crushing stories about meathead guys intimidating or outright mocking beginners at the gym to know it happens.
I know there are plenty of accepting and welcoming bodybuilders who are happy to lend a smile, a supportive word or a helping hand to someone new. There are also douches who think that an overweight person is clearly a useless slob who deserves mockery, no matter that they’re at the gym and trying to fix it. I can’t really blame someone for wanting a less intimidating gym experience if they are new or have had bad experiences.
Again, I don’t use PF and I don’t support what they do, but pretending like bodybuilders are all perfectly knowledgeable, polite, and kindhearted is clearly fantasy land.
So, okay, what if you’re going to the gym just to get in better shape? Can you get cardiovascular, and general strength and health benefits, even if you’re not “building muscle”?
Getting cardiovascular, strength of flexibility benefits means pushing your body hard enough to damage it slightly. The benefit comes from the supercompensating repair of your tissue, so that doing the same thing again won’t cause as much stress.
Colloquially, “building muscle” means making muscles bigger. You can get a lot stronger without a lot of hypertrophy. Case in point.
It may help if in the former case, you visualize the iron dumbbell being dropped into the startled lifter’s own face, rather than a few inches onto a padded floor.