Hello Ego
It's not often I come back from the gym annoyed, but yesterday was one of those days. This may come out as a bit of a rant, but that is not the intention. “So Mas, what happened at the gym that got you so het up?” Well now that you've asked I'll tell you ‘Gym bro’ advice and a lack of common sense. Here's what happened.
I walked into the gym, ready to smash out a quick workout with my wife, came around the corner to the free weights section to find a young man trying to dead lift what was clearly a weight that was too heavy for him. I've seen yoga poses more comfortable than the shapes he was getting into! One of his companions, who had obviously spent more time in the gym was trying to give instructions, but not very successfully. I think a combination of a lack of clear instructions, but more so EGO (on the part of the lifter) meant that the same broken back position was being reinforced. My wife and I stood there open mouthed at this. (By the way she deadlifts like a Boss - just saying!).
Now I don't usually get involved in another guys workout (that's his time to find himself), but there was a clear safety issue. So I spoke up, and credit to the young man he started to listen to instruction in as much as trying to sort out his technique. We still had the issue about how much he was trying to lift! You've got to get stronger first son…
I'd like to say that even after showing them how to dead lift and offering them some free help that they almost bit my arm off at the chance to learn (not that I know it all, I'm just a bit further down that road than they are), but EGO stepped up and put a stop to that.
It's great to walk into the gym knowing you're feeling good and you can put up some big numbers, but unfortunately egos in the gym usually go hand in hand with injury. My annoyance was born out of having to try and convince an ego that the only two jobs where you start at the top are grave digging and well digging, the rest you have to start at the bottom and work your way up. This is the same with lifting, start with what you can manage safely, and work your way up.
On reflection, I think my advice from is this:
When you go to the gym, leave your ego at the door!
if you're going to use YouTube for your information, make sure you have ave a good idea of what good technique looks like first.
Get proper instruction
Be willing to learn
Be patient after all Rome wasn't built in a day
Happy lifting!
