EPTOn August 30 2013 12:46 Snuggles wrote:
The past few days something has been bugging me. I know there are unwritten rules of the gym, most of them are very obvious but here's one that I've kind of made up for myself ever since someone has emergency spotted me a while back when I first started. However, since then I don't know whether or not this is a norm or just something I'm overly thinking.
So every time I'm in the close proximity of someone doing their big lifts, bench press or squat, I feel like we're vaguely keeping an eye on each other on how our lifts go. A few days ago I was doing deadlifts next to a guy who was doing some nice ATG squats. We did have that safety rack there, but to get ATG he had to back away from it. Basically I would do my set, and immediately after I began resting he did his. We would alternate, my deadlifting of course is pretty damn safe, but this dude kept loading up more weight, he was doing 215 2x8 then he went on for a tough looking 225 x 6. Seeing how kind everyone was to me in the temple of iron I felt it was natural for me to try to repay people back by at least showing I was ready to run over for an emergency spot by alternating my rests with his.
But sometimes I feel like I'm being too forward with this way of thinking. Like people have to notice that I glance at them from the corner of my eye. Today I did flat bench pressing. The guy next to me was pushing 225 3x8. I don't think he paid any mind to me since I was a small ass guy compared to him but I did the same alternating thing as I did with my squat mate. Anyways I finished 2 sets of my 3x5 with real ease, while he had a real struggle it seemed like on his first set. He hit all 8 reps for sure but man it looked uneven and not that fast. The next set went very slowly from him, and he did 7 instead of 8 with uneven pushes, looked pretty rough from my prospective, any real insight on this? I did my second set real quick and then rested. 2 Minutes pass and he didn't begin yet so I went ahead and did my last set with ease (my measly 115lb, but idc I get to use new plates next workout without fear!). Right after that he went ahead did his last set, 7 reps again, took a glance at me and racked his bar and that's the end of the story.
The past few days something has been bugging me. I know there are unwritten rules of the gym, most of them are very obvious but here's one that I've kind of made up for myself ever since someone has emergency spotted me a while back when I first started. However, since then I don't know whether or not this is a norm or just something I'm overly thinking.
So every time I'm in the close proximity of someone doing their big lifts, bench press or squat, I feel like we're vaguely keeping an eye on each other on how our lifts go. A few days ago I was doing deadlifts next to a guy who was doing some nice ATG squats. We did have that safety rack there, but to get ATG he had to back away from it. Basically I would do my set, and immediately after I began resting he did his. We would alternate, my deadlifting of course is pretty damn safe, but this dude kept loading up more weight, he was doing 215 2x8 then he went on for a tough looking 225 x 6. Seeing how kind everyone was to me in the temple of iron I felt it was natural for me to try to repay people back by at least showing I was ready to run over for an emergency spot by alternating my rests with his.
But sometimes I feel like I'm being too forward with this way of thinking. Like people have to notice that I glance at them from the corner of my eye. Today I did flat bench pressing. The guy next to me was pushing 225 3x8. I don't think he paid any mind to me since I was a small ass guy compared to him but I did the same alternating thing as I did with my squat mate. Anyways I finished 2 sets of my 3x5 with real ease, while he had a real struggle it seemed like on his first set. He hit all 8 reps for sure but man it looked uneven and not that fast. The next set went very slowly from him, and he did 7 instead of 8 with uneven pushes, looked pretty rough from my prospective, any real insight on this? I did my second set real quick and then rested. 2 Minutes pass and he didn't begin yet so I went ahead and did my last set with ease (my measly 115lb, but idc I get to use new plates next workout without fear!). Right after that he went ahead did his last set, 7 reps again, took a glance at me and racked his bar and that's the end of the story.
Lol relax a bit man, if someone needs a spot they'll ask and if they need one and don't ask they're an idiot. Just chill and do your workout. Or strike up some conversation and make some friends.
![[image loading]](http://hurststrength.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/backsquat.jpg)
