The Worst Thing About HST

F

Franko

New Member
Is anyone else sick of explaining to everyone why you didn't get that extra one or two reps you could have when you're getting a spot at the gym?

Right now Im working on my first week of 5s and asked a guy for a quick spot on bench. He helped me get the weight off and I got through my 5 reps relatively easily (couldve dont 2 or 3 more probably). Anyways, this guy like everyone else always comments and says why didn't you do any more?

Do you guys even bother trying to explain or what? Im sick of people looking down their noses at me.
 
Set it up so that you do not need a spot. I haven't had a spot in 10 years and can't imagine doing anything that would require a spot. Obviously I do not do negs either.
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I workout at home so I have no spotter, or anyone questioning me.

Today I visited a gym in the next town over.  I was squatting, deadlifting, doing SLDLs - you know, all the stuff that we do which doesn't include little pink dumbells.  I ended up with an audience.  I don't think a single person there had ever even seen an olympic squat, let alone done one.

Then a trainer came over and warned me I was going too deep and going to get hurt.  She offered to show me how to use the leg extensions and leg curls instead.

She got laughed at by some of the old guys who were watching though when I asked her, "do I look like I use leg extensions or leg curls"? (I really do, but didn't dare to them after that
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). I was the biggest man in the gym and a 100 pound girl was correcting me for squatting becuase it's dangerous.  

Hmmm, BMIG - that's never happened to me before when I was younger and went to a gym before working out at home.  It shouldn't have happened today since I'm only 203lbs. Maybe HST and the new 30 pounds actually is good for something other than recovery.

Anyway, back on topic.  If they ask you that - just reply, "do I look like I need that extra rep?"
 
And Franko - sorry bud, but your topic title is misleading.

The real "worst thing about HST" is that new shirts are expensive. Somebody should have warned me what was going to happen before I started it. Hell, I just wanted to recover from an injury and get back to "real" workouts. Now I'm hooked.
 
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(vagrant @ Oct. 07 2006,15:10)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">&quot;do I look like I need that extra rep?&quot;</div>
Yes, I do.
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When I do flat bench, I just tell my spotters that I need to get 3 sets of 5, so I'll be stopping at 5 reps each time in order to do so. I highly recommend a spotter with flat bench if you are going heavy. It's too dangerous to not have one in case something goes wrong. For squats: If you have a decent squat rack, then you likely don't need a spot either, but if its only stands, then a spotter there is a must too.
 
I probably could use the extra rep...still looking to add another 15 good pounds. Currently 6'2 210 and somewhere around 10-12%BF.

So far Ive just kept the same shirts, but I definitely fill them out more now.

Since starting HST Ive put on about 15 lbs over 3 cycles.
 
I get asked all the time. No one listens though when I explain. It doesn't sink in that I get more reps with a higher load and therefore better strength gains. It doesn't matter I have the best squat, deadlift, row, dip, chin and clean in the place either.

People seem stuck with training to failure (or near) and pyramid rep schemes. Not surprising though, we've got guys 6 ft. tall and 160 pounds doing behind the back wrist curls at this gym.

Just last night I did rows right next to a guy being &quot;trained&quot; by a PT, as luck would have it, he was being &quot;trained&quot; to do bent rows. I do Pendlay 90 degree rows and the PT had this guy doing rows almost standing upright with 75 pounds (looked close to a max lift). I did a submax set with 240x5 and the guy said, &quot;Holy s*#t!&quot;

The PT jumps in and claims there's really no benefit to doing them at 90 degrees. I looked at the 75 pounds and said, &quot;No, I think doing them this way not only develops much more of the upper back and pulling strength, but there's a carryover to other pulls you just don't get by doing them standing almost straight up.&quot; The PT didn't agree. Too bad for his client.
 
I work out at home...Thank goodness, as a max-stim guy, people would think I am deranged doing what looks like to them to be 20 sets of 1 rep with short rest between each set....I would look like an equipment hogger also.

Leige that is hilarious about the personal trainers and stuff giving advice and criticism when you could probably outlift all of them!
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Most people have no idea what proper training is.
I know advanced bodybuilders who still think that they have to spend 3 hours/day in the gym. I tell them I could put them on a program that could cut their training time by more than half and give them more growth, they think I have no idea what I am talking about. I am still small, but even if I was huge, most people will ignore any advice that didn't come in a magazine or from some scrawny personal trainer.
 
It does start to get annoying explaining it constantly... however I've found that I've kind of started to get a reputation around my area. I live in a smaller sort of town and I've had people wanting me to work with them since apparently word on the street is that I know my stuff. The only gym in town is run by a guy who still believes the bodypart splits and supercompensation stuff... so whenever I'm giving people advice, I have to deal with all that crap first.
Random person: &quot;yeah but doesn't the muscle gotta fully recover before you can work out again?&quot;
Me: &quot;No...&quot;
And then I typically launch into lecture about everything we all know on here...

I really like how you find a guy running a gym who is pretty big, fairly strong and has NO IDEA how he got to that point, so he's putting people on stupid plans from muscle mags...

I also like how sometimes some kid will be like &quot;So, you workout?&quot; And I'm like &quot;Uh.. yeah, sometimes.&quot; The kid typically will say &quot;How much you bench?&quot; but occasionally they'll ask how much I can curl, or something ridiculous like that. Then when they ask what kind of routine I have and I try to explain it to them, they get confused almost immediately.
 
im 17 and i've been starting max stim afta about 3 cycles of HST and everyone gives you that look as if your a dumb newbie. I tried explaining to one guy and went in one ear straight out the other. it really annoys me when you over hear people giving out this stupid advice let alone when its towards you.I'm getting a home gym set up soon, i cant wait.
 
Home gym is awesome, if you can afford it. I have all the free-weight goodies, no posh machines, just a power-rack, pull-down pulley, chin-up bar, professional incline/decline bench and a crapload of dumbells and barbell plates...all you need to get huge....except dip station, that is next on my wish list!

I could never work out in a commercial gym now, I am used to walking into my garage, putting on an old Metallica CD, and doing whatever the hell I feel like. If I want to hang from the chin-up bar upside down and throw 100 lb. dumbells in the air for an hour that is my perogative!
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For me it's definitely the clothes bill and all the food I have to consume!

I am now training on my own so have had to get a few spots for bench now and again when doing 5RMs and beyond. Invariably, I get that you're-not-working-hard-enough look when I stop at 5 reps without failing. I just explain that I have to get a total of 15 reps so I break it up into 3 lots of 5. If the guy doesn't ask any questions fine but if he wants to know more then I give a brief explanation. One pretty big lad (he won the recent Junior Mr. Plymouth) is now keen to try out HST after seeing what I'm up to, so that's good then.
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Leige: I feel your pain!
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(Totentanz @ Oct. 07 2006,23:10)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">It does start to get annoying explaining it constantly...  however I've found that I've kind of started to get a reputation around my area.  I live in a smaller sort of town and I've had people wanting me to work with them since apparently word on the street is that I know my stuff.  The only gym in town is run by a guy who still believes the bodypart splits and supercompensation stuff...  so whenever I'm giving people advice, I have to deal with all that crap first.
Random person:  &quot;yeah but doesn't the muscle gotta fully recover before you can work out again?&quot;
Me:  &quot;No...&quot;
And then I typically launch into lecture about everything we all know on here...

I really like how you find a guy running a gym who is pretty big, fairly strong and has NO IDEA how he got to that point, so he's putting people on stupid plans from muscle mags...

I also like how sometimes some kid will be like &quot;So, you workout?&quot;  And I'm like &quot;Uh.. yeah, sometimes.&quot;  The kid typically will say &quot;How much you bench?&quot; but occasionally they'll ask how much I can curl, or something ridiculous like that.  Then when they ask what kind of routine I have and I try to explain it to them, they get confused almost immediately.</div>
Great Point Tot,

This is exactly my average conversation with the so called expert pesonal trainers and 99% of the gym rats.

Thats the bad thing everyone assumes to things.

Body part splits are good= which there not !

And if they do see you doing a Full body routine....everyone thinks its a Circuit or that your are just trying to maintain fitness.
 
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(Franko @ Oct. 07 2006,10:50)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Is anyone else sick of explaining to everyone why you didn't get that extra one or two reps you could have when you're getting a spot at the gym? Do you guys even bother trying to explain or what?  Im sick of people looking down their noses at me.</div>
For the most part, I train at home now, but when I'm traveling I try to train at Gold's wherever I am, and if not Gold's, then a Bally's.  I've never had anyone try to correct or ask me why I did something, unless it's to get advice.  People asking for advice is extremely annoying, and I finally started wearing a mp3 player and that really keeps people out of your hair (hmmm....maybe the mp3 player is also why no one tries to correct or counsel  me).  I think that most small fries like to argue about what they think they know online, but in person they are unlikely to say anything to you if you're a large guy.  They will just talk about you behind your back, lol. If some guyis giving you advice on how to work your body and you're bothered by it, I assume you are unhappy with the size of your body and/or you are a small guy.  So, just keep working on your size &amp; conditioninig until that sort of thing rarely happens, and when it does, you can just laugh at the tiny guy or girl yapping their jaws.  You can also go the other route and just decide that you don't care and aren't willing to do the work necessary to avoid some condescension thrown your way.  I'm that way at work.  I'm often looked down upon or talked about by tekkies because I don't know many technical specifications of things, but...I don't care too much, that's just part of life and I'm not willing to put in the work necessary to learn all that stuff.  That's their job, not mine.  So, just do whatever is necessary for you to feel secure, and things will work out great for you.
 
Haha that's a good point Steve, when you're big no one questions what you do, if anything they'll come up to you and ask you to teach them!
 
in the gym i used to be in fitness-first two pts were doing squats i asked could i join in (they were going down about 6 inches
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) they said yes and i did my atg squats,one said is it your leg day,
i said no i do fullbody 3x a wk.
he said that doesnt give doms time to go away
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when i started to explain about protein synthesis etc it went right over there heads..and these are the guys being paid to train people
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