My 17-year-old daughter has started going to the gym on a regular basis. I’m proud of her and try not to overwhelm her with details about proper mechanics. She’s been complaining to me recently about guys—men really— approaching her at the gym. They try to start up a conversation with her using a bunch of…
I see increasing numbers of people at the gym using their phones to make videos of themselves. I assume that the vast majority of the people that make these videos intend to post them to social media as proof they showed up. Today, the guy in the squat rack next to me unpacked a…
I came across a tweet the other day about bringing a picture of your ex-girlfriend to the gym. When you need to fuel your workout with rage and anger, you take a look at the photo. While I understand the sentiment, I’ve realized from my own training that peak intensity doesn’t feel like anger. It…
Someone asked me recently: “What do you bench, squat, deadlift?” I’ve never understood the question about a single rep max because there are too many variables to make a comparison worthwhile from one person to another. For the squat, off the top of my head – are you doing them high bar or low bar?…
For reasons still unknown to me, some manufacturers of barbell plates design them with 12-sides, rather than as a wheel. Even more strangely, some gyms, like mine, actually buy them. One theory is that edged barbell plates make deadlifting impossible. As a result, members are prevented from rattling windows with the crash of falling iron….