I hadn’t noticed it before, but now it became abundantly clear. Individuals were lifting weights. On the surface isn’t that what you were supposed to do, lift the weight? As I walked to the locker, I noticed that was all most individuals were doing.
In a mad scramble to lift the weight, which appeared too heavy for most, from point at A to B, they overlooked proper movement pattern. It’s lift it as fast possible or lift some exorbitant weight, strict form be damned. Shoot a clip. Send it to all your friends. Brag about setting a new PR.
The stupidity of what I just described proved itself out a week later. I have grown accustomed doing a three-day split. It was a Monday, and I planned on starting the workout with Incline Dumbbell Bench Press. My unfortunate luck, or so I thought at the time was four men were standing by the flat benches with 100-pound dumbbells between them.
I had to settle once again starting my Chest routine on a decline bench. It wasn’t a big deal. I pulled the bench to the open space, which was on the left side of the occupied bench. One of the four men, decided he wanted no part of what the other three planned. A man on each side picked up a 100-pound dumbbell and place it on the man seated on the bench. I watched as the man struggled to lift the dumbbell completing 3 sloppy reps. Not that I was curious, but I wanted to make sure when he dropped them, I wasn’t close enough to get hit.
I picked with 50-pound dumbbells. I placed one on each thigh. Lifted my legs and fell back on the bench. Push myself into the bench, with the dumbbells resting on my palms. Starting from the eccentric position, I pushed the weights explosively and completed 6 reps, ensuring that I left reps in the tank.
By this time, the men had move on to 110-pound dumbbells. I grabbed the 55’s. Performed the set in the same manner as I did with the 50-pound dumbbells. The men had moved on to the 120-pound dumbbells. I was walking to get the 60’s, when the man moved the 120’s out of my way.
“It’s not in my way,” I joked. “I hope to get to those one day.”
“It’s my first time,” he laughed.
I lifted the 60-pound dumbbells, the same way as I did the previous weights. It was when I had reached the 80-pound dumbbells that I heard the man asked his spotter, how was his form. The reply was unflattering.
I had completed 6 reps with the 80-pound dumbbells and looked in the mirror. The pump was visible.
My chest was full of blood. I flexed in the mirror. Not to be vain, but to see that every fiber was filling up with blood.
The other three men did not have a pump.
How could that be you made be asking? Were they not lifting twice the weight you were?
B.M.Booth (NASM-CPT)
Strength & Vigour 