A beefy powerlifter/bodybuilder told me a story once. He said while training in a globo-gym, he and a pal found a couple of those little square wood pieces with wheels. Ya know, the things we used in elementary school when kids could still play hard in elementary school. We called them Dolly’s and they looked kinda like this…
Those things were fun. Anyways, big guy and big pal decided to have some fun with them and started doing a whole bunch of stupid exercises on them. They may be on some gym fail somewhere but in this case, they were just being silly boys. Well, lo and behold, the next time my friend got to the gym, there were some little silly boys with the dolly’s out doing the same thing. AwwwwSHIT.
That’s ONE of the ways stupid gym shit is passed down. Monkey see, monkey do. But what about the other way? Ya know, someone with not too much experience walks in the gym and says, “Hey! I have X piece of equipment and I’ve never seen anyone do Y with it so we’re gonna! I’m foking brilliant!”
Hey! Ya know why you haven’t seen anyone else do it? Especially the people who are on top of whatever game we’re watching? Cuz it’s stoopid. Not brilliant. Stupid. How does Bigg put it? Too much risk for too little gain. That should be painted on most gym’s walls of silly people who post videos on the youtube.
TOO MUCH RISK FOR TOO LITTLE GAIN!
And then promise your patrons that you will NEVER put their strength or health in danger by doing stupid shit. EVER.
Look, gyms these days are full of fun toys. In the good gyms, machines have been replaced by barbells, and kettlebells, and strongman equipment. But that doesn’t mean we need to get away from their intended uses. The reason the strongest and best use this stuff in the ways they do, is cuzz it works. The best pressers in the world press heavy barbells. They understand that to be the best, they need to keep their shoulders heavy so they don’t do tricks with other things. Even Bigg is careful when drunk girls want him to lift them overhead (happens a lot actually, either that or he get’s a nice boob rub by waitresses when they serve us food. Pretty lulz.) His usual response is no thanks, not today. The last thing we need to deal with is some tweak or pull from doing silly things. So we don’t.
Ever.
Now, when the guys get together and some strength/grip challenge thingy is on the line, sure. That happens. But it happens with professional athletes who know exactly what they’re doing and what THE RISK IS. Do the clients of stupid coaches? Nope. So do your good deed of the day, if you see it, stop it. If you want to do it, stop yourself.
Pleaze.
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has it’s limits.
Albert Einstein
tosabarbell 