Exactly why do only those people that don't matter? Assuming everyone matters equally then the "representative" gym customer is best served by leaving on the 45lbs. You don't have any real arguments as to why one should remove the plates unless the effort of the few that start with below 135 is worth more then everyone else's. Also, at every gym I have ever frequented well in excess of 50% of people start with 135 and its not even close.

You people are all incredible lazy douches for not taking the plates off and I can't believe you are trying to justify your laziness under the pretence that you are either:

a) Saving so many people so much time.
b) If you are too "pussy" to warm up with 135, you shouldn't be at the gym.

Isometric metallurgic hypertrophy, Imo

hahahah

No matter how many times you claim >50% do x or how loudly you make this claim or how many times you say it isn't even close, you are, every single time, pulling this "fact" out of thin air as a pretext for not cleaning up after yourself.

How convenient for you that you think you might be doing the next guy a favor by not cleaning up after yourself.

Your utilitarian argument that >50% is best for most people is again self-serving because of the burden that you may be placing on the alleged <50% to remove weight may well exceed the burden of putting it on. Where are these brutes who feel hassled by a naked bar because they want to warm-up at 135-- your phony standard.

As for those that max with 150 and choose to warm-up with 135, I can only guess how many do so because 135 is already on the bar and they are stupid and lazy.

It can also lead to some confusion as to whether a station is being used.

In squat racks there is the problem of resetting the hooks. So if 50% of the gym goers are between 5-9 and 5-11 is it appropriate to...

There all sorts of inconsiderate things that members of the gym going public do that they think is inline with the majority. It is really a basic thing. Clean up after yourself whether or not the guy before you does.

If it were true (in addition to being speculation) that in every gym you've ever been in, yadda, yadda, yadda, then fine, you get a pass.

For ****'s sake, deload the entire bar you idiots.

Two very good points too imo.

I sometimes load on 4 plates a side on bench and just stand there looking around pretending like I'm about to bench it. Then I leave it there and go home.

You know what really grinds my gears:

1. People who walk around the locker room naked with no towel around their waist.
2. People who don't dry themselves after getting out of the shower and walk around soaking wet getting water all over the place.

Guys I warm up for bench with an empty bar. I would appreciate if it was empty when I arrive. There are guys who can bench 400 who also do their first set with an empty bar. Leaving plates on is lazy and douchey and making fun of a guy who has to use less than that = ultra douchey.

try going to a gym with tons of old russian dudes. i swear to god that 1/2 of them never leave the locker room. they just come in, strip down, and hang out. there was almost WWIII when the gym staff insisted they don't use the sauna naked.

the other day i walked in and some 70 yr old dude, balls hanging to his knees, has one leg perched up on the sink and is spreading his ass cheeks with one hand and gripping the hair dryer with the other hand. He has it coming from behind, so that his dangling balls hit against the hair dryer as he warms his taint.

needless to say, i shower when i get home.

To everyone who leaves 135lb on the benchpresses,

You are incredible douchebags...

SHOT

ahaha, im glad that plenty of other people share my hatred of people who leaves weights on the bar. i thought maybe i was just becoming a bitter old man.

Yea, I also hate when weights are left on the bar. I don't find them annoying to take off, I just hate having to figure out if anyone is using it.

yeah i think the biggest issue with leaving the 45s on is that a lot of people will think someone is using the apparatus. while they may eventually realize that it's available, leaving weights on the rack/bench just generally slows down/inconveniences other people.

I am a member of some upscale club in Toronto, hence the age variety is 75% 35+

I lol when I see some 60+ year olds working out in their suits.

Lots of hot milfs at the gym, I try to not stare too much.

Not many people in the 20-25 range like myself, so its hard to compare yourself.

Shemp has convinced me to deload the entire bar. Never again will I leave 135 in the power rack.

Welcome, Brother.

When I do my curls in the rack, I always just leave them because the plates are so light anyways.

ROFL

When I read the first time I didn't realize they were on the same bench.

It's been said, but yeah, don't leave any ****ing weight on any bar ever. Its bad form for a number of reasons. And especially don't leave DB's lying around after you've taken them off the rack. I'm pretty well known as the douchebag nazi of my gym that constantly chases peopel down and berates them for poor equipment management.

And about shorts, wearing running shorts is not a problem. They're very comfortable and they're the only thing I work out it, its not gay or anything. Its better than cutoff t-shirts, which are pretty lame but no big deal either. The real problem I have is shorts down to mid-calf, or shorts that are sagging, a la ghetto ****.

Well, that is my goal dress. I start the diet/exercise plan on 11/7 and estimate that with very slow weight loss and exercising a few days a week, I'll reach goal to wear this dress next spring and look pretty nice.

I live in Minneapolis (where it butts up against Saint Paul) and have been looking around for local gyms that are worth a darn. I've checked out a couple of the local YMCA's, and also the Bally's on University but haven't found anything I like as much as the 24 hour fitness I went to in Cali.

Also- when just getting started, I bought the series of Firm videos, but am a interested in hearing opinions of those (PX-90?) series that has been advertised? Is it possible working out at home could really compete with a gym workout?

Also, if anyone has any opinions on choosing a personal trainer, I'd love to hear them.

This is all pretty new to me as I've not been in the gym/exercise thing hardcore in --- well probably as many years as some of you have been alive. Advice is appreciated.

If you want to work out at home, you could get in great shape doing it. But you'll probably do very well to concentrate much more on strength building exercises than the typical home program, which is usually aerobics and stretching, does.

You can use bands and kettlebells and if you have the space, clubbells, and also dumbbells, as well as learn some tough bodyweight exercises, to give you a wide variety of resistance exercises.

At home or in the gym, I'd suggest you do at least one variation or equivalent of the squat or deadlift. At home, the deadlift you can do with jumpstretch bands very effectively(I have). Check www.jumpstretch.com for bands and a handle. You'll only need the handle if you use the big 200 lb. strength bands, so most women should be fine starting off without them. This is a really great way to do deadlifts because you can lift the equivalent of a lot of weight without having to buy store and lift weights; it's just bands that weigh a few pounds and that you can throw in a closet when you're done.

The squats you can do with bodyweight alone, adding weight by holding a dumbbell or kettlebell or even a gallon jug or two of water, if it should ever become necessary. The one-legged bodyweight squat I'm speaking of is commonly called "the pistol," and requires some flexibility and balance. But this is great to develop too. In working on the pistol, you'll be working the front and back of your thigh, your butt, the muscles around your hip, and your calves all at once.

Check out this link for a great article by Steve Cotter on the pistol. He even addresses problems and how to correct them very well.

There are lots of great bodyweight, band, dumbbell, clubbell, and kettlebell exercises for the upper body. Keep in mind that you should have at least one really tough push (moving stuff or your arms away from your body -- uses the chest, shoulders and triceps) and one really tough pull (brings your arms in to your body -- uses the large muscle of your back, your biceps, the muscle at the top of your spine that connects to your shoulders and lies between your shoulderblades, and your forearms and hands). Examples of a push: push-up, bench press, military press, dip. Examples of a pull: chin-up, pull-up, bent over row, putting a broomstick across the top of two chairs a couple feet apart then lying underneath, reaching up to the broomstick and using your arms to pull yourself up to the broomstick.

You can do all this stuff at home with minimal equipment that doesn't take up much space at all to get an excellent work-out in less than a handful of exercises. Adding more exercises in may or may not be helpful, but you should at least retain as the base of your program, in gym or out, a tough version of the compound exercises what I noted above -- one for the legs, one for the pushing muscles of the upper body, and one for the pulling muscles of the upper body.

Btw, once you start lifting heavy weights with your legs, unless you are on a machine, your waist will definitely get a heck of a work-out. And if you want a truly amazing butt and legs, like most women do, don't let anyone chase you away from the squat and pistol. They'll make you strong and sexy both.