Saw a new guy at the gym today benching next to me. Older than me and slightly out of shape looking, but with that "I once was totally huge" look to him.
He soon is doing reps with 315 but frankly I'm worried, so I keep my eye on him.
On his last rep, it's pretty shaky but he manages to barely rack the thing on the lower rack studs.
Between sets, he's looking all around ( as am I, because I'm hoping to grab a spotter for my final set... ) and so I ask him "Did you want a spot?"
OMG!!! WRONG THING TO SAY!!!!
In less than 2 minutes, I swear, I know this guy's whole life history:
"Dude, I used to train power lifters. I'm 54. I used to bench 600. I know what I'm doing. I was a world champion softball player. I used to work out with this doctor from Beaumont Hospital for 15 years. He got a back operation and now he can't lift. But I can. I have two slipped discs, the L4 and L5. Car accident. Some guy in a red convertible Mustang slammed into me. I was working out at Powerhouse just a while ago. These big motorcycle guys screaming at me to finish my 500 pound bench sets. I trained martial arts for 15 years. I have a black belt, I'm a grandmaster...."
And on and on and on...
Finally, I say: "Well, I'd like a spot on my next set. Could you spot me?"
And he goes: "I hope not! Are you kidding me?!" Looking at my measly 205.... :-(
Fortunately for me, I have no ego.
( And just because someone needs a spot doesn't imply that they don't know what they're doing. )
And actually, he went on for a LOT more than that. He was a pretty interesting guy, truth be told.