yeah, I know it's standard, but it's fairly obvious that the biggest plates are the 45s.

They get loaded that way because they're usually put on the lowest rung of the rack, and people just grip the rim their finger tips letting the weight hang in front of them, so the part with the weights displayed points away from them, and they just slide it on that way, leaving the smooth side out. It's just less awkward holding the weight to load it that way.

you load bars like that so the smaller plates have a flat surface to touch.

for example, imagine 185 with the numbers pointing outward. the 25 only touches the 45 around the bar. with the numbers inward, the rim of the 25 touches the entire surface of the 45.

if i'm out running errands and decide to hit the gym, cargo shorts and a polo is pretty standard workout attire for me and i'm pretty sure i train harder than 99.9 percent of the world's workout population. i assume you guys are talking about short sleeved polos and not some kind of long sleeve button down shirt, which would be ridiculous

my favorite pants to squat in are really baggy cargos...i also go to the gym commando because ive torn so many pairs of boxers squatting that its easier to not wear them...

Stop wearing boxers to the gym?

i did...commando = no boxers...

How many did you blow out first though? I think I blew out one pair squatting and was like "lols tardaments" and stopped.

2 or 3 prob...i ride the short bus...now i get to live with solid boxers, but monster sweat pools on my ass while im at the gym...

This. It doesn't really matter much if you use collars etc.

Boxer-briefs are king.

Whenever this kid does leg press (sled) he throws the weight up and catches it on his locked knees, I was talking to a buddy about it and he went and talked to the kid, the kid says 'Oh, I don't worry, I'm strong.'

i would stop talking to my buddy about other people working out if that was his reaction.

i don't want to sound like it matters what is worn to the gym. i'm there for my own reasons, and it isn't to impress anyone.

i will say that a lot of first impression are based on what you're wearing, but especially in the gym, people will usually watch you perform your lifts if there is any doubt of your capabilities. the weight room went from idle chit-chat to dead silent as this guy prepped to lift. i should have said that his physique was not one that could come close to lifting this weight.

speaking of gym clothes, i go to my college gym so there are always younger skinny guys in there with no idea what they're doing. this one kid came in with windpants (whatever), a sweatshirt (whatever), tennis shoes (perfect), and lifting gloves (fine). it was obvious that he's never lifted before. if you couldn't tell by the tell-tale "pace around the weights and benches" or the related "i'm going to stare at this bench for a while before i do standing curls", it was because his clothing was brand new and still had the tags on them to prove it.

how many newbies actually buy gloves when they first start? i didnt buy a pair until a year into it when i realized how the broken callouses were affecting my.... personal life.

Lol @ wearing gloves.

j/k fyp

I miss the h0m0.

har har har.

the weights don't bother my hands, but the pull up bar definitely destroys them. i do pull ups every day, so i did decide to buy a pair.

maybe i just date bitchy girls, but none of them liked the rough, broken callouses.

Who cares what they like?

when is it OK to talk to someone about form? I saw a kid today, who actually looks like he's in pretty good shape and fairly strong, absolutely abort some lifts. Without any warmup he starts with 145 or 155 lb RDL, at least that's what they were closest to. His form was a wreck. Arched back, bar way out in front of him, etc. I think he worked up to like 240 or so doing it like that.

Then he did some hang power cleans, or again, that's what they were closest too. Using his arms, no explosive hips, awful rack position.

At least he re-racks his weight.

When they ask.

When someone or the people around them have their well-being in jeopardy imo

I'm always open for constructive criticism.

he'll probably succumb to temptation when he sees my sweet PCs. He was eying my DLs fo' sho'.

Say you are about to squat 150. What would you do for a warm-up? Just the bar? 100?

**** all you guys I wear gloves

frankly I'm waiting til I lift heavy enough so I can buy straps but I think dl'ing 215 with straps is gheyer than wearing gloves in general.

something like 2x5x45 (or just 10x45), 5x65, 3x95, 2x115, 1x135

straps for 215? wow