…or what I learned from Planet Fitness
I was reading an article from some muscle rag yesterday, and it mentioned someone doing shrugs in the power rack. And of course, everyone is familiar with the problem of curls in the squat rack. Today I watched a guy doing military presses and skull crushers on a bench press (which looked crazily uncomfortable, but I digress). All generally thought to be bad gym etiquette.
And it doesn’t matter.
They’re in there doing their thing (grammarians – see what I did there?), getting the job done the best they know how. Maybe the piece of equipment they needed was taken, so they’re adapting. Once you’ve set up, unless it just isn’t working, I think you’re unlikely to change between sets. Particularly in the first quarter of the year, when the resolutionists start, the gym can be a busy place. You’re not always likely to get the piece of equipment best suited to what you want to do.
That’s where Planet Fitness (PF) comes in. When I first started lifting, that’s where I started. And as most of us lunkheads know, PF doesn’t have a lot of equipment on the weight floor. Dumbbells only go up to 75 pounds, and the equipment is really limited. So you have to get creative if you want to do any significant lifting. Add in other people, and you’re likely to find yourself doing all kinds of adaptations just to get your workout done in the time you have to do it. So if there’s a squat rack, you might do curls in it. I did hack squats on the leg press machine, cable rows sitting on the floor with the universal, seated calf raises with a half-dozen plates stacked on my knees, using a couple other plates to get my toes off the ground. You did what you had to do to get the job done.
So next time you see someone doing curls in the squat rack, cut ’em some slack. They’re just trying to get it done. Just like you.