Will i look like a fool?

[dys]

Ok so I have brought up before that i go to the awful Planet Fitness for its extremely low price of $10, but theres no deadlift. In addition to the no deadlifting, it's often crowded at the hours i normally go and i hate the attitude and environment of the place. There is another local gym that costs about $25 a month called Powerfit but it is full of the "real" gym-goers. I can lift decent weight for size and weight but i'm small. I feel like i will look like a fool at the other gym doing such low weight compared to others, and I will have to pay over twice as much. And thoughts on this?

[ywkma]

Who cares what you look like?

[dys]

Idk i just feel like i would be extremely out of place but everyone has to start somewhere. And it's not like I don't know proper technique, i just cant lift big.

[ywkma]

Understandable. I have 2 quick stories for you. 1.I was a freshman in HS and weighed 105 lbs. Everyone that went to our weight room was huge, they had a wall with the top ten weights on it for certain lifts...you get the point. I got comments all the time (started benching with 95 lbs, 3 sets of and laughed at once in awhile. By the time I was a senior I was the strongest pound for pound, couldve made the top ten list (they stopped doing it ) weighed 150 and benched 250 3 times for max. No one was making comments then, in fact a lot of them wanted workout, even some big guys. The second story is I joined a gym just like the one you are going to...only very serious very heavy lifters. I joined because it was free for me anyways a lot of the guys were actually helpful and once after I broke wrist I was doing incline bench with low weight, couldnt lift it, and needed a spot. If you have a more embarassing story than that at the gym... I really did feel like an idiot "Oh man this usually doesnt happen, I broke wrist 6 weeks ago blah blah" He was one of the guys that ran the gym

[dys]

Hah those are some good stories. Thanks for the insight, was definitely making it a bigger deal than it is.

[ywkma]

Haha no problem, just remember man, who cares what anyone else thinks, as long as you are working hard and making improvements that you like...thats really all that matters

[thekid24]

as long as you don't do stupid stuff and avoid touching the bosu balls, they might actually offer you some help or advice.

[NYCprop78]

I tend to feel self conscious at the gym. Being the normal token white guy at a gym with a bunch of black guys. Not so much anymore, but when I first joined the local YMCA, I kind of felt that. Now, I don't even think about it. People are real nice, it doesn't matter if you know how to do something or not. I find that in the gym, rarely will you ever hear someone making comments about you, in fact, if you ask for advice, they love to give it.

[Packard]

Be aware that Planet Fitness has a "no grunting" rule. If you grunt during any exercise they will ask you to leave. If you don't leave they call the police and charge you with trespassing.

Are you a "grunt-free" exerciser? If you are you are OK at Planet Fitness.

This was a local story in our neighborhood and I don't know how well publicized this was outside our immediate area.


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/18/nyregion/18grunt.html

(I would never join a gym with a "grunt-free" requirement.)

[Mystik]

No deadlifts? No grunting? No thanks for a membership. I would not be a member of that gym.

[swanso5]

a great training envirnoment will trump any program out there for results...go and sign up now

using ywkma as an example, i would want to do the program he did nor prescribe it but it seems his environement was great so a curl and crunch program might even had worked there

[Boss Man]

A lot of what has been said hits it in a nutshell. Big lifters, don't start off big, and frankly I would'nt give a damn what others felt, unless perhaps I was getting a load of really bad comments, or being dissed in face, I'd just try ot ride a fw sideways glances and not give a stuff.

Obviously a gym with a few cool people, you can sometimes slip a joke with or a sly comment is better, than a gym full of people who seem emotionally sterile, as you go there ot focus, and get things done, but you don't want a place where everyones seems cold, and unresponsiv,e and talks to you only when absolutely necessary. You want some positive vibes, and staff who talk to you like you're okay, and not because it's in the contract.

So forget others, and just do your thing, unless you get seriously negative attention then perhaps reconsider, but otherwise sod it.

[ywkma]

Haha I wasnt trying to endorse program...although I'll admit it seems like it...I was just pointing out the hard work that got me to goals and achievements...and that some of the big football players (including best friend/training partner) shared workout--with some of their own refinements to it of course (they needed work ethic not routine to be honest). Just a story to show where hard work and commitment can get you, and to not care what anyone thinks Oh and whoever said ealier that most LIKE to help if they aren't busy/if they approach you, they were right. At the gym I went to for free a lot of the big guys approached me with some constructive criticism and I asked questions as well.

[mzaruba423]

i started lifting when i was 15 and i was surrounded by people who were a lot bigger than me. i was really intimidated, but some of those people gave me advice, worked out with me, and never gave me a hard time.