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Anyone who has spent time at a gym
has seen it. A man attempting to go beyond his limits to
improve his answer to the question, "How much do you
bench?"
Working out with too much
weight for ego purposes isn't a smart thing to do.
Sometimes it becomes comical.
Friends shout encouragement as the man struggles with the
weight, veins pops out in his neck, and he thrusts his hips
off the workout bench to help his overmatched chest muscles.
Ken Karnack, a personal trainer
for 12 years, has seen that many times.
"They yank their hips up
off the bench over a foot and they're screaming and
yelling," said Karnack, the owner of Old School Fitness
in Frisco, Texas. "With men, their ego tends to take over
and they think they can do much more than they can."
Pumping the ego is responsible
for many of the ridiculous things men do when working out.
Here are six of those ridiculous behaviors and workout
strategies, as well as some advice from fitness pros to keep
you from standing out _ at least in a bad way _ during your
next visit to the gym.
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LIFTING TOO MUCH WEIGHT
Yes, this one really is about
the ego. Dumbbells or barbells, machines or free weights, many
men go for too much. That can lead to bad form, which will not
train muscles properly and can lead to injury.
"The last two reps of a
set should be challenging," said Shannon Edwards, a
trainer at Cooper Fitness Center in Dallas. "But you
should never compromise your range of motion."
From first rep to last, you
should be able to control the weight.
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SLAMMING WEIGHTS AND GRUNTING
Slamming down the weights is
very manly. Some guys think so, anyway.
"Men in particular love to
do this because they think it draws people's attention to them
and how much they are actually lifting," said Matthew
Heinrich, head of personal training at Lifetime Fitness in
Garland, Texas. "The slamming of weights can be very
annoying to the people around and all they are really doing is
damaging the equipment."
Another look-at-me strategy is
the weight-lifting grunt. Maybe it helps some guys complete a
lift, but probably not.
"No science has ever
proven that the louder you grunt, the more you lift,"
Edwards said.
If grunting or slamming weights
down is not intended to attract attention, it's probably a
sign of attempting too much weight.
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NEVER TRAINING LEGS
Some trainers call them
"lollipops." Others say these guys look like big
light bulbs. Both descriptions seem accurate for the men who
build their upper bodies but neglect their leg muscles.
"Guys tend to train the
'mirror muscles,'" said Israel Allen, a trainer at 24
Hour Fitness in Southlake, Texas. "And most guys won't
look at a full-length mirror. That's a woman thing."
It's important to be
well-rounded, so all parts of the body should be trained.
Trainers also encourage a balance of pushing exercises, which
men favor, and pulling exercises.
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LACKING COMMON COURTESY
A woman could be to blame for
the sweat puddle around the treadmill or the damp seat on the
stationary bike. But men are more likely to commit a breach of
gym etiquette.
"Cleanliness is not one of
the priorities of most guys," Allen said. "We need
to get better at that."
Wiping up sweat is one
courtesy. Another is being conscious of body odor and using
deodorant. Wearing appropriate clothing is also important.
"I'm not a big fan of the
Spandex bottoms without shorts over them," Edwards said.
No more explanation needed.
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TRYING TO GET A DATE
While some men are working out
at gyms, others are scoping out potential dates. The notorious
gawking at women is one reason why gyms specifically for women
are popular.
What do these pickup artists
think of the gym?
"It's a bar without
beer," Edwards said.
It's also rude. And for the
guys flexing in front of the mirrors as the women walk by, a
reminder from Karnack:
"You can't flex fat."
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UNEDUCATED TRAINING
A lot has changed in the last
20 years, but for some men, the gym workout has not.
That's partly because men don't
like to ask for directions, whether they are on a road trip or
a path to fitness.
"Men don't want help
because they feel they know what they are doing,"
Heinrich said.
"If they truly understood
the body and used a trainer for even a short period of time, I
believe they could increase results and get past the same
plateaus their current routine has created."
That might also keep men from
passing along bad fitness advice to others. Some men not only
stick to the workout they did when they were playing high
school football 20 years ago, they expect it to work for
everyone else.
It's funny, Heinrich said, when
he sees a guy teaching the workout to his wife or girlfriend.
"Because we all know that
her main goal is to break tackles and run a 40 faster than all
the other women," he said.
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