Today at the gym it was more about the sights and sounds than the workout.  My bench press buddy wasn’t there so I pushed up to the 95 pounder dumbbells during my chest workout. However doing my various sets in between I was “treated” to some annoying yet funny scenes.

The entertainment was provided by a middle aged man that appeared to be in good shape.  He sported the beginnings of the dreaded bald spot that afflicts so many men in that age range.  His workout gear was unconventional consisting of jeans, a white t-shirt and brightly colored running sneakers.  His first exercise was on the squat press machine.  He immediately started on his signature move, moaning/grunting loudly after every rep, even though he only had 315 on the machine which is sort of warm up weight by squat press standards.  His grunting and groaning drew a lot more stares than just mine as I exchanged glances and eye rolls with a few other gym patrons.

Well this guy then moved onto the ab portion of his workout.  He grabbed a flat bench and moved it into the Smith machine.  He then adjusted the bar to a height where it nestled into the back of the guys knees as he laid on the bench with his knees up.  He then grabbed a 10 pound plate and held it on his forehead.  He then began crunching up and down up and down for what seemed endlessly.  I bet in total he did around 200 reps with each one again including the disturbing grunt/groan exclamation point.  It got to be borderline maddening.

I never understood people that do super high amounts of reps of exercises.  All that tells me is you aren’t picking exercises that are challenging enough.  Doing something that requires you to strain to eek out an 8th rep is far more effective than something that allows you to cruise control through triple digit reps.  It’s pretty common sense.

The good news is I never saw this guy before so hopefully his presence there over lunch hour was an isolated incident instead of a regular occurrence.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stetching

Dumbbell chest press – 50lbs x 12, 70lbs x 10, 80lbs x 8, 90lbs x 6, 95lbs x 3, 90lbs x 6, 80lbs x 8, 70lbs x 10, 50lsb x 12

Floor to overhead fly – 25lbs x 10, 25lbs x 10