Dufisthenics

So anyone that reads this blog knows that I often will offer commentary regarding the many silly and stupid things I see at my local gym on a regular basis.  Well today it was my turn to contribute to that list.

Today was bench press day and I was lucky to be able to have my lifting buddy there who I hadn’t seen in 3 weeks.  We worked our way up the ladder until we had 235 pounds on the bar.  My buddy went first and got his rep cleanly.  Even though I have felt weaker on the lift the last few weeks, today I felt better and pushed 225 and 230 off me pretty cleanly.

So I take the 235 pounds off the bar and as I start pushing upward I can feel my left arm start to sag which it often does to some degree.  Well in this instance it’s sagging combined with a very slippery bar resulted in the plates on the left side starting to slide outward.  It began an awful chain reaction.  As the weights move outward it makes that side disproportionately heavier which makes the sag even worse.  You can imagine what happens next.

I grunted something about the weights slipping to my buddy but by the time he realized what was happening it was too late.  The weight plates came crashing off the left side followed by an immediate reversal, dumping all of the plates on the right.  It was surely a spectacle everyone at the gym saw although I didn’t survey the space to see how many eyeballs were trained on me with a “what a dumbass” expression on their faces.

Some guy walked by and told me I should have collars on or a spotter.  I told him “I did”, with a thanks Captain Obvious tone.  My buddy of course felt bad as this is exactly the scenario he is there to help avoid.  He was focused on the bar movement in relation to my chest and had no idea the weights were moving.  I ripped some skin off my pinky during the crash but other than that my worst injury was probably to my ego.   I’ll probably keep collars on the bar for anything over 135 moving forward to avoid a repeat red face.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Barbell bench press – 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 5, 225lbs x 1, 230lbs x 1, 235lbs x fall on floor, 225lbs x 1, 205lbs x 5, 205lbs x4, 185lbs x 8, 135lbs x 15

Dumbbell pull over – 60lbs x 12, 70lbs x 10, 80lbs x 8