Easy and comfortable

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Pugilistic

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I realized that people want it easy and comfortable, even when they work out, which seems contradictory. Is this a common theme or is it just this gym I'm going to?

I see old ladies going to the gym to walk on the treadmill for 2 hours, which I have a hard time understanding because you can go outside and walk for free without paying the gym membership. But whatever, they're old ladies.

There are young guys who use straps and use one of those aerobic step platforms to reach the pullup bar. I'm a manlet and I just jump up to grab the bar yet these taller guys use a platform because they don't want to jump an inch off the floor. Aren't they there to work out? And they're grip is so weak they need to use straps and their grip never gets stronger because they use straps.

I see guys who are bigger than me never put more than a plate on the bar to do Romanian deadlifts like women do. And of course guys who look like they weight at least 10kg more than me all use the foam pad to do 40kg squats. But at least they do actual squats, most people line up to use the smith machine.

I'm sure if I step in a legit powerlifting gym, I would be among the weakest people there including the women, but I'm easily one of the strongest people at my current gym, which makes me thing I'm at the wrong gym. It's because nobody wants to challenge themselves aka be even a little bit uncomfortable. It's probably why some people get their panties in a bunch at noise at a gym from people deadlifting.

With the exception of old people, I don't understand the logic behind this. I assume people are at the gym to get stronger, get jacked, or to lose weight. None of these things are easy, comfortable things. I know younger guys are there to look jacked, but their thought process is like, "I want to get jacked but I'm going to do in a way that doesn't hurt my hands and isn't very hard."

It's just something I noticed even though I guess it doesn't really affect me except when they don't put the steps back and just leave it there. So far, nobody has really given me shit for deadlifting.
 
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I have lots of real life friends who would put 200 kg on the leg press but will squat with 60-80. They would do some crazy weight on triceps extensions but wont even DL.
 
its a concept that enables gyms to stay in business.
 
I realized that people want it easy and comfortable, even when they work out, which seems contradictory. Is this a common theme or is it just this gym I'm going to?

I see old ladies going to the gym to walk on the treadmill for 2 hours, which I have a hard time understanding because you can go outside and walk for free without paying the gym membership. But whatever, they're old ladies.

There are young guys who use straps and use one of those aerobic step platforms to reach the pullup bar. I'm a manlet and I just jump up to grab the bar yet these taller guys use a platform because they don't want to jump an inch off the floor. Aren't they there to work out? And they're grip is so weak they need to use straps and their grip never gets stronger because they use straps.

I see guys who are bigger than me never put more than a plate on the bar to do Romanian deadlifts like women do. And of course guys who look like they weight at least 10kg more than me all use the foam pad to do 40kg squats. But at least they do actual squats, most people line up to use the smith machine.

I'm sure if I step in a legit powerlifting gym, I would be among the weakest people there including the women, but I'm easily one of the strongest people at my current gym, which makes me thing I'm at the wrong gym. It's because nobody wants to challenge themselves aka be even a little bit uncomfortable. It's probably why some people get their panties in a bunch at noise at a gym from people deadlifting.

With the exception of old people, I don't understand the logic behind this. I assume people are at the gym to get stronger, get jacked, or to lose weight. None of these things are easy, comfortable things. I know younger guys are there to look jacked, but they're thought process is like, "I want to jacked but I'm going to do in a way that doesn't hurt my hands and isn't very hard."

It's just something I noticed even though I guess it doesn't really affect me except when they don't put the steps back and just leave it there. So far, nobody has really given me shit for deadlifting.

These ppl are able to check it off their to do list and tell ppl they went to the gym. They don't want to be working out, they are doing it to say that they did it. I'm sure their results speak for themselves
 
its a concept that enables gyms to stay in business.

Exactly, gyms make so much money every Jan bc ppl say I'm signing up, this year I'm going to get in shape. It's a temporary goal that never becomes a lifestyle but they usually will sign a year long contract. I think planet fitness there's somewhere between 75%- 90% of members that never stop in. I forget the exact number but the majority of the members, they literally couldn't fit if every member showed up regularly
 
Exactly, gyms make so much money every Jan bc ppl say I'm signing up, this year I'm going to get in shape. It's a temporary goal that never becomes a lifestyle but they usually will sign a year long contract. I think planet fitness there's somewhere between 75%- 90% of members that never stop in. I forget the exact number but the majority of the members, they literally couldn't fit if every member showed up regularly
Goodlife literally relies on people paying and never showing up.
 
I dont see a problem with it. It depends on what they are training for. Exercise is healthy and if the old ladies feel motivated to walk on the treadmill when they step in the gym, or the gym bros like being comfortable then who cares really? Comfortable routines can help with consistency for a lot of people as well, as having fun = being more motivated. If that's what keep them being physically active, the more power to them in my book.

I personally don't care how people are working out around me, but if you want to be motivated by the gym atmosphere, you should definitely go to a more serious gym.
 
I dont see a problem with it. It depends on what they are training for. Exercise is healthy and if the old ladies feel motivated to walk on the treadmill when they step in the gym, or the gym bros like being comfortable then who cares really? Comfortable routines can help with consistency for a lot of people as well, as having fun = being more motivated. If that's what keep them being physically active, the more power to them in my book.

I personally don't care how people are working out around me, but if you want to be motivated by the gym atmosphere, you should definitely go to a more serious gym.

It's not a problem for me personally as it doesn't affect me, as long as people put their shit back, which they usually don't. But it's something I notice and it's something I've been thinking about a lot more because I'm playing with the idea of opening my own gym.

I would argue that perhaps this comfort is what makes me people bored and quit working out. There are a lot of these bros I see for a few weeks and never see again.
 
It becomes a problem when they show concerns about not making improvements.
 
I realized that people want it easy and comfortable, even when they work out, which seems contradictory. Is this a common theme or is it just this gym I'm going to?
............

Planetfitness capitalized on the very thing you are talking about. Most people just want to be able brag that they go to the gym regularly and work on weights/cardio/balance and have a reason to shop for expensive gymwear and bossu ball thingys. But what they are really doing is:
 
I would argue that perhaps this comfort is what makes me people bored and quit working out.

I would argue that its more likely to keep people active. most people dont have the motivation for a hard and grueling workout 3-4 times a week.

its still a workout and it will still get some results over time
 
I would argue that its more likely to keep people active. most people dont have the motivation for a hard and grueling workout 3-4 times a week.

its still a workout and it will still get some results over time

I think it's both. I know people who say they are bored when they go to a gym (because they don't know where to start) but they are into more engaging activities like squash and rock climbing. People generally feel satisfied when something is sufficiently challenging but not too sufficiently, and are rewarded immediately and have some level of autonomy in the process. People are shown the extremes (super fit people) while given extremely easy and boring programming which won't get them to the extreme ideal.
 
I was actually kicked out of planet fitness because I was doing sprint-interval training on the treadmill. Someone working there said "you are not working out properly" and I replied "with all do respect, I was admitted to one of the top physiology of performance labs in the world for a Ph.D, or in layman's terms, I understand the concepts of proper programming for high-intensity-interval training." Sadly, I was asked to leave :(
 
If you are lucky you will be old one day and able to walk for two hours on a treadmill.
 
With the exception of old people, I don't understand the logic behind this. I assume people are at the gym to get stronger, get jacked, or to lose weight. None of these things are easy, comfortable things. I know younger guys are there to look jacked, but their thought process is like, "I want to get jacked but I'm going to do in a way that doesn't hurt my hands and isn't very hard."

It actually makes a lot of sense if you think about it.

Physical discomfort is one thing that we're all almost programmed to avoid. This is why helping a friend move is considered a pretty big favor. No one likes hauling heavy ass stuff.

But serious weightlifting or just working out in general requires considerable discomfort. To be able

I've been lucky to have played sports in school and have gotten my first taste of weightlifting at 14 as a high school freshman. So I'm pretty used to the feeling of physical strain. But those who have never played sports and have never worked out in their lives have it much, much harder.

The physical stress is just too much and too unpleasant so they decide to either take it real easy, or to simply not go back. I've seen this happen with a couple of friends. I take them to the gym and force them to squat weight that is challenging and they start grimacing and turning red. They're not happy and lo and behold, a couple of weeks later they can't work out anymore because of X, Y and Z.

But that grimace and red face is pretty normal for us who are used to working out.
 
I was actually kicked out of planet fitness because I was doing sprint-interval training on the treadmill. Someone working there said "you are not working out properly" and I replied "with all do respect, I was admitted to one of the top physiology of performance labs in the world for a Ph.D, or in layman's terms, I understand the concepts of proper programming for high-intensity-interval training." Sadly, I was asked to leave :(
Fitness Director at my job (who supposedly has a masters degree in exercise science) was extremely confused as to why I was doing interval sprints on the treadmills.

I told her i'm not gonna get a sub 60 heart rate and single digit body-fat by farting around with a medicine ball and an elliptical......... (seriously ? even people in the profession have no idea the amount of actual work you need to get results).
 
My personal pet peeve is rhe dudes who hog up the squat rack for like 30 minutes eith most of the time spent talking to their buddies or looking at their phones.

I’m a super noob at squats (knee injury) but I’m done with my sets in like 5 minutes. There are times where I finish my entire workout and the guys are still at the squat rack on their phones, still working on the same sets.

Im getting a home gym.
 
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