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So I'm doing my squats in the power rack and I look around to put another 45 lbs plate on the bar and notice that they're all gone. I look over to the squat rack and notice the 45s are all gone there too. They're all gone. This is a commercial gym btw so there's usually a bunch of 45s everywhere on weight racks.
Usually when the 45s disappear the reason is that some guy decided to do 3" ROM leg presses. That was not the case today however.
I look over to the Smith Machine and see 4 people in it. The bar is loaded with 14 of the 45 lb plates. There is a bench in the Smith Machine. On the bench is a man attempting to bench the bar with the 14 plates. There were three other guys in the machine, two on the ends of the bar and one hovering above the bencher holding on to the bar. I'm thinking "cool, we got a powerlifter in our midst. those other guys must be spotters. wonder why they're using the Smith Machine though."
To my utter shock and dismay, i realize that the spotters are teenagers (fairly large ones though) and that they are not spotters at all but participants in this strange cooperative benchpress. While the dude on the bench was pushing and grunting with all his might, the two on the ends were lifting the ends of the bar, their hands cupped and apparent agony on their faces. The guy hovering above the bencher was also bent over pulling up with all of his might too and looked like he was doing his 1RM high pull. All four dudes were lifting the bar with maximum effort. It was a serious WTF moment.
Is there any reason why anybody would want to do something like this?
EDIT:
So the guy came back again today. This time he recruited random people to help him out with the 4 man bench press. One of the guys (in black hovering over the bench) was a pretty legit lifter that was doing power cleans beforehand. I think he was moving most of the weight even though the kids on the side were contributing. After the dude did his set of 5 or 6 reps, I gave the guy in black a look and we both just laughed and shook our heads. Apparently this guy goes to the gym somewhat often and repeats this feat every now and then. My roommate told me that he hurt his wrist 'helping' the guy with his bench presses.
This time I knew what was going on when the plates disappeared and stood ready with my iPhone cam. Unfortunately no video but here are some pics:
Usually when the 45s disappear the reason is that some guy decided to do 3" ROM leg presses. That was not the case today however.
I look over to the Smith Machine and see 4 people in it. The bar is loaded with 14 of the 45 lb plates. There is a bench in the Smith Machine. On the bench is a man attempting to bench the bar with the 14 plates. There were three other guys in the machine, two on the ends of the bar and one hovering above the bencher holding on to the bar. I'm thinking "cool, we got a powerlifter in our midst. those other guys must be spotters. wonder why they're using the Smith Machine though."
To my utter shock and dismay, i realize that the spotters are teenagers (fairly large ones though) and that they are not spotters at all but participants in this strange cooperative benchpress. While the dude on the bench was pushing and grunting with all his might, the two on the ends were lifting the ends of the bar, their hands cupped and apparent agony on their faces. The guy hovering above the bencher was also bent over pulling up with all of his might too and looked like he was doing his 1RM high pull. All four dudes were lifting the bar with maximum effort. It was a serious WTF moment.
Is there any reason why anybody would want to do something like this?
EDIT:
So the guy came back again today. This time he recruited random people to help him out with the 4 man bench press. One of the guys (in black hovering over the bench) was a pretty legit lifter that was doing power cleans beforehand. I think he was moving most of the weight even though the kids on the side were contributing. After the dude did his set of 5 or 6 reps, I gave the guy in black a look and we both just laughed and shook our heads. Apparently this guy goes to the gym somewhat often and repeats this feat every now and then. My roommate told me that he hurt his wrist 'helping' the guy with his bench presses.
This time I knew what was going on when the plates disappeared and stood ready with my iPhone cam. Unfortunately no video but here are some pics:
