Gym rituals/superstitions

nuttynutskin

nuttynutskin

Bluelighter
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
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Do any of you have rituals you do (aside from obvious things like warming up), or any superstitions in the gym? I don't have too many but one is wearing a black t-shirt. I don't know what it is but I've actually gotten mildly perturbed the few times I wasn't paying attention and wore a shirt that wasn't black.

Another one for me is I'm extremely OCD when it comes to lining the bar up in the rack or on the bench, and also when it comes to loading the weight. It's not uncommon for me to check each side twice to make sure the weight is the same on each side and the clips are facing the same direction. Not really a bad thing I guess... Beats the way I've seen some people sloppily put the weight on to the point where the plates are sliding around each rep they do. lol
 
I dont...i dont like the BBing community at all so I dont try to do anything that would appear im that into it that i would have a superstition
 
I'm not sure what bodybuilding has to do with this? If anything powerlifters seem to have way more rituals than bodybuilders especially in competition or maxes.

Case in point lol...

 
I see this all as art, not athletics, fitness or health. I am an artist and this is a different sort of project. So I can understand about not fitting in with the various communities.

I like everything to be straight and lined up perfectly. I won't use one squat rack because the lines on the floor underneath it are not symmetric with the frame of the rack. I also hate gyms that have dumbbells of different brands mixed in together. My gym is like this. They go up to 130s, which is good, but sometimes you're making a 5lb jump as well as gripping a completely different sort of handle or the size of the dumbbell not being progressively bigger in a way that would make sense. For example, I love the 85s and the 95s are good too, but the 90s we have SUCK and I always hate having to work through that territory on anything.
 
I too suffer from OCD when it comes to lining up the bar, having the bench dead-even and in line with the rack, etc etc.

I'm super OCD when it comes to recording my lifting sessions, which isn't helped by the fact I'm easily distracted and will forget how many reps I completed not 10 seconds prior to said distraction (usually pull out my phone to record the set, notice the missus texted me, read it first, forget what I just did).

I'm sure I have a few other things that would loosely fit 'rituals', though not sure if I have any superstitions :P
 
RedLeader said:
I also hate gyms that have dumbbells of different brands mixed in together. My gym is like this. They go up to 130s, which is good, but sometimes you're making a 5lb jump as well as gripping a completely different sort of handle or the size of the dumbbell not being progressively bigger in a way that would make sense.
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Yeah that would drive me nuts lol.

trozzle said:
I too suffer from OCD when it comes to lining up the bar, having the bench dead-even and in line with the rack, etc etc.
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Same... No uneven benches or squat racks for me. lol
 
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trozzle said:
I'm super OCD when it comes to recording my lifting sessions, which isn't helped by the fact I'm easily distracted and will forget how many reps I completed not 10 seconds prior to said distraction (usually pull out my phone to record the set, notice the missus texted me, read it first, forget what I just did).
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I remember everything I do in a given workout. But if I forget my book, I'll think to myself that I'll just write today's workout tomorrow during rest periods. I'll be positive that I'll remember it perfectly tomorrow. Then tomorrow comes and I forget bits and pieces and get extremely bothered by it all.

The worst, though, is when I am increasing by methodical scheme (like 6-7-8-9-10 reps each set, then increase by 5lbs and do 6) and I forget my book. So I try and guess what I did last workout. I complete it all with success and go home to see that I did the exact same thing last workout. So I made no progress on that lift.
 
^^^ spot on exactly why I insist on recording everything I do, be it a lifting session or pushbike ride. Everything :P
 
I train like a goldfish these days. No idea what exercises I'll be doing most of the time, just decide what to do on the spot depending on what's free and have some fun. I did used to record everything back in the day. But I prefer this instinctive training, I don't get any injuries anymore.
 
...or gains :P


haha jks jks ;) I have those days sometimes. I note them in my log as "whatever", as opposed to "push/pull/legs/shoulders"
 
trozzle said:
...or gains :P


haha jks jks ;) I have those days sometimes. I note them in my log as "whatever", as opposed to "push/pull/legs/shoulders"
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Cheeky fecker lol

I love my whatever days :) I'm not completely scattered with the workout - I mean I tend to remember what weight I used before and reps/sets to some extent, and also have exercise order and preference. But I don't really want to remember too clearly as I may not be at the same level of ability on any particular day. IMO it's more important to maintain intensity relative to how your body feels right now rather than what you did last time.
 
RedLeader said:
I burn out unless I see forms of linear progression. There would be way too much uncertainty in the improvised approach to keep me excited.
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But obviously we can't progress indefinitely. So what happens when you reach the end of a training cycle? Do you detrain and start over, or do you switch to something else to stay motivated?
 
I gotta have somewhat of a game plan before I go in or I just feel lost. I might not know exactly what reps or weight I'm going to use but I always know what main exercises I'm going to do and in what order.
 
^ Ya, I like the order as well. I hate when I am crunched for time and someone is using what I planned to use next.

CFC said:
But obviously we can't progress indefinitely. So what happens when you reach the end of a training cycle? Do you detrain and start over, or do you switch to something else to stay motivated?
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Haven't plateaued like that, as I haven't been able to strength together that many years of successful training in-between rough times in life. Will cross that bridge when I get there, but I imagine I'll try out different lifts and work my way up on them.
 
RedLeader said:
Haven't plateaued like that, as I haven't been able to strength together that many years of successful training in-between rough times in life.
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I know all too well about that which is why right now I'm blocking out pretty much everything that doesn't have to do with lifting lol.
 
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