Over the years, I've been noticing a trend in the rising number of overweight people working at these places. Gym attendants, managers, sales associates, and - for fuck's sakes - personal trainers.
They're supposed to represent a culture of fitness and health, but their double chins and jelly rolls say otherwise. Their image belies the very philosophies that their companies stand for.
More annoying is the fact that some of these hams have the audacity to give me unsolicited, misleading advice.
For example, I've had chunky personal trainers come up to me to tell me that squatting below parallel (AKA ass to grass) was bad for my knees.
Fuck off, fatties. ATG squats are the bee's knees.
Not to mention, these so-called PTs had underdeveloped chopstick legs that looked comically disproportioned in relation to their fat upper torsos.
Which leads me to another question, why is there such a thing as a fat personal trainer in the first place? And I'm not talking about guys who are in midst of a bulk, but guys who have moobs and flabby rolls jutting out their Under Armour shirts. Have the hiring standards been set lower and lower over the years?
Being greeted by a fat clerk at a nutrition store is like meeting a fat Internet armchair expert/troll IRL.
Do you even lift, bro?
As soon as I walk into the store, they snake their way to me and ask me if they can help me find something. "Yeah, I need some fish oil," I say.
"Is there a specific brand you like? What are your goals? Have you tried this brand? You've gotta try this new stuff. Here's a free sample. You should stack this stuff with this and that and this and that..."
Fucking assholes. I know what you're up to, and it'll never work on me. I've done my research, and I know for a damn fact that you're trying to sell me bullshit that I don't need and don't work. And besides, you're fat; you lack credibility. Why don't you take them yourself and come back with a field report?
Fucking idiots. The lot of them.
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[–] la_fupacabra 0 points 6 points 6 points (+6|-0) ago
1) I thought ass-to-grass was how you squatted? Have I been doing it wrong this whole time?! Wtf.
2) I've had a PT tell me eating below 1300 calories a day while working out will result in starvation mode in anyone. Even if you're 300lbs. I did not hire her and laughed. She wasn't even fat! But the front desk girls were.
[–] Swole_is_life 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
1) It is how you squat. Not doing the full range actually puts MORE strain on your knees.
2) We have to remember that pretty much everyone believes in starvation mode. Ask 100 people on the street and 98 of them will say it's a thing. The other 2 probably read FPH. I wouldn't be surprised if it's THE most pervasive myth of modern society.
[–] Yo_how_r_u_man 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Incorrect (partly). It might be how YOU squat, but it depends on your bar position.
Front squatters and High bar squatters can do ATG due to a lack of stretch along the course of the upper and lower back since both those positions require a mostly upright back.
Low bar squats however require an upper back position that slants forward, since you want the bar to be aligned over your centre of gravity otherwise the bar just falls backwards. Due to this position, depending on your mobility it can become impossible to do ATG.
As for putting more strain on the knees it follows common sense that stopping the load whilst the knees are carrying the brunt of the skeletal force is likely to cause more damage due to longer time spent in that position.
As a low bar squatter I can safely say that I will never try to go ATG when the bar is in that position ever again. I attempted to get some extra ROM (with 120kg/265lbs) and all that happened is my legs refused to budge so my back started bending forwards and lost all tightness. Had to good morning it back up and get my brother to help me rerack the bar as I couldnt get high enough even on tip toes to do it myself despite having unracked it.
Whenever I do front squat however I always go ATG since it is physically possible for me in that bar position.