If someone’s doing an exercise that you want to learn,find an appro-
priate break in that person’s workout and ask him to show you the
exercise. Most people are happy to help — in fact, they’ll probably be
flattered that you asked.
If you aren’t 100 percent sure that you can safely complete your
repetitions,ask someone to spot you.If you’re embarrassed to ask for a spot, think about a guy named
Anthony Clark, whose photo hangs on the wall at Dave’s Power Palace, a
gym in Carson City, Nevada. Clark lost control while doing a squat (an
exercise we explain in Chapter 14). He dumped his barbell forward, and
the barbell landed on the weight rack — with Clark’s neck sandwiched in
between. Fortunately, Clark’s two spotters came to the rescue, and he
managed to survive unscathed. Chances are, this isn’t going to happen
to you; after all, the guy was squatting 992 pounds. But the point is, be
careful out there.
If someone’s hitting on you and the feeling isn’t mutual,heck, we don’t
know. You’re on your own here.Major no-nos ......................................................................................
Most of the following rules are common sense, but they’re violated so
frequently that we feel compelled to mention them.
Don’t forget your towel. No one likes to sit down in a pool of sweat.
Always wipe off your equipment after you finish.Don’t fill up your entire water bottle when someone else is waiting for
the drinking fountain. Let the other guy get his drink and then resume
filling up your bottle.
Don’t grunt.You may as well announce over the loudspeaker, “Hey,
everyone, look over here! I’m lifting more weight than I can handle!”Don’t leave your dumbbells on the floor.Always put weights back on
the rack and in the right order. Don’t stick the 15-pound dumbbells
where the 10-pounders are supposed to go.
Don’t leave barbells or machines loaded up with weight plates.Yo u
can’t assume the next person can or wants to lift the exact same weight
you just lifted. Some men leave the bench press loaded up with a 45-
pound plate on each side of the 45-pound bar — as if the minimum any
human being would bench-press would be 135 pounds. If you see some-
one do this, you have every right to ask him to remove the weights. You
don’t have to be all that polite about it, either.Chapter 18: Health-Club Primer: Getting the Most Out of Your Gym 279