LRB 365: Conditioning. Week 4b. Incline

BW - 190

Incline -
BarX20
95X5, 5
115X3, 3
135X1, 1, 1
115X5

BW Ladder Circuit -
Dips - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Chins (neutral) - 2 up to 10, back down to 2
Push-ups - 3 up to 15, back down to 3
Hanging Leg-Raises - 3 up to 9
Sit-ups - 20 up to 25, back down to 5

Jesus.  Strange gym hell.  I'm doing some work at nights in another part of the city for a couple of months, and I'm trying out some gyms in that area so that I can get my sessions in during the week without having to cram everything into the weekend.  Today's adventure involved a big, vibrant chain-gym called XSport.  I don't want to go on a pointless flame out about big-box commercial gyms, so I'll just skip to the high-lights. 

I was trying to use a free-pass I printed from their website, but that shit always comes with a mandatory sit-down with a sales person masquerading as a PT or something.  I'm cordial with these folks, as I understand they're just doing their job, and frankly their job appears to suck-ass.  I don't want to be the asshole that comes in and makes it even worse.  I'm just going to sum up my man Tony's advice with a couple brief excerpts from our exchange:
TONY:  I see you've written down what your focused on (I wrote down Squats, Deadlift).  Why are you focused on that stuff?
ME:  I want to be stronger in general and create a better athletic base for the rest of my life.
TONY:  But why these things?
ME:  Strong legs and back.  Seems like a good idea.
TONY:  Do you do any kind of balance work?
ME:  Free Squatting and Deadlifts take care of a lot of that stability for me.  Since I started Deadlifting 2 years ago, I never throw my back out anymore unless I fuck up on a Squat or Deadlift.
TONY:  But Deadlifts are for the hamstrings.
ME:  Uh...no, I'm not talking about RDLs, but full deadlifts from the floor.
TONY:  That's what I'm talking about.
ME:  Well that kind of works everything along your posterior chain from the bottom of your skull down to your knees.
[skeptical look from Tony]
ME:  Um...well...all I can say is that the biggest improvement I ever got in my Deadlift was when I improved my T-Bar rows.
TONY:  Well whatever works for you I guess.

A little bit later, Tony was asking what kind of things I was looking for in a gym, and that included this exchange:
ME:  Round plates would be great.  Those angle-sided plates can be annoying when deadlifting.
TONY:  We have those.  What's annoying about them.
ME:  It's not a huge-deal, it's just that when the weights hit the floor, the bar has a tenendcy to shift out of position if it lands on the pointed part of the plate.
TONY:  What, are you letting go of the bar?
ME:  No, just in the dead stop between reps.
[skeptical look from Tony]
ME:  You know, when it's on the ground, those plates can cause it to shift a little bit and you have to reset your feet.
TONY:  The weight doesn't touch the ground when I do deadlifts.
ME:  ...Again, I'm not talking about RDLs, but full deadlifts.
TONY [a little exasperated]:  That's what I'm talking about.
ME:  So you come all the way down...
TONY:  And then go right back up.
ME:  So you do touch-and-go.
TONY:  No.  I don't.

Anyway, he pretty quickly came to the conclusion that I just wasn't looking for what he was tasked with selling, and I got to go workout.

Inclines were fine.

Body circuit was kind of a cluster fuck because this was the MOST CROWDED GYM I'VE EVER BEEN IN!  Moving between stations, I had to look both ways like I was crossing a busy street.  Crazy.  The chin-up station was no good for leg-raises for a variety of reasons, I tried a few sets, but it was so awkward that it was hard to even get the reps out.  I had to switch to sit-ups instead.

I'm hoping one of the other two nearby gyms is better suited to me than this one.