Sunday, August 11, 2013

"The Weight Nazi"

I think we've all bumped into the "weight nazi" in our lives. This is the guy who overly concerns himself with what others are doing in the gym. He might wander the gym as he's working out or after he's done and is sure to go up to people asking, "how much weight is that". It's like a drug to him, he has to get his fix, he has to know how much weight YOU are lifting, his lifting isn't enough to give him fulfillment. True story, I remember a guy in high school that would lay on the bench press that  I was using, press it, then say "put some more weight on there", and walk away. Finding out how much other people were lifting wasn't enough, he had to literally get a feel for what other people were lifting! If you are lifting a weight off the floor, the classic move from the weight nazi is to put his foot on your weights while asking you how much weight it is, it's a classic weight nazi pose. If you really want to throw the weight nazi off his game, respond to his question in kilos. This will befuddle the weight nazi, but he will retaliate, he will ask another question, "what's that in pounds".
I can't mention the weight nazi without talking about the "make believe coach". The is the guy who acts like he is your coach but isn't your coach. He watches every rep you do, he might even take a seat close to where you are lifting. If you miss a weight, he wants to know why. He's invested in you even though you don't want him to be.
Then you have "the distractor". I admit, I'm guilty of being that guy from time to time. This is when you distract someone who has already begun their workout with random conversation. I remember I was about to attempt a heavy clean and jerk and a woman in the gym asked me from a distance away if, "I was still dating that one girl". Obviously I don't want to be thinking about a prior relationships when I'm about to rip the head off a lion on this clean and jerk. The distracting usually takes place when people are in different zones. Usually it's someone who is either done with or hasn't started their workout distracting someone who is in the process of their workout.

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