Hello SFC followers-

Today I’d like to give you a little update.  For those of you who don’t know, I (Chrissy speaking) am competing in my first raw powerlifting meet in two weeks.  What does this involve, you ask?  Well, it involves doing a maximal lift on squat, bench press and deadlift.  I’ve been training for this officially for about 6 weeks.  I’ve been amazed to see the strength gains in this short time, thanks to programming by my good friend, Brian.

So, what does training for this type of event include?  Well, it’s pretty simple (not to be confused with easy :)). Lots of squatting, bench pressing and deadlifting…HEAVY.  It’s actually been really fun, for many reasons.  I’ve enjoyed a different kind of goal- pure strength.  It’s been incredible to see the adaptations my body has made.  I’ve loved seeing the weight go up every week.  It’s also been really fun because of some of the gym interactions I’ve had, a few of which I’d like to share with you.

You see, I’ve realized that guys on the whole, are not accustomed to seeing girls lift heavy.  So, when they see this, they tend to want to tell you how heavy you’re lifting.  They will stare blankly at you, and tell you “You’re the strongest girl I’ve ever seen.”  They’ll tell you, “This is embarrassing to lift next to you.” They’ll say, “Damn, I’ve never seen a girl that can lift as much as me.” Let’s just say I’ve had some pretty entertaining moments in the gym over the past few weeks, and I’d like to share two of them with you today.  I’ve titled them “The Workout Buddy” and “The Lightweights.”  I hope you’ll enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed experiencing them…

1.  The Workout Buddy– It’s quite typical to “work in” with people when using the squat rack, because there are so few racks, and oftentimes there is a lot of rest between sets.  One particular day, I was using the squat rack and a guy, we’ll call him “Chad”, asked if he could work in.  “Of course”, I said.  But this was no typical “working in”, where you each do your own thing, only really interacting at the end when one of you thanks the other for sharing the space.  Nope, by the end of it, Chad and I were full-on workout buddies.  I mean, he was spotting me from behind (let me tell you how awkward it is to spot on a squat), I was spotting him (even MORE awkward), and not kidding, he took me up on my joke to try out my hot pink weight belt.  Yep, for his last 3-4 sets, he really did wear my hot pink weight belt.

2.  The lightweights– On another evening when I was squatting, a group of guys were waiting for the squat rack.  So I told them that they were more than welcome to work in with me.  Oftentimes guys’ responses involve something along the lines of “Oh no, I’ll just wait.” (which really means “I’m sure I lift way more than you, since you’re a girl, and it’s a pain in the ass to change the weights every set”).  But one of the guys in the group looked at the weight I had on the bar and then accepted my invitation to work in.  He proceeded to add 10 lbs to each side and did his set.  Then it was his next friend’s turn.  His friend tried (quite unsuccessfully) to lift the weight that was on the bar.  So, they took the 10 lbs. back off.  Now he was attempting the weight I was doing.  Still struggling, his buddy very gently approached him, and, in order not to embarrass the poor guy, he whispered, “Dude, it’s okay- just take some of the weight off.”  He looked at me, looked back at the weight, and looked down at the ground as he proceeded to take more weight off in order to complete a set.  Poor guy..:)

I can’t be the only person with funny gym stories though. How about the rest of our Smart Fit Chicks out there? Any comical moments you’ve encountered at the gym that you’d like to share with us?