Pumping Iron-ish
I’ve been doing the Stronglifts workout. I’ve been going to Planet Fitness since it’s close to home, inexpensive, and clean. I was initially really annoyed that their 4 squat racks are always busy in the morning and evening. I got over that by going at 6:30am, which has been more tolerable than I thought it would be :-).
I was more annoyed that their squat racks aren’t squat racks! They only have Smith machines. A Smith machine is a squat rack where the barbell is trapped… (the one pictured isn’t the exact model but you get the idea). And I just figured out that the bar… well… I just came back from my local Planet Fitness, bathroom scale in-hand. I weighed myself while using the Smith Machine and found out something weird and interesting! Their pulley system gives the bar variable weight! At the bottom of the stroke, the bar weighs 13 pounds and at the top, 24 pounds!
I can imagine some reasons why they reasoned that was a good idea: easier on the back at the start, less crashing at the top, smoother feel… It makes keeping track of my workout a little weird. I’ll just call it a 20 lb bar, I guess!