The Gym Foundation

A gym is a temple built on a strong foundation of respect and discipline. Yet, every single time I go to the racks I am greeted by a reality that spits in the face of that foundation. 

People go to the gym for any number of goals. For some, it’s the pursuit of a sports career. Others, yoga. Some bodybuilding. Others HIIT training. There are many different disciplines that you can practice at the gym. 

All of these take, well, discipline, if you want to progress with them. 

So why is it that we go to a house of discipline and not actively practice it? 

When I get to these racks, weights are carelessly everywhere. You’ll have 5 pound weights at the bottom rung, crunched between a 25 and a 45 just to have another 10 loaded up behind them. Somehow every single rung looks like some rendition of a toddler stacking rings and last I checked, most toddlers can’t lift 45s. 

To make matters worse, people will mix bumper plates with regular plates on racks with platforms made for deadlifting/cleaning/etc. while having only bumper plates on a squat rack with no padding beneath. 

Weights are meant to be organized from lightest at the top to heaviest at the bottom. How this is done depends on the number of rungs on the platform. Usually it's 2.5,  5, 10, 25, 35, 45 if the rungs allow for it.  Bumper plates go on racks with platforms if there is only room for one style of plate and non-bumper plates go on racks without platforms. 

This is really simple. If you know a 5 is lighter than a 45, why make someone strain by putting a 45 at shoulder height? Worse, why hide the only 5-pound weight behind a stack of 45s and 25s on the top rack? You might be strong enough to shift them around, but what about the person who can barely lift 45 pounds? Maybe they are just beginning their fitness journey and haven’t built that muscle yet. Maybe it’s someone getting back in the gym from injury, trying to rehab so they can only handle light weight. Should they struggle because you couldn’t think beyond yourself? 

When I arrive at whichever rack is least disappointing - it’s typically the same rack and they are typically all disappointing - I make quick work to wipe the spit off the foundation, curse under my breath and rearrange how the weights are racked so as I am going through my set, I can easily get the weights I need, add them to the bar and move on with my life. 

I also put the weights back in order so the person after me isn’t met with the same inconvenience and I am not the impediment to someone’s progress. 

Then, usually, some undisciplined individual rearranges everything nonsensically by the time I am leaving the gym. This used to be within 40 minutes. 

Dakota - why does this bother you so much if it is so simple to fix? 

The gym is a place of discipline and respect. If you aren’t disciplined enough to put your weights back in order. Don’t bother showing up. If you aren’t going to be respectful to the gym or others at the gym, don’t bother showing up. 

The simple things in the gym translate to life. How you do one thing is how you do everything. Not racking your weights correctly is a direct reflection on not only your respect for the facility and the discipline that you have - but how much you respect yourself. 

Regardless of your motivations for going to the gym every single person there is trying to improve. You are welcome to be a hindrance to yourself but don’t be a hindrance to others. The gym is a community. Whether you show up solo or work out with a group - we feed off one another.

Every rep and every set contributes to the foundation of discipline and respect that the gym stands upon. Each one matters but what matters most is how you finish. So when you finish your set - get one last rep through lifting up the community that follows behind you.