General Gym Observations

I’ve noticed a few people at my gym wearing weighted vests while using machines—leg press, cable rows, even seated shoulder press. Not during walking or calisthenics, but actual machine reps.

Not judging at all—just genuinely curious about the purpose. From what I understand, weighted vests are great for adding load to bodyweight movements like push-ups, squats, or hikes. But on a machine, where the weight stack already lets you adjust resistance, is the vest offering any real benefit?

Would love to hear if anyone here does this or knows the rationale.
Also found this article that talks about potential pros and cons of weighted vests in different workouts if anyone’s interested:

https://zelusfitness.com/blogs/strength-training/6-reasons-your-weighted-vest-might-be-hurting-your-body

ZelusFitness

6 Reasons Your Weighted Vest Might Be Hurting Your Body

Was traveling and had to go to a globogym. Actually saw multiple bros doing hip thrusts there. Don't get me wrong, I think they are a useful exercise, but I've never seen dudes doing them out in the wild, let alone more men than women doing them in the time I was there (and gym occupants were about 50-50 at the time).

I never saw guys doing hip thrusts (either with a bar or on a machine) in commercial gyms until very recently either, Melk. Now I see it all the time. I do them and it's a useful exercise.

My gym has two hip thrust machines. One is a Hammer Strength machine where you load plates for resistance. The other is called "'Booty Builder." You can probably guess which of the two has probably never had one dude even try it.

I never saw guys doing RDLs to the floor until just a few years ago either. Now guys do those and even deficit RDLs quite regularly.

I used to do hip thrusts or whatever they were called. I don't in the current gym as I need pads both under and over.

I love the plate loading hip thrust machine. it hits the hamstrings and glutes harder than anything else

definitely felt weird the first time I used it as it really does feel 'female' but it's great

the one I'm not sure I would ever use is the abductor machine. that one is a bridge too far

I like that we have a plate loaded machine too. The setup time for the Olympic bar version is a bit long, especially when there's really no benefit to using free weights on this one.

In 2025 general gym education on the internet is actually very good and I seldomly see anyone under age 45 doing anything egregiously dumb because they probably used the internet in some capacity to guide their fitness program. Only old people do really dumb **** nowadays and everyone actually trains pretty smart now, even at commercial gyms. I'll need to go about a month before I see anything egregiously stupid in the gym that would have been common evne just 6 or 7 years ago.

I wonder if the same thing will happen with nutrition in the next 15 years and gym people eating like donks will be as rare as bosu ball squats and workouts consisting of 45 minutes of ab crunches.

How do you feel about adding in variants - RDLs, goblet squats, overhead squats, lunges, KB swings, etc? Does that round it out sufficiently?

Great question. The short answer is: Yes. The long answer: Everyone's anthropometry is very different; there are tons of different variations that can all build sq/dl/general leg strength and muscle while giving the connective tissue and CNS a break. I cannot hack squat at all on any machine without it feeling just like painful pressure on my knees; other people do these and its a great way for their quads to get a lot bigger and stronger without putting extra fatigue on their erectors.

Here are some of my favorites: RFESS, leg extensions, lying hamstring curls, hip thrusts (machine or barbell), single leg leg press, FFESS with relatively high elevation, hyperextensions

Here are some of my least favorites: goblet squats, overhead squats (basically nobody outside of crossfit or oly should ever do this), kb swings, single leg rdls, smith squats, hack squats, smith RDLs.

Honestly it's okay to play around with lots of different variations and pick the ones that cause the least pain and the most feeling in the targetted muscles. You probably can't go wrong with the following five as a starting point: 1. SLDL (I like a pause at the bottom), 2. RFESS if you have the pad apparatus, FFESS if not, 3. leg press (single leg for glutes, bilateral for quads). 4. hamstring curl, 5. leg extension.

These are great assistance exercises for building lower body strength and musculature in a way that will also carryover effectively to your squatting and deadlifting and are way less likely to cause any pain or excessive axial fatigue relative to sq/dl with a barbell. They're likely to also prevent pain from these exercises by addressing muscular imbalances, which if not addressed, can lead to chronic pain in sq/dl that you wouldn't have had if you'd have more balanced training.

All of this is assuming you've left the newbie phase and you're at least sort of early intermediate; for most people that will mean squatting around 200-250lbs for sets of 5 or equivalent strength in higher rep sets. That's about where I think it's optimal to start including more variants in your training and reducing the amount of volume on barbell lifts, regardless of whether your goal is general strength, hypertrophy, or powerlifting. Yes, that means even the plers need to be doing this instead of spamming barbells all day long.

I've found leg extensions and leg curls really valuable additions to the beginning of my leg lifting days

I used to program them at the end, after my heavy lifts and would often be too tired to do them. They actually work perfectly as ways to properly warm up your legs and joints prior to doing the heavy lift (which for me these days is the leg press). I don't mean to do them at warm up weights and intensity...I go full out with them...I just find I'm not really compromising my heavy lift by doing them first and if I am....and my legs are pre exhausted then that's ok too because I can get the same result with a little less weight which puts less stress on my joints

also agree on overhead squats. I loved them when I was o lifting and crossfitting, but I'm not sure they perform any function for muscle/strength building that can't be performed better by other lifts.

of course...if you enjoy them and can do them safely and well then there's no huge reason not to do them

I like RDLs to the floor a lot. (SLDL would be equally good. Just choose if you prefer to start from the top or the bottom.) They have great carryover to squats and DLs and help with hip mobility. Too many people lift the weight with their lower back. You really want to lift it with your hamstrings and glutes by pushing your hips forward. Think like you're striving to push your hips into the bar. Goblet squats are fine, but I prefer Zercher squats. You can use more weight. Good mornings are good too.

I wish someone told me this 15 years ago. I was all #RippetoeGOAT #SS4lyfe. It's not terrible but it could have been better.

OK, so what is it with people using the cable itself, rather than the handle for tricep push downs, tricep extensions, cable lat raises etc?

seems like weird FPS that must hinder to some degree without actually helping. I don't think I'd ever seen it before a few years ago, but I've seen enough people doing it recently that it must be a thing to some degree...even if it's just some kind of bro contagion

Same here. Without looking it up I'd say it's either to prevent inadvertently using the wrist to assist, or maybe One Weird Trick to add some grip training to the exercise.

i've noticed quite often that the attachments are missing so figured i'd make do without

are you guys seeing people ignore the attached handle or there is no handle?

maybe they're trying to get callouses for the ladies?

you're right.....or at least AI agrees with you. am still calling it FPS tho

Dropping the handle to grip the bare cable (or using a cuff) is a common "gym hack" used to improve muscle isolation and joint comfort. The rationale is primarily based on removing the limitations of your grip and wrist stability to place more direct tension on the target muscle.

Why Skip the Handle?

Reduced Wrist Strain: Gripping a handle requires your wrist to act as a stabilizer against the weight. For exercises like lateral raises, holding a handle can cause the wrist to "cock" or bend under load. Grabbing the cable directly or using a strap/cuff moves the load closer to the forearm, significantly reducing torque on the wrist joint.

Enhanced Range of Motion: Handles often have a fixed length or bulky plastic parts that can bump into your legs or the machine. Gripping the cable itself allows for a more "natural" path of motion, particularly at the bottom of a tricep extension, where you can pull your hands further apart than a fixed bar would allow.

Removing the Grip Bottleneck: On high-repetition sets, your grip or forearms might fail before your shoulders or triceps do. Using just the cable (or a cuff) eliminates the need for a tight grip, allowing you to train the target muscle to true failure without being limited by hand strength.

Direct Force Alignment: For tricep extensions, holding the cable directly allows your hand to remain in a more neutral position. This can improve the "mind-muscle connection" as the line of pull is more direct from the cable to your forearm.

they take the handles off

You still need a tight grip, possibly tighter, if you are grabbing cable.

Yes I have always wondered this - I assume it is for greater wrist strength.

That is a very interesting idea. I am a piano player and need to be super careful about what positions I get in for my wrists.

I'll grab the rubber ball if I can't find the correct attachment for whatever I'm doing.

The cuffs is super normie tho. Can also use more weight.

Anyone else seeing more people wearing sunglasses in the gym? It’s reaching epidemic proportions in the land of the kangaroo- 3 separate offenders at the same time when I was doing a lunchtime session the other day