[joop]

Technically, what you did is fine... offered to swap in and out between sets - he declined, his problem.

But I still think it's inconsiderate. Squats you have to do in the rack, that's okay. But your pendlay rows and military press sure don't. I would feel like an idiot doing these in the rack, knowing someone was waiting to squat. All depends on your conscience, I guess.

I can understand you wanting to use the olyimpic bar to get the exact weight you want, but you could use the fixed weight bars and just do more/less reps. Maybe your routine calls for the exact weight you did the previous workout plus Xlbs, then so be it - but I would just flexible here.

As for not wanting to lift the bar from the floor, it sounds like your doing a full body workout anyway - so doing a 1rep clean every set isn't gonna kill you... and the weight on the bar for your military presses is probably very light compared to what you could clean, anyway, so it's not gonna have much impact. As for the pendlay row, find something around the gym to put under the plates if you need them higher for a better starting position.

But like I said, you did the right thing - if it doesn't bother you, go with it. I hate swapping in and out between sets, though, and would hate having to sit around for someone to do his whole workout whilst I waited to squat. Then again, I'd just go do something else instead - training in a busy gym, or one without much equipment, is all about being flexible/considerate.

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