Posted On: Tuesday - June 18th 2019 4:46PM MST
In Topics: General Stupidity Student and other Snowflakes Political Correctness
You'd figure weightlifting would be the last place political correctness would be able to rear its head, as 1) you can't fool people as you can either lift that weight or you can't - it's pretty hard to fake, and 2) guys that lift weights aren't very likely to be the kind to submit so easily to it.
I am no powerlifter, but I just have started some small-weight medium-rep workouts with barbells (only about 5 - 10 minutes worth after a different work-out). These are the barbells that I ran into last week, and the impetus for this post:
The brand (you can't make out in this image) is "Hammer Strength". Did you notice that all the barbells, no matter the weight, are of the same diameter? My immediate thought is that this is PC having come to the gym now. No, we don't want to show off that we are up to 25 lb. curls now, from our previous 12-oz. ones ;-} We don't want that one guy feel bad when we see him barely lifting 5 lb. up to his chest, so let's make them all the same diameter so one can't tell from a front view.
BTW, I saw the same weights again today, and this post might make more sense to the reader (who's seen the picture above) that the weight numbers on these one are much smaller than those seen in the picture - 3/4" high numbers at the most. The idea really seems to be to hide the amount of weight being HEAVED from others in the gym.
OK, to be technical, we can't use "diameter" to describe a "regular dodecagon" (a 12-sided polygon with all same side lengths and angles, for those of you in Del Boca Vista). Sure, the heavy ones must be thicker, unless one could change materials to keep densities linear with nominal weight, going on up to depleted uranium for those paleo-dieting huge guys.
I don't know - is there a reason other than the current-era "we are all winners!" thing? Shipping carton design is simpler. The weightlifter can get used to the same stroke length without busting himself in the lips, I guess. Maybe manufacturing is easier for the same shape in one dimension. That's all I got.
Is this really just another case of trying to be sensitive and not offending anyone? Is Hammer Strength worried about those snowflakes, in the gym? All in the name of a
PS: More annoyances at the gym appeared in this post (see blockquoted text near the bottom), and there another one coming regarding exercise machine physics calculations.
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[Updated, 06/22:] Added correction to the barbells as depicted in the picture - paragraph 4.
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