DC Weightlifting Safety, Rules, and Etiquette
General
- Your safety supersedes everything else.
- When you arrive, be ready to train.
- Introduce yourself to guests and anyone you don’t know.
- Be kind and empathetic. If a mistake occurs, teach each person the right way, but gently.
- For safety, two members must be present to train.
- At night, pair up with a teammate in the parking lot. Make sure everyone has a safe way home.
- Training times and frequency are fixed and required. Train when you sign up or give adequate reasoning for missing.
- Rest adequately. Unless prescribed, rest for three minutes between sets. For heavy squats, you may need four to five minutes.
- Be mindful of your teammates’ lifting. Do not step in front of them before an attempt. By the same token, try accommodating a teammate who needs to pass. Warm-up rooms are chaotic. You should be prepared for this.
- Make sure all equipment is clean and put away correctly before you leave. Clean any residual chalk off bars and the floor.
Bars, Bumpers, and Change Plates
- Never sit on a loaded barbell or the plates loaded on a barbell. Use a chair or box.
- Load your barbell correctly with the heaviest plates inside, closest to the barbell collars. Be reasonable when using change plates. If you have to ask, your barbell is incorrectly loaded.
- Use end collars/clips.
- Do not put your feet on a barbell. Do not spin, roll, or push the barbell with your feet. It’s disrespectful, unhygienic, and against IWF competition rules.
- Use Rogue bars to squat or to do barbell roll-outs. Only your hands, shins, and front or back rack should touch barbell knurling.
- Do not drop an empty barbell from any height.
- Lay everything flat on the floor to the side of your barbell. Change plates are slick. Do not pile them on top of one another.
- Load plates with the bolts out.
- Place all change plates inside the end collars/clips.
- When pulling plates off a barbell, make sure the end of the bar does not drop to the ground.
- Share equipment and gather only what you need.
- When lifting and squatting, place all equipment three full steps away from racks, other bars, and people.
- Before you lift, be sure to know how and where you will miss. Warn your teammates as needed.
- Help your teammates put equipment away. If you leave early, put something away first. Old school things to know at other gyms:
- Walk around a bar instead of stepping over it to get to your destination.
- Do not step on plates.
- Lower anything less than 20 kg plates to your hips first.
Blocks
- Share as necessary.
- Use toppers if you are dropping 55 kilos or more.
- Clean up any stray wood chips left behind after using the blocks.
Final Thoughts
DC Weightlifting, by design, has a flat organizational structure. We intentionally encourage a cooperative culture because we respect you. Please be mindful of your team and take nothing for granted.