Coach M, what is your opinion on loud screaming during the last few reps of a set? I ask because I remain relatively quiet no matter how hard I am pushing, but my partner yells and screams. He tells me I am “not being intense enough.”
ANSWER
This is an amusing question because every time I am in the gym and hear someone screaming at the top of his lungs it is usually some skinny dude leg pressing 20 plates but only moving the weight a few inches— or a novice lifter with no chest doing his 10th set of cable crossovers. There are only three legitimate reasons for screaming out loud while in the gym:
You are stuck under a bar weighing 350-plus pounds while bench pressing with no spotter.
Someone accidentally drops a heavy dumbbell on your foot.
You find out that you just won the weekly Powerball lottery.
Other than that, I believe that anyone who is yelling, screaming, and carrying on so the entire gym can hear is simply looking to draw attention to himself in an attempt to appear more “hardcore.” So, unless your partner is Phil Heath or Big Ramy, I can guarantee that others are regarding him only as being foolish and annoying.
