A woman has been called out after secretly filming a fellow gym-goer and posting the footage to TikTok to critique his form. “This ego lifter at Gold’s kept going in front of me to do these half-ass reps,” read the overlay caption by @dvniel_73, who has since deleted the account.
Bodybuilder and TikToker Joey Swoll (@thejoeyswoll) replied to the video with an explainer on why the undisclosed gym user was performing the reps in this manner. “So these are called ‘partials,'” he said. “This is a great exercise for the deltoid; it’s going to give you a great burn, great pump.
“The key to this workout is to only do about one-third the range of motion of a side lateral raise, and to also go heavy and high rep. A lot of great bodybuilders love this movement, it’s great for size. The late great John Meadows, one of the best to ever do it, rest in peace to him, he loved this exercise.”
Addressing the video poster, Swoll continued: “I also don’t think this man is standing in front of the rack to be mean or disrespectful to you. I think it’s just easier for him to use heavyweights, re-rack it, and do drop set moving down the line, after drop set.
“Also, the fact that you had to hide your phone to take this video shows me that you knew better, that you knew you were wrong in what you were doing, but you did it anyway. Be better than that. Mind your own business.”
@thejoeyswoll If you have to hide your phone take a video, you probably shouldn’t. #MYOB ♬ original sound - Joey Swoll
Swoll’s video has racked up 7.9m views, with many people in the comments applauding him for taking the time out to get into the benefits of partial reps. One user said: “I’ll be honest, didn’t know that was a thing. I really do appreciate you explaining what it does.”
Others criticised the woman for posting the original video in the first place. One viewer commented: “I mean… You can tell by his boulders that he knows what he’s doing lol”. While another person wrote: “This is why I work out at home.. people like her.”
But not everyone was in agreement. One user said: “I think it’s a good movement, but don’t just stand in front of someone else at the gym. Especially when they can’t move out from behind you.” And someone else added: “Yeah my gym has rules against lifting right in front of the weights.”
