The lat pulldown machine at the rec center is broken; actually, the lower cable is broken and they are replacing both cables. Why it takes a week to replace the two cables, I have no idea... Anyway, a lady that I have been helping navigate through the world of lifting was there for her usual Thursday morning lifting (before her kids get up and while her husband is still at home, I guess). She was a little befuddled as to what to do for lat pulldowns and seated cable rows since the machine was out of commission. This is a common issue with most lifters — what to do when a machine is broken, or a piece of equipment is unavailable, or you're working out at an unfamiliar location? It can definitely throw new lifters a curve that is difficult to handle.
I guided her to try pull-ups and barbell bent-over rows. She could only do a couple of pull-ups so I had her do another half-dozen let-downs (or negative pull-ups). She did a great job considering she couldn't even remember the last time she had tried to do a pull-up. She noted how hard the pull-ups are — understatement of the day! Then I coached her through the barbell bent-over rows. She had a hard time understanding the position of the back (ramrod straight and close to parallel to the floor) but, after that, she worked at them real hard and did a great job.
So, here she was, a newbie who wasn't going to be able to do a couple of the exercises she had hoped to do during her precious time lifting. But she asked around, kept a good attitude, kept an open mind, and learned two seriously good exercises. There's a good lesson here for all of us.
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