Hello, Gym
Finally got things re-ordered in life to commit to the fit.
A lot of my contemporaries have been losing weight, adding muscle, and generally vocal about their gainz and how they get them. You could say they bullied me into it, though that might be a half truth. For decades your ‘umble host has been a cardio guy, notching more than a few marathons. Then when the world lost its collective mind, the running community went all in on taking experimental DNA scrambling injections and thoroughly rejected me for not succumbing to the madness.
Meanwhile, the guys over in Swoleville looked like this:
Yeah, I know which team I want to play for.
The wife has been chomping at the bit to move beyond running as well, so we signed up for the nice, new local franchise of the big purple nice . Not going to say its name because of bots and weird internet reasons, but you know the one. It is welcoming to a fault and has a reputation for some shady business practices when it comes to terminating your relationship. It is also the only real game in town. At least, the only game in my little town that isn’t an invite-only warehouse filled with long-timers who set a really high barbell to entry.
It’s been a very nice change of pace. To work out away from the broiling tropical sun. To mix up your workouts. To get away from long mile after long mile. To find new challenges to push through. The place is relatively inexpensive, conveniently located, and mostly full of people who just keep to themselves and do their own thing. It’s cool, clean, and everyone wipes down the equipment and stays out of each other’s way. Mostly friendly types who leave you in peace.
The only exception I’ve found are the old guys. The scrawny old guys in the 65+ range just don’t get it. They cut in on machines. They leave old man sweat on the machines. They shout loudly at each other across the room and never hesitate to interrupt your workout with what they assume is a friendly joke. It’s not the crazy strong old guys who’ve clearly been lifting heavy for a lifetime. It’s the clueless old surf brahs, just there to move around a little bit and socialize, that get in the way.
Other than those guys, it’s been a welcome change of pace. At just over a month, I’m still feeling my way through the process, but I can strongly recommend downloading the StrengthLog app. It makes it easy to track workouts and see your progress. And audiobooks. Being able to listen to books while lifting helps take your mind off the generic modern pop songs that blast in the gym, and helps keep your literary chops sharp.
(Speaking of Sharpe…I owe you all a review of Sharpe’s Tigers. It’s way better than that Flashman drivel, even if Sharpe does have his own failings as a character.)