Thursday night, my dead lift
routine consisted of five repetitions of twelve. I moved up weight from 155 to
165. I had few problems considering my slacking off training the past two weeks.
Once I was done I decided to head for the gym for some cardio and more work on
abs that I couldn't do in my garage. Well, I guess I could have, but I’m paying
for the gym membership.
I've been to a few different kinds of gyms.
I went to New Body for a while. It was close to home and my father used to go.
It's not a mainstream gym. The people there are some sort of athletic and
hardly any of them came in groups. A few female power lifters came in and in a
very not creepy way... I stalked them a tad. Just to see if I could get any new
routines from watching. I wasn't the old man in the window, promise. Everybody
kept to themselves. As for interior design, the place was white and black with
dumbbells, barbells, machines, and few elliptical's and treadmills. Mirrors
replaced the one side of wall, of course. The atmosphere was focused. I was in
my own little, invisible bubble, just like everyone else. Few people were
actually ever there in the mornings, too, which may be part of it. Eventually,
I stopped going because the monthly membership fee was too much for me.
Months later, flyers were all over the local mall about a new gym,
Planet Fitness. I was curious because
their membership was only ten dollars a month and you only had to put one
dollar down when you signed up. That was much more do-able for me than having
to pay thirty dollars a month at New Body. I signed up and as soon as I walked in I felt
dazed and confused. There were so many machines, elliptical's, treadmills, stair
climbers, and etcetera that I was clueless on what to do for the next week.
Eventually, I decided on a routine after looking like an idiot figuring out how
to work half of the machines. The interior is purple and yellow with large fans
protruding from the black ceiling. Something alone the lines of “Judgment free
zone” are stuck to their walls in large, 3-D print. That’s their motto, but
sometimes that’s not how the atmosphere feels at all depending on what kind of
people are at the gym. There are the elderly and younger adults in the mornings
to mid afternoon and then there’s the people who eat, sleep, and breathe gym
and another mix of adults who just got out of work in the evening. I’m the
person who goes in at that transition time. The morning to mid afternoon people
have very cardio based routines only. Hardly anyone is in the small area set up
for weight lifting. I like having the weight lifting area near desolate
because it makes me feel better as I’m pretty self-conscious when I work out. It’s
so hard for me to get myself to the gym around that time, though. I’m just so
much of a night person, but the atmosphere at night is more hostile than in the
morning. I know I’m being watched and criticized. The weight area and ab area
are always over filled, too which messes up my routines. The morning and mid
afternoon is a much better environment, though my lack of motivation is strong.
If I don’t have to leave my bed, I don’t. That’s a big problem for me to
overcome. Although, I know I can do it. I just need a kick in the butt.
