I have gone to the gym four times this week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (today). Given my dislike of public displays of exercise over my lifetime this is an all time record. That’s not to say I didn’t go every other day (or so) when I was signed up for the fancy gym two miles down the road, but I’m fairly proud of myself, considering anytime I push myself towards a set of good habits, especially around health, something the size of an asteroid falls from the heavens and knocks me off the horse (like Lyme).
The new gym isn’t as fancy as the old one. Frankly, I can’t really afford the old one which would be over $120 a month and, given the distance, makes it a lot less convenient than the new not-so-fancy one a five minute walk away. I mean, I loved that gym. Plenty of cardio and strength training machines. And indoor running track. Basketball court. Swimming pool. Sauna and hot tubs. Nice showers and everywhere: clean-white towels. And oh, it always smelled clean.
I’ve grown a lot over the years. As I alluded to, I’ve generally avoided gyms. You know. The old middle/high school trauma story you see in the movies. In middle school we were forced to shower and it really was the first time I’d had to do that with other kids. I absolutely hated it. Kids can be cruel and the cooler ones and/or the bullies made sure to make the rest of us feel uncomfortable, unattractive, and worse, unsafe. This contributed to a life long avoidance of gyms. Needless to say, if I won the lottery my mansion in the woods would have a private one.
Fast forward to the present in the new not-so-fancy gym:
Gym Pet Peeves:
- Members who stare at other people.
- Members who occupy a given singular cardio/strength machine but aren’t using them (they’re usually listening to music, texting, or on social media).
- Worse: Members who find a way to occupy and go back and forth between multiple machines, making it clear with body language that it’s their territory.
- Members who strut around like they own the place, running into people, often invading others personal space, without a care in the world.
Things I don’t quite understand:
- When gym cubicles are completely open to anyone walking by why anyone would leave their $1,000 iPhone and $200 Bose earbuds lying in plain site (more trust than I have for the human race, that’s for sure).
- People who stare at themselves in the mirror while they exercise (more confidence in their body image, certainly).
Alright, okay, so not the most positive nor well articulated of entries—really just a couple of lazy lists—but in my defense I’ve been pushing myself to write one entry a day and this is what I wrote notes about in my Boox the other night and trying not to loose my marbles keeping up the “spending my time in more healthy pursuits” thing so there we go, wee-hoo!
G’nite,
Aslynn