GYM HIGHLIGHTS: WHERE THE GAINS KEEP COMING

Gym memories, gym highlights, are treasures to hold close. It felt like the only place a civilized society could get in touch with their inner ass kicker.

Luckily for rest of the world, gym rats focus on kicking their own ass, not others.

But there’s still come crossover, and those are the best gym highlights.

I started out as a fat daddy, a man who knew more about fitness than anyone, just not enough to matter. And I wasn’t alone. Needless to say, I got schooled.

If you had a gym habit before the covid pandemic, before 24 Hour Fitness closed 130-odd gyms, then you know the routine.

At first I showed up to lift when I felt like it. Was it a feeling of being a weakling, a feeling after looking at my gut, or a feeling of getting out of the house in a positive way? Most of the time it was a little of everything.

In short while I fell into a certain class of gym rat, one who needed help. I didn’t know how anyone could do an incline bench press with dumb bells. How do you move the weight from the rack to a lifting position?

Learning the gym tricks, like how to use my legs to bump a dumb bell to my shoulder, helped. Instead of hiring a trainer, I used my special powers: I watched others and eavesdropped on conversations to learn.

But it wasn’t enough, it never is. Helpful strangers told me what I was doing wrong. At first it was helpful. But it never stopped with some of the guys, until it seemed like I was doing something wrong just by showing up.

After a polite talk on my end, that stopped. But being a gym pariah wasn’t a role I embraced, either. Turnover solved the problem when some of my gym friends turned nemesis moved away. Besides, by then I knew the ropes.

The 24 Hour Fitness Difference

Along with a weight room and cardio section, a main attraction was the basketball court. I was constantly surprised at who had game, and who didn’t but kept coming in.

That last part was me, a no-game guy, but I made the court a part of the experience. I mean, what would you rather do, a zombie walk on a treadmill, or the same exercise dribbling a ball.

A basketball walk includes eye-hand coordination, changing levels and angles. Walk and dibble backwards like you’re taking Giannis Antetokounmpo to the rack and jamming on him. Dream big, or go home, right?

Shooting baskets was important to some of the people, but my thing was working on my handles. Dibble behind my back, between my legs, spin, the whole menu of ball handling skills. I did it near a wall so when, not if, the ball got away it didn’t roll across the floor.

Of all the athletes on the court, my favorites were the ones who competed in shooting games. When no one else was available, they invited me to play their game. Then they saw my shot. After a few rounds I got cut from the team, demoted to the JV squad.

My feelings would have been hurt if it weren’t so damn funny. Those people had horrible form. I had good form and tried to coach them up, but they wanted nothing to do with my help.

So I challenged one of them, the worst form, to a game of horse. I lost fair and square, but lost with good shooting form. So I had that going for me.

Gym Highlights For Life

Shared goals and ambitions can create lifelong friendships. The gym is no exception. I know people who get together after meeting in the gym. It’s a beautiful thing, just not for me.

My gym friends had other lives with friends, family, and neighbors. They were my peeps in the gym though. My pal Dale had had shoulder surgery on both wings. Who better to check with on shoulder issues? Paul was a gym highlight for being a Portland guy through and through, and a trained up strong man who didn’t look as strong as he was.

A group of gym moms were more fun than a television show. They got after it like fitness fiends, making all of the hard work look easy.

“What do you want to do next,” one said.

“Let’s do skull crushers,” the other answered in her sweet voice. Skull crushers cracked me up.

I started the gym as a formidable load, and ended less of a load. I had help, some pretty bad help, but still help. I ended better than I started, but not exhibitionist better. Sitting behind a keyboard, I could make claims of gains. Instead, I hide behind the mask at the top of the page, one click away from a sixty-five year old display.

The gains keep coming if you make the effort, so why not make an effort?