Yeah . . . naah, I prefer to whine, thanks
For me going to the gym is like taking the car for a service; the car's purpose is to convey me to my destination, preferably via an enjoyable, uplifting route. Sometimes through necessity a pragmatic dash is called for but I
like driving - look forward to it. Gymnasia, like garages, are loaded with grease-monkeys keen to part you with your hard-earned. Oh, they know their stuff and for the most part you'll leave running a good deal better than when you first chugged in; I just don't feel comfortable in there; at least, not yet.
It amounts to much the same thing I guess. Gym work has become a necessary evil for me thanks to a sever case of wobbly carcass collapsus in Cape Town. In order to drag myself over that terrain for six hours I need more than half-decent legs and a veteran New York cop's midriff.
My routine consists of 10 minute rowing (level 7 or 8), 2 x 12 forward press thingies*, 2 x 12 ape-hanger pull-downs*, 2 x 12 shoulder lifts, 2 x 15 imaginary headers off the large beach-ball with 2 x 15 dying fish backlifts over the same ball, rounded off with ten minutes on the bike or treader. It's not miserable at all really - I feel pretty good afterwards, bouncing back along the high street to the office, face glowing after a nice hot shower. But I do like to whinge about it.
We get some sort of corporate-branded MTV stuff piped into the work-out area. Some of the accompanying televisual imagery is easy on the eye, though I confess to enjoying watching tight bodies wrapped in lycra far more when I'm not draped, dripping and breathless, over a sweat-splashed implement of torture. It's not all bad; today's track du jour was Lou Reed's
Satellite Of Love - an excellent re-mix that charted briefly a year or so ago I believe.
I'll stick at it provided there's some evidence of improvement before Christmas
Like all men of a certain age aware of their own fallability I paid the full twelve month membership up front. If I quit early I chuck away all that money
[SIZE="1"]* See? I'm totally
au fait with the jargon already
[/SIZE]
May 2007 - It All Starts Here
