Tuesday, October 16, 2012

gyms for contemplation

   I'm a fairly loud person.  When I laugh it is obvious.  I am always singing or humming.  When I go to the gym,   I look at people when I go in, smile if I know them (they do smile back) and I talk.  This is the weird thing.  Maybe I am not focussed enough.  Maybe I should be working harder.  When I am working with the trainer, he and I chat about proper form, using enough weight, etc., but also about the football game last night (I fell asleep on the couch before Peyton and the Broncos did the total reversal on the Chargers), who should be in the World Series,  what he and his roommates are wearing for Halloween, etc. Apparently when I go to the gym, I am an anomaly.
   Everyone else is quiet.  They do not even breathe loudly, while I am huffing and wheezing like an old steam engine.  It is not that folks are not friendly - chat happens in the locker room - but they are quiet while lifting or squatting or rowing.
   When I am not in the weight room, but downstairs on the treadmill, I still do not wear a music playing device.  I use that time for ordering my thoughts, planning my week, and noticing the lovely brickwork on the house  next door to the YMCA.   Perhaps I am just meant to go to the gym with a friend and not alone?  This is something to contemplate when I am next on the treadmill.  In the meantime, I will keep grunting as I work the legs, huffing and puffing as I do mountain climbers and pull ups, and laughing and collapsing loudly when I do hamstring work with the ball.  I guess as long as I am there - loud or not - it is a good thing.