Gymania!!!

Well I must admit, for the past few months I have been lazing around a lot. More of a sedentary lifestyle, as a result of which I have added a few (ehem!!) extra pounds. So now that I got settled in this new city, I decided to do something about it and went ahead and joined a gym. Yes it is true. I have joined a gym. My friends refuse to believe me but yes I have. They say this is as big as maneka Gandhi wearing fur or something like that. This is a very very interesting world I must say, the gym I mean. Finding a gym which is close to my house was a top priority as I was sure I would give up if I had to travel a small distance, as travelling 80km to and fro from work was enough travel for a day. So after lot of effort and time I found a suitable gym.

Last week I walked into this gym, a little classy I must say. The receptionist was very helpful and did most of the paperwork and gave me a membership card and explained to me all the dos and donts of the gym. I walked away from the place feeling triumphant inspite of the fact that it left a huge hole in my pocket. I will keep this part very short cause don’t really remember most of it. It was more of a spur of a moment thing. Just had this urge to start excercising and went ahead and joined a gym before I changed my mind. And now that a financial commitment was made, it has ensured that I go to the gym regularly for the past 7 days.

 

The first day, I came back from office in the evening and decided to hit the gym. Walked down to the gym, armed with the essential waterbottles and towels. Now I must admit, what I saw next was a different world all together. I have in the past week come across different kind of people in this world. I would like to introduce you to them

 

The first kinds are obviously the serious guys. They take their workouts very seriously. They religiously visit the gym everyday. They are guys whose bodies are in great shape, and dedicated sportspersons. They are very content with their established routine. They come and quietly go ahead doing their excercises, occasionally helping out others who ask them for help with some weights. I was asked to tag along with one of them who would introduce me to the various excercises on my card. He patiently took me through them and also corrected me a few times. He didn’t speak much. Just the occasional word cautioning me on how I was using the incorrect method.

Next come the heavy weights. They are the second kind of people who come to the gym religiously as they desperately want to reduce weight. But the problem is they act as if they own the gym. Just because they have been long time members they scorn upon every new comer, it is like they check out every individual who comes in, as if we need their approval to join the place. Ran into one of them and the conversation was as follows.

“You seem to be new here”

“Yes”

 After the initial pleasentaries. They got down to business.

"you have to loose weight. You are fat man”

Okie now I know that I am a little fat!! But this coming from a guy who was atleast double my size I was like …dddduuuuuddddeeee!!!!!

These are the kind of people who would be keeping a closer eye on how much you have lost or gained. So if you ever want a history of your progress, ask them!!

The third kinds, and god save you from them, are the ones who are decently built. Not really the bodybuilders but the ones who can pass off as athletic. They are the ones who give the maximum gyan. They would be keeping an eye on everyone who excercises and keep correcting the people. They would be the ones who would interrupt every time and ask you to sit straight, correct posture, increase speed... and they wont stop at that, it will be followed by what is the science behind it. How it helps more? How it is more effective? How the other way is harmful? They are more bugging than my professors in college. Atleast there I could sleep in the back benches, here it is like the 7up ad that they are airing on television now a days. One thing you need to note is that these people would always talk about weights in pounds and repetitions. You might think that they are knowledgeable but the actual reason is that the first page of google search yields only European sites which use those measures to describe exercises.

 

The fourth kind, man they are the google powered aunties!!! They are the ones who would be armed with all the latest knowledge about the diseases that man can get by leading the sedentary life. Also high on their list is the latest diets which have been released by various labs, and how much calories they have. they will easily tell you how much calories you intake everyday based on yoru diet and also will recommend a good diet which is easy to make. The dieticians and nutritionists should be careful as they might soon become unemployed.

 There is one other kind as well. Who believe that the gym is a hunting ground. They are called the gym Romeos (they are actually reffered to by that term by the girls who come to the gym). They are the guys who would come occasionally and they would make all the hue and cry before starting to exercise. It is like they prepare themselves and announce to the whole world that they are starting to exercise. They would then scout for a place next to a good looking gal and then try and get the machine closest to her or in worst case scenario try and stay in their line of sight. There would be a remarkable similarity in their exercise routine with that of the girl they like. And yeah some of the uncles also belong to the group. They would happily oogle away to glory :) and generally these romeos tend to hunt in packs.

 There are other kinds as well but haven’t really been to gym long enough to get dope on them as well: P

 Let’s just hope I keep going long enough to get to know the other species as well!!