Last summer, I experienced many losses that will stain my heart for years to come. None of which as paramount as this. ............. to paint the picture of anguish and tornment (no its not a typo), I will seek the musical accompaniment of James Blunt. Press play then continue reading:
On June 15th, 2009, The Cooper Union For the Advancement of Science and Arts, (my alma mata) suddenly and deliberately closed the doors to its old school of engineering building forever....... and with it, my gym. Apparently the new bawla-ass building doesn't have enough space to allocate one to the gym. For 11 yrs, I've tried many "sports clubs," worked out in basement set ups, but the greatest most effective workout environment was my free-with-alumni card, Cooper weight room where I tested and exceeded my physical limits and carved my body to new definition. School was a very stressful time in my life and sometimes my only escape was to hit the gym, aka the dungeon, aka "the basement from Rocky" (as one of my friends dubbed it) for 10-15-30 minutes at a time. This is where I realized that 3 hours in the gym is ridiculous and how much damage you can do with 10-30 minute work outs, as long as you're consistent.
I've tried 4 major sports clubs and none of which gave me the results or enjoyment of my little hole in the wall gym. Don't need machines and lights n music, all I need is 4 walls, free weights, a few cables and benches and I'm good. I'm tired of dudes walking around the locker room booty-butt naked......who quite frankly have no business walking anywhere naked and really need to humble themselves. I'm tired of seeing ppl use the bathroom, not wash their hands and run back into the gym.....to touch equipment. I'm tired of laying on a bench with the sweat of a thousand asses. I'm tired of waiting in line to use the bench. I'm tired of random strangers who feel the need to tell you how much they USE to bench as if you care. I'm tired of "Mr. Fit", who looks like the most he's lifted since high school football was a tv remote, attempting to give me tips or correct my form. I'm tired of the social club that huddles around the benches and chats up a storm while I'm waiting to finish up my rep. I'm tired of the one person wandering around like he lost his keys, has no idea what to do in the gym, but feels the need to be there. I'm tired of never being able to find two 20lb dumb bells. WHY IS EVERYONE ALWAYS USING THE 20lb DUMBBELL!!??
This is the reason why there hasn't been a "Staying Motivated in the Gym" installment in so long, but I really need to break out of it. Fortunately, my disciplines have yielded some long term residual results. I'm not as Spartan-esque as I used to be, but for a person who has been without a gym for 9 months, I think I'm holding up pretty well. I attribute it mostly to my diet, but I see where I've faltered and I know what I have to do to get back. I checked the weather the other day, and the forecast was "GET YOUR BUTT BACK IN THE GYM!!"
Sidenote: I've been telling ppl for years, what you eat is WAAAAY more important that your workout and you could carve and trim down your core/mid section drastically just by changing your eating habits. If you haven't in a while, check out the SMITG series under "fitness" in the labels.
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