Pumping Iron

I took weight lifting back in high school.  I didn't want to take weight lifting, but since I was on the football team, our coach kind of required it.  (It also helped that my best friend, Dave, would be there with me.)

 

I hated that class!  The room was small and humid and smelled like a laundry bag filled with dirty clothes and dead buffalo.  It was the first class of the day and since the coach didn't give us enough time to shower at the end of class, I smelled like a buffalo carcass all day long.  (I tried to cover the odor with vast amounts of Polo cologne, but it just made it worse.  "New Polo Carrion, by Ralph Lauren.") 

And then there were my classmates: Broad-chested guys with arms the size of Rhode Island and no discernable neck.  (Or brain, I might add.) 

As far as I could tell, they spent most of their time doing two exercises: bench press and curls.  

The coach would come in at the beginning of class, call roll, turn the radio on to the classic rock station and then he would go into his office and look at Playboys.  (At least, that's what I assumed he was doing.  It's not like he had a lot of work to get done in his office.  He was a weight lifting coach for crying out loud.) 

If it weren't for that classic rock station and Dave, I would've dropped out of that class. 

Instead, I would spend the class sleeping on one of the unused banches.  That is, until some no-necked monosyllabic ogre would come up and force me off the bench. 

It's now many years later and I find myself going to my local weight room on a regular basis.  It smells a lot better than my school weight room - probably because females use it also - but neckless jocks are still there, doing bench presses and curls. 

But something has changed in me.  I actually like going there.  I love the adrenaline of picking up a weight and lifting it to the point where my arms become shaky.  (Which doesn't take long for me.)   

I love how it not only makes me feel, but how I look.  I admit, I catch myself flexing in the mirror more than I probably should.  Why not?  My arms are looking better than they ever have.  

I feel great!  I'm looking better than I have for the past few (15) years.  

Like I always say, if I can do this, you definitely can do this!