Big Fish in a Small Pond

While I certainly can't take credit for that line, I'm going to start to actually look for small "ponds" to visit.

I belong to 24 Hour Fitness. It has no pool, so I can't continue this pond analogy any further, really. But, I like 24 Hour Fitness, and at a mere $7 a month, I see no reason to change. Yes, $7!

Also, I can use a lot of their clubs, all around Southern California. There's one practically around every corner. My favorite has been the one in Torrance, near my Dad's house. It's the only one where guys and girls deadlift (other than me). The other ones have squatters, now and then, but never deadlifters. These guys aren't huge, but they sure lift a lot compared to me. I liked going to this gym and chatting and learning from these guys, who are pretty nice, to boot.

Today, I went to one near my office. No one was deadlifting. There was a guy squatting. A lot of weight, too. He was very large, but not in the good way... By and large, this gym is filled with guys doing a bunch of pansy-ass isolation exercises in the curl section. The bench area was crowded, too, of course. Groups of guys working out together/wasting their time... Most of the guys were sorta "puffy" lookin', too.

However, this gym is simply filled with girls. Girls, women, chicks, whatever. Fit ones. Even the trainers (the girl trainers) were mighty fine looking.

Now, I'm pretty shy. When a girl looks at me, I most likely to think she's looking at the clock behind me. I kept looking for the clocks. There were none. It dawned on me that I was one of the guys in the best shape there. This is new for me.

Now, I'm not all that strong. Some of these guys were far stronger, but they simply aren't doing any of the lifts I'm doing, so since I'm doing all these things no one recognizes, I'm lookin' good! Dumbbell snatches of 80lbs. No ones doing ANY snatches. I win. In fact, people were asking "what's he doing?" One guy says he can't press anything near 80lbs... I'm lookin' good at this gym.

Anyhow, a strange thing happened (other than being looked at). I lifted more weight.

Can it really be true that checking out and getting checked out can effect your lifts?

I hope my new friends in Torrance won't miss me too much (since I was likely making THEM look good), but this is my new pond. ...and it couldn't be much smaller!