So I'm in Edmonton currently, where it is cold as fuck, and I'm visiting my baby brother. One of the things that has been kind of awesome about getting into the gym is that it's added to the dynamic of what my bro & I share with each other. We've always been pretty close, at least from the time he stopped being an annoying shit head, so basically 16 onwards, and I know that I'm lucky to call him my friend. That being said, he's always been an athlete and pretty much always been in shape. And for the most part, not just "in shape," but more so legit fit. Hmmm...legit fit. #legitfit - new hashtag!!! But yeah, Paul has had a longstanding relationship with the gym and weights and being impressively fit. And obviously that's a newer thing for me, so it's kind of fun to come here and incorporate the gym into our sibling bonding.
On that note, Paul brought me to his gym yesterday afternoon for us to train together. Just an aside, dressing for the gym is a giant fucking pain in the ass when it's -20 outside, in case you were wondering. The first thing that happened was that I gained a true appreciation for how much I enjoy my own gym at home - shout out to Quadra Fitness! Paul and his gf have memberships at GoodLife, mostly due to the location and their lifestyle needs, and it is essentially the breeding grounds for Douche Fest 2014. Granted, we are in Alberta, but holy shit, steroids abound! I'm surprised there wasn't an on-site needle exchange. There were a lot of dudes that I wanted to take pictures of, just to send them to my #fitfam and be like, "did you know people like this exist?!" I had two faves, one being the guy who had every inch of his body covered in Under Armour that was more than likely purchased in the petite children's section. C'mon, just a little bit tighter...squeeze in there, you can do it! Oh, so you wanna do shrugs? Over and over? Awesome. Pretty sure someone had sewn him into the outfit because I think it would have been physically impossible to put it on in a conventional fashion. My other source of entertainment/terror was this super tall guy who was actually kind of hot but had decided that a muscle tank with straps that were a centimetre thin and hung down so that the neckline of the tank began at his abs (dead serious, not an ounce of exaggeration). He was basically wearing a reverse crop top. And yeah, I know that I'm being super judgie, but I'm fine with it.
Aside from some laughs via the side show, going to this gym was also a mental challenge for me. As much as I can chirp certain people at the gym, the reality is I find other gyms to be pretty intimidating, and yeah, buddy was in the world's tightest outfit but he's also pretty jacked, and it's easy to worry about whether I look like I know what I'm doing, or if someone sees me and thinks my snatch looks like it needs tweaking (to be clear, my other snatch does NOT need tweaking, it's basically perfect). And in a gym like that, where people are mostly engaged in traditional body building or cardio, do I look super out of place doing snatches and cleans? Being painfully candid, it can be a serious struggle to train in a gym that isn't my own. Fortunately, my bro kind of took the lead with regard to setting us up, and that helped me feel less lost or out of place. He asked what we were doing (apparently we were partner training, which was pretty cool, since I'm so bad ass now), and got us set up where we needed to be.
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Little Bro getting ready to crush...
Once things got going, it was pretty sweet. We worked in and out, squatting to warm up (aka: our "warmie," in hockey lingo - the bro is a hockey boy), and it was fun. Once we were into our squat sets, I ended up hitting a personal best for 3 reps, which was kind of awesome. And even more awesome because it can be such a mind-fuck for me being somewhere that I feel self-conscious or out of place. A while back, I honestly don't know if I could have even done my program in an environment like that, just because it's so different from what literally every other person was doing. At one point Paul asked if I knew how to spot him while he was squatting because he was getting all serious and show off-y...I looked at him and was like, "Fuck, no, have you met me?!" As if I know anything about spotting or whatever other shit you're supposed to know. I'm just happy I know what obliques are...yep, add another muscle to my impressive knowledge base! I'm basically a kinesiologist at this point.
I know this is basically just a lengthy story about a workout, but it was actually a pretty awesome session for me. It was really great to have my brother utilizing my program and giving me props for my own successes and improvements. It was also good to be reminded that I'm not reinventing the wheel, as much as I feel like I am sometimes, and that he's been at this a looooooong time, and cleans aren't a novel concept to him. On top of it all, I was stoked that my insecurity didn't push itself to the forefront and instead, took a backseat while I focused on getting sweaty AND smashing some personal bests, no big deal. Guess it's time for that proverbial pat on the back, hey?
I've got a few more days here in this hellish climate, so a few more workouts will ensue. But before I hit the gym again, I'm off to the Nike store to see if I can find myself a reverse crop top and the world's tightest pants. Afterall, when in Rome...
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