Weathering the storm
The power to move you.
More often then not, we crawl out of bed early in the morning, dreading the onslaught of the day ahead. Dragging a smoke to your stained lips or pulling your jeans over a tightly bulging stomach is the only exercise any of us receive. It is infantile of us to presume that by sitting at our desks all day we are staying healthy. Yet sticking to an exercise regime is a hard job, and a task that many shrug aside after their first week or month of training. I started again this morning. At the crack of dawn [6:35am] my girlfriend’s alarm woke me from perpetual slumber, shifting my consciousness back to the real world. Five minutes later we ascended the elevator and made our way upwards to the 17th floor. The sun had already begun to tear the dusk apart and as the sky turned from a smoky grey into a plummy hue, we begun our workout.
Some jock once explained to me that every day away from the gym equates to a week of no exercise. That means I haven’t been to gym all year. I remember the treadmill and like an old friend, I clambered onto its leathery back and begun the 10 minute jog into nowhere. My effervescent girlfriend was darting up stairs and attacking the purple yoga ball thing with a zealous aggression that made my spot-jogging seem like an aggressively silly behaviour. Stuff that. I ran. I ran on and on and on until the infinite 10 minute boundary shut the machine off.
My favourite form of exercise is the free weight system. Yourself and the hand-weights. Plus the freedom to break down the tissue in your muscles accordingly. Usually, I incorporate the free weights at then end of my session, really to punish myself. My girlfriend, ever the bundle of uncontrolled energy, carried on with her regime in the background. Rep after rep, I battled with 6kg bars in each hand. Tired muscles tore under the strain, firing on all pistons to keep my arms moving up and down in smooth, successive motions.
My generator ran out of steam after my 30 sit ups. Thankfully it was also 7:10am, time to shower and dress for the daily grind. As we lazily strolled back into our apartment, I smiled and collapsed onto my bed, safe in the knowledge that I had added precious minutes to my life. I switched on my laptop and the online shopping website pop-ups displayed a machine that creates abs. Foolish. The only way to do it is the manual way. The shower beckons.
