The Dude in the gym

I’ve been going to this gym for 3 weeks now. Its near my home, cheaper than other “high-society” gyms around, not much crowded, and has a good enough trainer. So its been well worth the money. I haven’t been to a gym in almost 2 years so I'm still getting “in the groove”.

Yesterday was just like another day. I entered the gym at around 7 pm, stretched a bit, sipped some water, plugged in the earphones with Rage Against the Machine going full blast, and was about to begin my workout starting with bench press. Another person was using the bench so I had to wait for my turn. I noticed another gentleman waiting there to use the bench as well. This gentleman (referred to as The Dude hereafter) looked like he was either in the police or some other security force. He was tall, dark, lean with a thinish moustache, and was wearing the track pants and canvas shoes that policemen usually wear off-duty. The person using the bench was done with his sets so I took over, loaded the usual 30kgs, and started my set. I did my 18 reps and moved over so The Dude could use the bench now. The Dude does not change any weights, slips on to the bench and starts doing his set. Now just out of instinct, I started counting how many reps he is doing. So, he does 10…15…20…25… and goes up to 30 before he puts the bar back. “Not bad”, i thought. It was my turn now, so I added another 5kgs and did my set of 15 reps. The Dude’s turn, and yet again he blows me off by not adding any more weight and pulling off another 30 reps. Well, I was obviously surprised as to why he was doing so many reps, and if he does have the stamina or strength to do so, why couldn’t he simply add more weight to the bar and do fewer reps? Wouldn’t that make more sense? It didn’t look like he was trying to reduce any excess flab, nor was it his last set so he was trying to burn it up. So why the hell was he was doing so many reps with less weight? My turn again, i don’t add any weight and do another 12 reps. His turn, and he goes on to do another 25 reps. And now, I was really pissed off! I mean, wouldn’t anyone be? Either he was doing this just to belittle me or he simply had no idea how he should go about doing his workout for maximum gain. So I move over and watch what he does next. And lo and behold, this time he does add another 5 kgs and does another 25. Gosh, is he the terminator or what?!

I move on to my next exercise, the inclined press, and The Dude follows me. I move on to my next exercise, the butterfly, and The Dude follows me. Different times, different places, same story. The Dude wrecks havoc again. By this time I'm barely able to concentrate. I complete the sets with much labour and decide I’ve had enough for the day and decided to skip the rest of my workout.

I know some might point out that I should take motivation from the incident and work harder. But it didn’t really turn out that way. Instead, thanks to The Dude, I’ve decided not to go to the gym in the evening anymore. Even though its tough getting up in the morning, i guess its better than having one’s self-esteem eroded.