Gym Warriors

Yesterday, lying prone on the stomach crunch bench resting between sit ups, I chanced a glance at a young man doing vertical pushups in mid air. I don't even know what the apparatus is called. The man, in his twenties, was suspended in mid air with only his hands supporting his full weight off the ground.

He did a set of push ups, bending at the elbows.

Then he grasped a large free weight between his legs and repeated the push ups.

I was so astounded by this feat that when he stopped, I went up to check the weight. It was 45 lbs. I cannot lift a 45 lb weight with such swiftness in any manner even standing on firm ground.

When he walked, this man had a squat look to him. I am sure if you picked him up and shook him, no part of him would jiggle.

Then I spied an older, top-heavy man in his 60's. His face was quite wrinkled, his short hair all white. He had a large chest and massive biceps and triceps. Grotesquely so.

He also had a paunch, but it was packaged age rather than slothful blubber. Surprisingly, his thin bird legs supported everything on top. I think he would not topple over if you pushed him. Every time I looked at him, I thought of the letter Y, bubbles around the V.

Then I thought of Curly, the music director at a local church, who talked to me about plumbing when I ran into him on his way to the gym one day. He takes the public transit to the gym everyday! Curly wears baggy clothes and always strikes me as disorganized. It's probably his flouncing white hair. But when I learned he's a secret gym warrior, I noticed he indeed was very fit. That day, he inspired my recent foray back into the gym.

And then there's my friend's husband, Red, who wakes up at 4:00 to go to the gym. That is dedication. Red is slim, lithe, and fit, with a flat abdomen. I bet he has a smaller waist than I do. He wouldn't jiggle either if you shook him. He's my role model. I want to not jiggle like him.

I guess I better go to the gym now, it's way past 4:00 a.m.