I stepped under the bar without added weight, the thing alone weighs 45 pounds. (I confirmed it.) The bar rests across my shoulders, muscles begin to complain about its use thanks to sudden aches stretching from my shoulders and down my lat. (What!? Why are we being used!?) I take two steps back and begin my barbell squats. Adjusting my stance, I move down, abs clenching and butt bracing, stability for the muscles working to lift 45 pounds back up and find myself liking it.
I really like it.
I jokingly bitch and complain but when Bryce, my trainer, asks me “Did you enjoy the session?” I answer, “Yeah, I liked it.” I wished instead of the flex arm hang, dodge ball, and other things in gym class, we did weight training. Then I remember it’s the 80’s and women believed they will bulk up like Arnold Schwarzenegger, we are a few years away from Linda Hamilton showing up with her toned arms in Terminator 2. If the yahoos didn’t bully me in gym class, I would have enjoyed movement and not skipped so many classes. One term in junior high, I had no mark recorded on my report card. The gym teachers knew I was in the library, there were windows for heaven’s sake, and I became adept at forging mom’s signature. Reading articles like this one about put-downs and electing to not do any physical activity, they even did a whole study on it, doesn’t surprise me. How I beat the odds genuinely surprises me.
I like to move and, sometimes, my mind does a fine job of talking me out of moving. I finally talked my mind out of saying ‘should’ and switch to ‘want,’ like the feel of my clothes again, and instituted some nonfood rewards. On Fridays, it’s gym-and-a-movie nights, depending on the feature. The GoodLife I attend is not far from a Landmark Theatre and that means reclining seats for the win! I plan my workouts in order to finish, shower if especially sweaty, then dump my gym bag in the car, confident in my reserved seat.
One of my Friday movie treats involves going higher, faster, stronger. In honour of Captain Marvel, Torrid emailed customers about their clothing tie-in collection and I couldn’t grab my credit card fast enough. Behold my latest purchase combining moisture-wicking fabric and utter nerdom:
and
While I await my purchase to arrive and wonder how much I will pay in duty (worth it), I patrol the internet for something close to my heart-Wonder Woman work out wear in my size. Why not? I work in a library, my very own Justice League/Avengers combination and our superpower involves nosing out information for people to access.
Unpaused Life 