The Upswing

I have been to the gym every day this week starting Monday. It's not too impressive but I just wanted to say that the slump is over. I can still do 50 pushups as well. Ok I lied, I died on the 49th, but i did one more for good measure. So I guess it wasn't consecutive, but I've been working out pretty hard, 2 of the days with eric. I'll get to 50 again no worries.

Catalyst

Planet Fitness® has gone to great lengths to provide its members with a friendly
space to work out. We call it the Judgment Free Zone. We discourage weight
dropping and obnoxious grunting so you can focus on your own workout and not the
person next to you.

-Planet Fitness Web Page

I was a little put off by this message. Idealists make me want to vomit sometimes. "Judgment-Free Zone"? What is this, middle school? But it's $10 with no year long commitments so I compromised my realist morals and went to check it out.

Planet Fitness was somewhat difficult to find. I had to circle around behind an asian strip mall named Eden Center. After passing all of the loading docks and random storefronts where mobsters wash their money, I found Planet Fitness under the main level next to a place named "Diamond." I was drawn to Diamond like a moth to a flame. Perhaps it was the 8 foot by 2 foot scrolling multi-colored marquee announcing the exciting arrival of "Kim Jua" or the large blue neon sign with the "A" replaced with a princess-cut diamond (Sidenote: I had a dream that largely had to do with diamonds last night, favorite quote from dream: "'When your friend showed me that diamond I realized it was from a funeral parlor you shady crook!' 'How can you tell??' 'Because it's made of white cement!' I point to a diamond which is clearly a piece of sidewalk"). However, my instincts told me I would stand out like a sore thumb at an underground Pai Gow parlor for triad members. Drawing myself away, I entered next door at Planet Fitness.

I now know where Barney the Dinosaur works out. Purple was everywhere in an annoying fashion. And i'm not talking acceptable and cool Donatello purple, I'm saying "hot purple", hot pink's retarded cousin. But, since it was a judgment free zone, I tolerated it to go up to the front desk. The people that worked the front desk can best be described as disinterested mexican children who probably can't even help their parents with the groceries because the milk jug is too heavy. A "tour" was given where the little girl just pointed at areas saying "that's where the machines are, in that room is free weights, and that room is for 30 minute work outs." I inquired about the 30 minute work out room and apparently it's exactly like the program my mom goes to, 'Curves', where you do each work out for about 30 seconds. They totally ripped off curves. The coup de grace was when she pointed out the tanning rooms. "Of course, unlimited tanning is included in our membership." Wait a second. Tanning has no scientifically proven health benefits. The only reason to go to a tanning salon, especially for a male, is to look like a "jersey guido" (guy from Fitness First said that). Further, tanning is for being vain. Having tanning rooms in the gym implies that the gym is there so people can stroke their vanity and are therefore judging themselves in a judgment free zone which opens the floor for me to judge them and then judge planet fitness as a dud. The mexican children handed me a couple sheets of paper with the schedules on them and basically "muchos gulps eh? whelp, sayonara"'d me into the streets. No sales pitch or nothing. I guess they judged me an unfit candidate after my visible disgust at the tanning rooms.

Long story short, I impulsively drove straight from there to Fitness First and joined immediately. I worked out so hard that I slept for 14 hours and dreamt of diamonds.

First Slump

I'm in a slump. I haven't done any real training in a week, aside from playing basketball. Pretty much my life as a whole is in a trough right now, including the stock market, but it's no big deal. It's just the normal oscillation of life. I'm going to join fitness first since it isn't too expensive and my friends Monty and Eric have joined it. Joining a gym will help me with a missing key piece in my plan, having a workout partner. I'll just take a step back, reorganize a bit, and jump back and hold on to the ride of the next upswing. Hopefully I can get slingshot into a more continuously positive-sloped path. Here's some inspirational tips on how to deal with the ups and downs of exercising: http://zenhabits.net/2008/02/17-fitness-truths-to-get-you-in-great-shape/.

The First Chart

Part of my training includes stretching and doing pushups and situps (crunches) before hitting the machines. Sometimes I feel like I can do a million situps, and therefore I think I must be performing them in the most girly girl of ways most days. But it's kinda hard to fuck up push ups, and I feel they can be an accurate measure of my progress. Yesterday I was finally able to do 50 consecutive push ups and feel that is an important milestone. Here's a chart with my "Calisthenics" progress so far. Alternating situps are situps that alternate between going to the left and right knees.

Must've been a full moon on the 13th...

Once I start actually training, I will join a gym instead of using the rinky-dink apartment gym. My previous experience in joining a gym (Lifetime Fitness) was a good albeit expensive one. I started going 3 to 5 times a week. However, I moved to Rosslyn 4 months after joining the gym and the closest lifetime was over 30 miles away. Paying money is definitely a motivator to go to the gym more often. There is a gym called Planet Fitness across the street which is only $10 per month. But, their website is very pink and purple and they're very big on a "Judgment Free Zone" which sounds sort of like "Don't ask, Don't tell." Fitness First is a brand new gym also very close that is about $30 per month and has a bunch of included classes (I would do the 6:30 AM boot camp), which Planet Fitness does not have. Another choice is the Gold's Gym about a mile and a half away since I have a couple friends that already go there. But I'd be least likely to go to Gold's Gym since I'd have to drive to get there. None of the gyms have a pool, so I'm going to have to figure that part out.