Yesterday I ventured to the gym for the first time in about two months. Attendance was sparse at 3-ish when I showed up, so I had unfettered access to all the contraptions in my usual routine. After two months of slacking though, the routine was not usual. I stretched my calves as I methodically inserted the orange foam earplugs that carry noise cancelling music into my head for sixty minutes. Yeah it had been a while since I’d heard Bruce and the band fire up “My Love Will Not Let You Down” and “Prove It All Night” from NYC to commence the strenuous proceedings.

After stretching for 10 minutes or so, it was on to the abs thingy which is a bench with one of those ab roller things built in. Anyway, prior to my self-imposed stint on the DL, I could easily burn through 3 sets of 100 (25 x 4) crunches in between stops on the Nautilus circuit. Not yesterday, as crunches 251-275 and 276-300 were really tough, with 295-300 being quite brutal. On to the Stairmaster we go… Again, the two-month sabbatical cost me as I managed only 20 minutes at the 5.0 setting when pre-slacker vacation I was able to crank for 30 minutes no problemo. So, I have some hills to climb, but I’ll get there.

One thing about the gym I don’t do is spend time flexing in front of the many mirrors surrounding the exercise floor. Oh yeah, I occasionally do catch a reflection of myself while walking, and yeah, I throw myself a wink, but jeez, I’m not obsessive about it. It’s not just the muscleheads admiring their physiques either. Yesterday as I scanned the floor for something worth looking at while I did a cool-down stretch, I saw this guy really examining his triceps’! The funny thing was, this guy looked about eleven months pregnant, but he wanted to make sure his tri’s looked rock solid. On second thought though, maybe the triceps is the key muscle for reaching into the drive-through window at McDonalds.