Thursday, June 08, 2006

Catty Comments While Lifting


Women, fairly or unfairly, are often accused of being catty and vicious when it comes to commenting on other women. Face to face they'll be as sweet as the iced tea in Georgia, but as soon as the other woman is out of ear-shot, they turn as bitter as the finest beers in all of Germany. Now I am not one to perpetuate rumors or such, but I will add that women are not the only ones to be this way. How so? Please continue to read of faithful reader!

So I was at the gym yesterday doing my usual cardio routine. I have been bumping it up recently to help stem the tide of my muscle growth. I still lift on odd days at the gym but I try not to lift too much as I was getting to the point of starting to look like a cartoon. I was hopping onto the second elliptical machine of the day when one of the guys next to me (on a Stairmaster) continued his conversation with one other guy who was standing on the floor. I see both of these guys almost daily. Their usual routine was to do 30 minutes of cardio followed by hours of lifting. They were quite muscular so I was fairly certain that their efforts were paying off.

I had my headphones on and was preparing to zone out to continue my routine when I caught snippets of their conversation (it's hard not to as they were speaking quite loudly). They talked about various things, their family, their jobs and of course, their workout routines. They compared notes on how many reps of what weight and how it helped get them ripped, how they followed it up with protein and whey and how they could see the results. After a few minutes they broke up and continued on their merry ways. Shortly thereafter one of the other regulars at the gym came over to chat with the fellow on the Stairmaster.

Despite having my headphones on, with the volume raised, I could still catch their conversation. Although they workout together often, these two suddenly began tearing into the other guy commenting on his lifting routine and how it's not effective. How "I can bench more than him," or "He doesn't lift efficiently." I've heard women tear into other women on their style of dress and what not and this was just as harsh, if not worse. I was trying so hard not to laugh at their commentary. They went on and on and on about how they can lift more even if they don't have endurance in terms of running and all. I guess that's why a lot of heavy lifters generally don't go running.

Whatever else it was, it was entertaining. I raised my headphones volume to the max and zoned out to the tunes that inspire me. I tried not to laugh again when I saw those guys working out together again. They took turns rolling their eyes or commenting silently while spotting for the third guy. Catty comments abounded and will continue I guess until the end of time. So the next time you hear some backhanded comment at the gym, take note, it may be the beefy guy benching 300 pounds next to you.

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