Gym Woes

I may have mentioned before that I'm fortunate enough to have a pretty swank HOA-funded gym.

Mirrors to watch your form, nice set of dumbbells, variety of machines, and enough cardio equipment that I typically never have to wait. And it's all pretty new - construction was completed just about a year ago, so everything's all shiny and nice.

Well, except that it turns out there are some structural issues. When people at the gym would slam and/or drop the heavier dumbbells on the floor of the gym, it would apparently cause the floors of the apartments on the third and fourth floors of the building to shake. Which is, of course, a tremendous pain in the ass for those who live there.

So the HOA posted a casual couple of signs saying "Hey, this is a residential building, don't drop the weights because it disturbs residents." And then they sent out an email saying "Hey, this is a residential building...seriously, don't drop the weights." And then they had a plastic engraved sign professionally made to post OVER the dumbbell rack, saying "Don't drop the fucking weights, dumbass." AND put down a thick rubber mat in front of the rack. AND THEN SENT OUT ANOTHER EMAIL.

And apparently, all of that wasn't enough to keep people from dropping and/or slamming the weights. Because one day this week, they were just gone. We got yet another email from the HOA explaining that, well, people just wouldn't stop dropping the weights, and they had no choice but to remove the dumbbells.

This makes me want to punch someone. For me, having a good gym included in the HOA amenities is one of the real benefits to living where I live. I rely pretty heavily on the dumbbells for all of my lifting, since machines tend to feel awkward to me. And seriously, you can't just stop slamming down your weights? I mean, we're not talking olympic competitions here. We don't even have a bar capable of being slammed (only a smith machine) so at best, you're looking at 50lb dumbbells.

Apparently, lots of people were pissed about the loss of the dumbbells, and they resorted to lots of crazy maneuvers. Like, for example, single-handedly converting the assisted pullup/dip machine into, well, a standard pullup bar.

OK, SERIOUSLY? And you don't even bother to clean up after yourself. Psshh.

Thankfully, they've made somewhat of a compromise. The other night, I went for some short cardio, chest & back (really, I just wanted an excuse to listen to the AMAZING new Green Day live album, appropriately titled "Awesome as F**k"), and happily discovered that we had regained limited dumbbell privileges:

Let's not focus on (i) the still-mostly-empty rack or (ii) the fact that we're only responsible enough to use colorful vinyl-covered dumbbells. It doesn't matter to me, because I generally only use the 15's anyway. The few back exercises I did with dumbbells - mostly variations on the bent-over row - I can comfortably do on one of the machines.

But REALLY. See the mats? See the sign? COME ON, PEOPLE. This isn't a college meatmarket gym. Behave yourselves!

Seasonal

I am definitely on another breakfast kick.



I missed fruit and yogurt. Lots. I get stuck in a carb-obsessed groove every now and again, when I can't fathom why in god's name I would ever CHOOSE to eat fruit and yogurt when I could have a doughy bagel.

And then something happens, like, oh, I don't know...not being able to fit into my pants because I've coupled the carb-obsession with slacking at the gym AND eating more than a few handfuls of chocolate chips while doing my holiday baking.

And then one day, I force myself to walk PAST the bagel bin and straight to the cooler and grab a Fage 0 and some fruit salad. (Okay, in an ideal world, I would be packing myself a little tupperware full of fruit and Fage from home, but I decided I'd rather spend Sunday watching Annie Hall from bed than go grocery shopping, so I'm out of just about everything except for broccoli and frozen chicken.) And I die a little inside at that exact moment, but then once I get up to my office and dig in, I'm like - "FRUIT AND YOGURT! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?"

I will say I never waver from my iced coffee obsession, though.



Last night there was a weird crowd at the gym. It's been blissfully empty for the past week or so - it's as if everyone in my development decided to resolve to avoid the gym instead of attack it. It's been nice - no waiting for a treadmill, not feeling guilty if I decide to do more than 30 minutes of running or whatever. Last night, I hopped on the bike for 25 minutes on the "random" program, followed by P90X shoulders and arms.

And it was just me, a random cardio queen who is ALWAYS there and spends hours on either the bike or the elliptical, and two muscle-y dudes. I'm not one to feel awkward at the gym, but something about these two guys gave off a major creep factor. The one guy parked himself less than a foot away from the rack of dumbbells that I use, which meant I had to interact with him in order to change up my weights or whatever. The other guy alternated between doing sets of bicep curls (my favorite kind, where they use momentum and flick their hips in order to lift weights their biceps are not capable of lifting) and using an unoccupied machine to stretch his hamstrings. The entire time, the two of them were talking to each other, and I couldn't shake the feeling they were talking about me. It wasn't helping matters that I kept catching Uncomfortably-Close-to-Dumbbells dude in my peripheral vision with his head facing towards me. I couldn't hear a word since I had my headphones in, and I did my best to tune the world out and focus on lifting...but eeeesh. It was just weird and I kept obsessing over whether I was doing something wrong, or did they think I was a January-only-gym-bunny, or...GAH.

I hate crap like that. I NEVER worry about that kind of thing, and I (clearly) love to people-watch at the gym, too...I don't know why last night was so weird. Oh well.

I don't know about you guys, but this is turning into the longest week EVER. I cannot believe it's only Thursday. Do any of you have a three-day weekend? I'm pretty sure I'm going to be able to take Monday off and I'm thrilled to pieces about it.