The Weight is Over
It’s Good to Be Back
When I last wrote about this, I ended it as a fond reminiscence of the past, hoping for a time in the future when a life goal — cut down in its prime by a pandemic — would become a reality once more.
Two years and two months to the day later…I saw the sign.
Literally.
I went to get a haircut at my local barbershop (owned by some talented-as-hell Korean barbers) in the same lot that used to house the Crunch Fitness I belonged to; since May of 2020, it stood as an empty shell of its former glory. Now, out of the corner of my eye, something was different.
There was a banner stretching across the old signage, decked out in a familiar purple-and-yellow. NEW LOCATION COMING SOON!
Planet Fitness was the new kid on the block. I’d heard a lot about them; one of my best friends is a dedicated member, and I was impressed with their base affordable plan. I paid slightly more for Crunch, but the benefit of the location being close to home made it worth the extra few bucks.
But something kept me hemming and hawing for a bit; I can’t put my finger on what exactly it was. I wasn’t making minimum wage anymore, so I couldn’t use the excuse of not having enough money. Maybe it had something to do with some lingering doubt, or perhaps I didn’t want to jinx myself yet again, thinking the place might re-close due to some newfangled COVID restriction.
What helped diffuse any doubt was their grand opening promotion. I took a look at what they were offering for the discounted membership: whoa! They had free workout classes each day of the week if I wanted to join in! At Crunch, you had to upgrade to a higher membership just to get access to that.
There were no downsides, as far as I could tell. So mid-March of this year, I made the decision and returned to my interrupted double life as a burgeoning fitness junkie.
Now it’s only been two and a half months, but I’ve already begun to see some of the same small changes I noticed during my last rodeo.
The most visible change? My upper body is finally getting some foundation! I feel stronger in my forearms, and I feel my back muscles getting looser and less tense. That helps, because being someone who now works from home at a desk all day, I need to be hyper-vigilant about not letting those muscles get weak and atrophied.
The gung-ho enthusiasm to go all Superman over the weights has definitely been tamed. Before, I would be going five days a week, just to get as much time in as I could. Now, I only go three days a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. On the advice of the aforementioned best friend, punctuating my workout with rest days gives my muscles time to heal and rebuild themselves, which is important for significant muscle gain. I’ve also learned to listen to my body’s limits more: the growth in weights is gradual, and the reps within reason.
It’s hard to temper my enthusiasm because I want to get fit as fast as humanly possible. Since I’ve made it this far already, there’s no question in my mind that I’m in it for the long haul. But the truth that weight loss and muscle gain is a gradual and repetitive process is a truth I need to make myself fully okay with. My consolation is that if I keep it up and keep improving, I’ll get myself to the ideal weight I want.
I’ll get the body type I’ve always wanted.
I’ll be in the right shape of health for the first time in my life.
But for now, I’m glad the wait’s over.
