Workout Room

            We have a gym, a.k.a. “Workout Room,” in our building. I know this is true because I have been to it four times since we moved in 10 weeks ago. Fortunately, the Workout Room is several flights of stairs below our condo, which is quite a feat since we live on the first floor. This is fortunate because I don’t feel the need to do all that much working out because I know I have all those stairs to climb to get home.

 

            Our Workout Room features 24 different machines, most of them made of heavy black metal. When I look at them, I see “potential injury,” mainly because I heard a young guy behind me grunting and groaning as he repeatedly did something with weights (I didn’t dare look at him) that were obviously too heavy for him. I’ve made the excuse that I don’t know how to use the machines, but Genne´ has offered to show me how to use them, and to suggest a workout that would be good for a guy my age. So far, I have not been able to work this into my schedule.

 

            No, I pretty much confine myself to two devices – one that simulates rowing, the other more or less like pedaling a bicycle, except you move your arms back and forth at the same time. (This is what I see as multi-tasking.) When on the rowing machine I get to watch a video of muscular young men and women rowing away, interrupted by an invitation “to open a free account,” an invitation I declined. Instead, I counted my strokes until I reached 100 and then dismounted, account free.

 

            The bicycle machine did not offer a video. Instead, I got to watch a machine keep track of how long I was pedaling and how far I hypothetically traveled. My goal was to go for five minutes, and I always succeeded – all three times. The trick, I think, is to slowly increase my stamina despite the ways my age decreases it. Maybe breaking even – not doing worse – is a worthwhile level of success.

 

            I’ve heard from a number of people that old people should lift weights, a.k.a. “weight training.” I suppose this is important because when you are old you (by “you” I mean “me”) don’t want to fall, but if you do, you want to have strong bones and muscles to protect you. Kim told me about a doctor who said that he would not do shoulder surgery on one of his elderly patients because “she had bones like graham crackers.” O.K, I’ll do it but I’m not going to grunt like that guy behind me.

 

            Our Workout Room has several collections of weights, some of which I recognize as dumbbells and barbells (not sure what the difference is). So, I walked over and picked up a couple of small ones with the number 15 on them and did a few what I remember as “curls,” each one followed by a thrust straight up. I did these until it became unpleasant – and then I did three more.

 

            A few weeks ago, we got a message from our management company saying that some of the mirrors in the Workout Center were going to be replaced. This made me wonder why the mirrors were there in the first place. It might be to check your form. Or, it may be to see if your muscles are bulging properly. Or if you are wearing the right outfit to work out. Or how old you appear to be. I chose not to look, just as I hope others choose not to look at me.

 

            It’s difficult for me to come to solid conclusions about the Workout Room because the most people I ever saw there at one time is four. Still, when we look at listings of places for sale in our complex, they always feature photographs of the Workout Room. I suppose the calculation is that people want to live in a place where neighbors can make themselves physically fit, but there is no pressure to be like them.