Gym Tryouts

The gym at my work is great because it’s new, big and well equipped.  The locker rooms are roomy with clean, well lit showers.  The gym at my work is not so great because it has some weird, week long closures for “maintenance”.  I am not quite sure what they are doing for a whole week but it is screwing up my routine!

This week is one of those maintenance weeks unfortunately.  Instead of trying to limp along at home with whatever items I can find I thought I would use another gym for a week.  It has been several years since I have used this particular gym.  I used to really like it there.  It is quiet and clean, which are a priority for me.   This particular gym is non-coed, which I actually like.  I have had some uncomfortable experiences in the past at gyms of leering and bro talk.  Yes, we can hear you and read your body language across the gym bro’s, it’s not fun.  You want chicks to have bangin’ bodies?  Then stop being a creeper at the gym!  No one wants to squat with an audience.  But I digress.  When it came time to use the weight section I was severely underwhelmed.  The heaviest kettlebells I could find in the women’s section only went up to 20 pounds.  I did find some heavier ones in the boot camp section which was not in use therefore I could use the kettlebells in there.  There was no decent squat rack!  I found myself quite irritated when I peered in the men’s gym and spied a squat rack in there.  It would kind of defeat the pros of being in a non-coed gym if I threw a fit to be able to go in the men’s section to use their squat rack and heavier kettlebells.  

It was considerably busy for a Sunday.  It was supposed to be a long run day but the air quality was not lending itself to being conducive for a 10 mile run.  So I went to the gym, with the intention of running but ended up lifting.  As I was internally grumbling about the light weights and lack of free weight space I noticed that I was probably the most muscular woman there.  That was a huge shock to me.  There were several women there putting in hard work and getting their sweat on.  All in different shapes, sizes and age ranges but somehow I managed to feel like a giant in there.  It was then that I felt like I didn’t quite fit in.

I am able to cross signing up at that gym off my list.  It’s sad because it did really have potential but I can’t be someplace that I won’t be able to push myself.  I mean what’s the point?  I won’t limit my gains because whoever purchases the weights doesn’t think women should swing more than 20 pounds (I was able to swing 53 pounds by the way and it sucked) or could possibly want a squat rack.

Fortunately, I only have to figure out what to do there for the rest of this week and then I can go back to my normal routine.  Please be swift.