Fitness of Doom

My last day at a local LA Fitness was Saturday. I missed it.

Then I saw the news about the shooting at LA Fitness in Pittsburgh.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090805/ap_on_re_us/us_health_club_shooting;

I can visualize the lay out (Latin dance class, the back-shoulder machines outside, the bike room next door).

Scary!

Civilization and its discontent!. This guy was even promoted at work. It’s not that he did not have a job and blamed it

on the Recession as in other suicides this year. At the gym, unless you sit in a sauna, you don’t get to meet people, since each work-out machine has its own personal space, like a parking spot.

People are sweaty, producing calories and toning muscles, sending out non-verbal signals (that say, “stay away from me”) like reading,  wearing MP3 etc.. At least, I hired a personal trainer last year, so in my case, it wasn’t a lonesome activity.

Best way is to have a work out buddy. Especially when it comes time for the last bench press set.

I am sure people in Irvine, California where LA Fitness HQ is located, are having a lot of PR work to do these days.

We got Bally and 24-hour fitness to choose from.  And an incident of nation-wide attention like this is hard to live down.

The next thing we might see is a metal detector at the entrance.

High school, airport, and gym. Please leave the library alone. God knows how many public places nowadays we can go in and feel safe.

When inside the gym, I saw a lot of big guys: tattoo, six-pack ab, and of course, naked in the locker room.

I saw a really really fat guy, bigger than a Sumo wrestler. Sometimes, I saw guys who recovered from a stroke.

These guys are my motivation, because they are a walking reminder of what could happen to me if I don’t exercise

and watch my cholesterol level.

My most memorable scene about a gym is when I show up at quarter to 5AM and see a line of people waiting outside. It’s true that old people sleep less, and early. Either way, it’s good to have your feet on the floor , get to the gym and maybe use a sauna afterward. At this endorphin-producing factory, no one is denied the benefits of feeling refreshed.

It were as if you pressed your own reset button. Time stands still for that one hour as you pay back for the abuse you put your body through all day. The older, the more the need to exercise.

Just don’t use the gym shooting as an excuse. Who can stop you from putting on those sneakers for a  walk around the block? The sidewalk is free and you don’t have to drive anywhere, or pay the membership fee. Just make sure there aren’t any “drive-by”.