Archives February 2007

Yesterday I went to the gym after work.  As I was back on one of the stations at the cable machine I was next to an older couple.  The man was quite overweight, had permanently red cheeks and was obviously laboring badly just to move from machine to machine.  His wife wasn’t working out, she was sort of supervising, encouraging, although she certainly looked like she could benefit from exercise as well.  She stood behind him as he exercised, at one time she was rubbing his shoulders, it was sweet.

 Well I immediately noticed he had no idea how to use the equipment.  After seeing him struggling I told them if they had any questions on how to use stuff feel free to ask me.  He was happy to hear my offer and immediately asked me how the station that is used for overhead triceps extensions worked.  After I explained it he said “Woah, I don’t think I am ready for that yet, it is my first time here!”  I told him if it was his first time he didn’t want to overdo it.  He told me how he was trying to shape up, he said he could hardly get around anymore which was apparent from my observations earlier.  He asked me how much I weighed, I told him about 190.  He chuckled and said “I weigh 294”  His wife said “Oh you shouldn’t tell him that!”  I just laughed.  She asked me how tall I was, six foot six or seven?  I told her I was only 6’3″ or 4.  She laughed and said “Oh well, he will be there in a year!”  I told him that at least he was there doing something about it.  He laughed and agreed.  A few minutes later I corrected him on how to use the bicep curl machine.  They both thanked me enthusiastically.  After that, I got tied up in a conversation with a guy I know from JFZ gym so I lost track of how my new old buddy was doing.

I suppose everyone has weird habits or quirks.  I certainly have my share.  One of the things I have done for as long as I can remember is work pressure points on my body and not in the way you would conventionally think.  I squeeze together, pinch, bite or rub parts of my body together.  For example, many times throughout the day, without thought, I will push on the area of my fingers on the side of my nails.  I just push.  The sensation is a hard to describe.  I often will rub the inside of my thumb with the top joint in my index finger, again just kind of pressing and grinding the area together.  I’ve done it so long that I have callouses in those areas. 

Sometimes I will bite the inside of my cheek, on purpose.  It hurts but feels good at the same time.  I actually have been making a conscious effort to curtail this particular quirk ever since a dental hygienist years ago told me the practice could lead to mouth cancer.

I even have a pressure point on my face that I will work sometime, right at the top of my cheekbones, almost eye high.  I will take some sort of fabric and press and grind it against the bone.  Again it hurts but it doesn’t at the same time.  It is a very strange behavior if I stand back and observe myself.  I have no idea what it came from but it has become so ingrained in my state of being I do it constantly without even knowing it.

On Tuesday after work I did a bunch of non-impact cardio at the gym.  On Wednesday I had deep aching in my knees that let me know whatever is wrong is going to be sticking around for awhile.  It is rather depressing to regress after I thought I had cleared the hurdle and was back and able to resume running and/or volleyball.  Now everything is touch and go again. Damn it.

We are on the home stretch before Ali’s big race.  She has over 170 people pre-registered already with a couple days to go, a great number.  It is going to be a very hectic 3 days, there is so much to get done.  I’m proud of her though for tying it all together.  Even though she is somewhat like me in her general dislike of dealing with people, when she does, she is a very good communicator and leaves people with a very good impression.