The Spring Fitness team does not do light workouts.
When
I was a gymgoing man, during the dark days of wintertime, when the sun
was far from invictus, I was back on the rowing machine. A man can hide
on a rowing machine. It’s based on an ancient form of exercise
practiced by galley slaves from the time of Augustus, Tiberius,
Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. One day, when I looked up, I saw a large
woman. She had the elliptical machine cranked at a mighty three miles
an hour. Sweat poured off her with the exertion. Another day, a skinny
little brunette eased on the elliptical machine. She cranked it at a
mighty two miles an hour, her toned body effortlessly going through the
motions, while she read Self Magazine. That first woman reminded me why
the gym is a house of fitness, while the second turned it into a den of
iniquity.
We
aren’t the sort of group that gathers for group photos on a squirrel
path. Yet, members have run their first half-marathons, first 30Ks,
gotten out and gardened as they never have before. We don’t look pretty
when we exercise; when we are done, that is when we look pretty.
Take
my mom. She’s not a skinny little blond. She’s had blisters, shin
splints, and days when she hasn’t felt like getting out of bed. When it
comes to fitness, she’s in the 1% of Americans who actually get off
their duffs and do a half-marathon. That’s awesome. She’s not keeping
up the Kardashians, she’s getting things done.
Our team is awesome. We set goals and we accomplish them.
