gym II (and gym crushes)

being at the gym for a month has been made me realize some things. first of all I’m someone who looks at and observes everything and everyone: it is getting pretty embarassing lately, because I will stare at someone for more than a couple of seconds, then I’ll realize it and quickly shift my gaze. the problem is that I do this everywhere: when I’m driving in traffic, sitting in bars or restaurants, even standing outside my balcony. I just like seeing what other people are doing, what they’re saying and just generally make assumptions about their lives.

now, back to the gym. I have kind of made a circle of my source of inspiration when working out. there’s people there that EVERYONE knows, they either talk to everyone or they’re just incredibly well built. my main source of inspiration is this one guy: he doesn’t talk much but again, everyone knows him. I envy his motivation a lot as he’s quiet as fuck and doesn’t complain about anything while exercising. my gym buddy goes up to him all the time to ask for advice and he happily helps us out, always. one of the first things he told me when I started lifting weights was: “when you can’t do it anymore, just do one more”. he said it’s when you’re hurting that you actually build the strength you need for next time, and this has stuck with me religiously. I also recently talked to him in the locker room and he has a pretty miserable job (and I think a bit of a miserable life), so that was also shocking to hear for my brain who had made the assumption that this guy had the perfect life.

about the people who talk to everyone: I think it’s the people who I can’t stand the most. there’s this one guy in particular that will just talk ONLY about football and nothing else. not even about girls. it’s pretty common in italy to talk about football but dang why is that all you can talk about? for me, people like this have no personality (yes I’m sentencing those kind of people. sorry).

sometimes I also think how strange the environment there is. everyone is really in their own world but also aware of everyone else. you can feel the looks (I will say though that there’s absolutely no judgement and I’m not being sarcastic) and the little glances at who’s lifting what.

and then, of course, there are the gym crushes <3 I swear by the fact that the hottest kind of girls are the ones in their 30s and mid 30s. it’s not even just about the looks (but yes), it’s the way they move, they way they’re confident, they can sweat a fuckton and still look like they walked out of a perfume shop. I find myself looking at them way too often and then pretending I’m checking something on my phone as I don’t want to creep them out. (and sometimes there’s also this one guy who’s just unfazed mid set and I’m amazed on how good he makes it look)

the gym is really half a workout and half a social experiment!