So as you know, I’ve been thinking about joining a local gym to get in shape. I paid for a drop-in class today to get another sense of the place.  The gym is very small and because of this, it has small classes (5-10 people). It’s more of a studio, actually. There are no machines or equipment. We work out with freeweights and bodyweight. The workouts have a tiny tiny bit of a Crossfit feel to them, but aren’t nearly as intense. I really like this a lot.

The downside to this is that the small number of  regular customers all know each other and are rather clique-y. Both times that I’ve gone, I’ve just listened to the other members have inside conversations about people that they know in common or each other’s personal lives. I suppose I should be more outgoing, but this is something to be said about making visitors feel welcomed. It’s been a little uncomfortable at times, but whatever; I’m there to workout. And workout I did. …Or, at least I tried to.

The exercises are almost all new to me so the instructor had to keep correcting my form and giving me waaay scaled down modifications. It’s a little sting to your pride when you can’t do something that all the other students in class are doing. We all have a little competitive streak in us. This is why classes work better for me. I appreciate the correction and feedback. That’s why I’m there. As long as I feel sore in the morning and I get a good workout, I can deal with a little ‘gym-timidation’. Well, I can deal with THAT kind of gym-timidation (above), NOT THIS kind (below). Yikes! 😯

Well, one chick shows up late and instead of taking a wide open spot on my right next to the windows, she starts working out right behind me. What? In an effort to not kick her in the face during my exercise, I politely move over a bit. After a couple of more exercise rotations, I notice that she has maneuvered herself between me and the rest of the class. I am now against the windows.  Whatever, no problem.

As the class progresses, she talks a lot to everyone, but never to me. In fact, she turns her back to me, effectively cutting me off from the rest of the people, and talks with everyone else. Uhh, okaaay. Whatever.  I keep doing my reps. I got a pretty decent workout. I’ll know how good of a workout tomorrow depending on how I feel in the morning. Soreness=good.

There is a routine at the end of class that we wipe our mats down with cleaning wipes that we are handed. Little Miss Welcome Wagon grabbed the container of wipes and started handing them out to everyone. She came over to where I was and pulled out a wipe. ‘Oh! Thank you’, I said and went to grab  it. She dropped the wipe on her own mat. Oops, ok. That wasn’t for me.  She pulled out another wipe. ”Thanks’, I said again and reached for the wipe. She kept the wipe in her hand, turned around, and continued giving them out to everyone else.

(Image: Kevin Hart, Comedian)

WTF? It took me a few seconds to process what just happened. I didn’t know her name so I couldn’t call her out on it. Am I reading too much into this, or did this chick just diss me?  I don’t get it. Well, I have a few theories about why, but I still don’t get it.  I want to give her the benefit of the doubt. I don’t know why she would intentionally do passive aggressive things against me, someone she doesn’t know. Maybe it was a simple misunderstanding. Or maybe I should have kicked her in the face when I had the chance. 😈

I’m still undecided about joining this gym, not because of what happened today, but because it is quite pricey. I want to attend at least one or two other classes with different instructors to get a full feel of the place and what they have to offer. I may also check out another gym for a class or two, but that gym is even father away. I know I need to try working out more in my room but my motivation is as small as the space that I have.

I have some time to think about it.  What do you guys think? Do you belong to a gym/studio?  How did you acclimate? Is it worth it to you?

.

“Debtor’s prison is real, and opportunity cost is a bitch.” (DDSW)