At The Gym
I've been going to the gym for a few years now. When I'm there, I tend to zone out and not notice other people. I never watch other people doing their workout, just as I wouldn't want anyone to stand there and stare at me. But there are some things which you just can't help noticing.There are loads of posts out there about the annoying guys in the gym who make lots of noise, drop weights, hog all the equipment and things like that, so I shalln't talk about those kind of things.
The other day, I was in the changing room after a swimming lesson, and I noticed a guy using the hairdryer provided. Except he wasn't drying his hair. He was using it to dry his feet. Not something I've seen before - but then again, I'm usually in my own little world, so perhaps it happens all the time and I just haven't noticed.
Everyone has ways of timing the rest period between sets. Personally, I just take a drink, stare into space and go for another set when I feel rested. But I've noticed some people pace out their rest period. One rest period equals one lap of the gym, walked along the same route every time.
The gym is the only time when I listen to music truly at random. Even when I have the music shuffling on my phone, I usually have the phone out of my pocket and skip to a track I want to listen to. So I always know what track is coming before it starts. Not so in the gym. The music depends on which of the staff is at reception, but it's all from Spotify and pretty random. So when a new track comes on, and I'm resting, my mind tries to guess which track it is from the intro. Sometimes, you can be utterly convinced of which track it is, only to find that it's another track with a very similar intro. For instance - "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" by Bon Jovi and "I Hate Myself For Loving You" by Joan Jett. More interestingly, how about "Modern Love" by David Bowie and "Red Light Spells Danger" by Billy Ocean. I've mistaken one for the other quite a few times now.
I actually use two different gyms. There's one near work where I see my PT, and then I go to one near to home over the weekend. Both have similar machines, but with different numbering scales on the plates. As far as I can tell, neither scale is either kilos or pounds, and they don't seem to bear any relation to each other. For instance, the cable machine in Chiswick goes up to 15. The same machine in Bannatyne's goes up to 75 in units of 5. And no, it's not as obvious a relationship as you may think... All very confusing.
The other day, I was in the changing room after a swimming lesson, and I noticed a guy using the hairdryer provided. Except he wasn't drying his hair. He was using it to dry his feet. Not something I've seen before - but then again, I'm usually in my own little world, so perhaps it happens all the time and I just haven't noticed.
Everyone has ways of timing the rest period between sets. Personally, I just take a drink, stare into space and go for another set when I feel rested. But I've noticed some people pace out their rest period. One rest period equals one lap of the gym, walked along the same route every time.
The gym is the only time when I listen to music truly at random. Even when I have the music shuffling on my phone, I usually have the phone out of my pocket and skip to a track I want to listen to. So I always know what track is coming before it starts. Not so in the gym. The music depends on which of the staff is at reception, but it's all from Spotify and pretty random. So when a new track comes on, and I'm resting, my mind tries to guess which track it is from the intro. Sometimes, you can be utterly convinced of which track it is, only to find that it's another track with a very similar intro. For instance - "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" by Bon Jovi and "I Hate Myself For Loving You" by Joan Jett. More interestingly, how about "Modern Love" by David Bowie and "Red Light Spells Danger" by Billy Ocean. I've mistaken one for the other quite a few times now.
I actually use two different gyms. There's one near work where I see my PT, and then I go to one near to home over the weekend. Both have similar machines, but with different numbering scales on the plates. As far as I can tell, neither scale is either kilos or pounds, and they don't seem to bear any relation to each other. For instance, the cable machine in Chiswick goes up to 15. The same machine in Bannatyne's goes up to 75 in units of 5. And no, it's not as obvious a relationship as you may think... All very confusing.