Chapter One: The Setting

Chapter One:
- Setting
- Prices
- Goals
- Being Male

The gym itself is a chain, one of the more recent ones at that to my awareness at least, and is called the Rush. The place is busy and we set up an appointment with someone on the phone to come and take a look, specifically because of her issues which they assured us they had people well trained in this kind of thing. We entered and noticed there is no in between. Once you step through the door you are in the gym itself, only a free standing desk between you and the members. The first things I noticed? A kid's section to the right and a store (obviously the normal gym named stuff, but also towels and other items I can see for workouts) and a very busy person at the front desk. Phones, paperwork, and scanning tags; each person who enters shows him their keys where they have this handy barcode and he scans them in. He greets us, gives us the paperwork to fill out for the guide, and we sit down and write up a few answers to the not-very-invasive questions. So far so good. In a moment, the man from the phone conversation yesterday is there, greets us, and invites us back to a desk in the gym, separated from the members by a short half wall. We sit and talk about what we're looking for -- explaining health issues which never fails to get a sympathetic reaction. In addition, I have to mention a bum ankle and a back surgery years before which is well under control so far. He takes us on a tour.

The gym is well stocked and fairly large (like the size of a small Lowes) with the only dividers in the main space is a path between the sections of equipment. Nothing is too close to give everyone maneuvering space and is fairly clearly defined. For instance, the bikes are in four different types, all lined up in a row and you can go to whatever one you prefer. Their screens only operate when you operate the equipment (smart of course of the designers of them) and their are sanitation wipes in containers around the sections. So far so good. Swimming pool (lanes), locker rooms, basketball court, boxing ring, and some weird trampoline-in-a-soft-cage thing are the only set ups separated obviously by either doors or other barriers. Even more impressive then anything else, they have a door to a ladies only section which much of the same equipment set up for those ladies who don't feel comfortable out on the floor. By now, I'm impressed; this shows someone set this up with some good thinking and obviously caring about privacy of folks working there as well. Along the way I see the muscle bound, the casual exerciser, trainers moving amongst them. He explains that when you sign up, they get you an hour with a trainer for free right off the bat to make sure you are doing towards your goals. Also very smart. I wonder how many people get a gym membership somewhere and just go in and use the equipment wrong most of the time they are there and never change to something else? Probably pretty high numbers. I'm reminded of a fact back in one of my books on men's health which quoted (and I went and looked it up just for you) "Number of emergency-room visits in 1997 by elderly Americans injured while snowboarding: 75." It's both amusing and a warning; know what you are doing, use the right equipment, and pay attention. If you do this, it doesn't matter who you are, you can do anything you set your mind to.

Still, the image of an elderly man snowboarding brings a smile to my face just like it did when I first read it (a glance around shows that most of the people in the gym at noon are middle aged, but there are a few seniors as well). It's not laughing at the idea, so much as an odd mix of respect and admiration that they are trying, combined with an image of a man in his eightys wearing equipment designed for someone in their twenties. I'm pretty sure in his youth he didn't go around wearing brand names all over his clothes. Actually, neither did I as that was where my mom drew the line in elementary school and explained that those clothes were making someone else money by free advertising. I still have very few pieces of clothing with a company name on it and I'm fairly proud of that. In life we each set goals for ourselves and in college I took enough Socilology and learned enough about what horrors companies have done in the name of profit that I have my own personal list of 'I-will-never-support' companies and groups that I will make a point of avoiding. This includes t-shirt logos and other such stuff; why should I pay someone to advertise for them? That just seems like a fool's game even if it might look cool when the graphics designers have gotten finished with it and had a real blast with colors. Just because it's cool looking, doesn't mean you should choose it.

But, I digress badly.

We talk about it while he gets a calculator from another desk. We both know this is going to stretch our budget in an already tight economic time, but it's her health we're both concerned about. Both the trainers and we see the same on this part; it's an investment we can't afford to skip out on. Millions of Americans don't make this investment in their futures and it's about time we did. I remember also an instructor in a Tai Chi book (I have an old love affair with the martial art which will no doubt come up lots in this blog) who said he was putting aside chi-energy now in his bank while he was young to withdraw in interest later on in his golden years. It really is; what you do for your health today compounds to bring you much better health in your future. W have our goals, thirty for me (which my doctor would say is ten pounds too much; she always disagreed with the BMIs) and about sixty for her. Hopefully, this will cut back some of the nasty symptoms she is dealing with and fighting. But then we get down to prices. They want, of course, her to have a trainer for the entire time she trains, both to keep an eye on her and for her own good. While it would be lovely, it's simply not in any budget we can imagine. Maybe someday when we win money on the lottery (which we don't buy tickets for except every once in awhile when it's really high; odds are against anyone winning, but hope springs eternal. When I lose hope I'm dead so maybe buying the tickets is a way of pointing out I still dream), but that's not something to plan for. We haggle it down to six trainer sessions beyond the first free one, one each week even though we'll probably come in several times a week. I don't want to fasten her down to a certain number of days per week, just because I know the pain can strike and remove all plans off the board. But beyond that, it's far more affordable then I would have thought. All this access plus LOADS of free classes for both of us for under $50 a month. Wow. That means an individual really can get something that's worth budgeting for, not what I expected at all. Of course, our trainer time is going to be more then that, but we both need guidance.

Now with that in mind, I am reminded again of another memory. Bill Cosby once said that in one of his stories placed in Italy, he was losing his male-ness when he was allowing another to order for him, simply because he didn't know the language. I feel that urge now to do something for myself, not to be just under trainer's instructions. Is it a male thing, to b
e in control? Certainly has been a habit for a very long time, that male need to feel in charge of something, even if it is really an illusion. Look at the homes now a days. Has anyone not heard the description 'man-cave' by now? Sure, I have control issues from being under my mother's influence and, if you really knew her like my family does, you'd understand why I have those issues. I try not to let them take over, but they slip back in when I'm not paying attention. But this feels much deeper and I suspect that Mr Cosby would identify it immediately. Some part of this process of gym work outs, I need to find something which I decide what I will do if nothing else just to put my own personal touch on this whole process. I can't do it with her stuff; there I am going to be at her side when does work out to keep both an eye on her (for all these things have also destroyed her balance, a terrible thing to deal with) and because I'm worried about her doing too much too fast. There is a hidden, inner fear about this whole thing being a mistake and that it will activate something maybe as bad as the elevation issues and that I will rue doing this. Logically, I know that's not true. She's going to get good care, her health will improve, and she will regain confidence in herself. But I still can only encourage and watch from the sidelines here, I need to control my own stuff.

So, time to visit an old friend, my Tai Chi books.