Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Free Gym Session

It was one day before my birthday, that I've decided to take the free session trial of the gym, that gifted me for my birthday. I was spirited, full of hope, and determined. As I reached the place, it did not fail to make me notice, the obvious Chinese-looking signboards, structures, and its people. Apparently, the location of the gym was in the renowned Chinatown district of the city where I live. As I reached the area, I felt hungry, and knowing that it is important to eat before you train, I decided to look for any food with protein available. As I go through the streets of Chinatown, I found vendors selling "Takoyaki", it is a ball-shaped dumpling made with scramble egg, cabbage shreds, carrots, green onions, topped with both mayonnaise and ketchup, sprinkled with some brown powder. I loved "Takoyaki" since I was a kid, and knowing its egg content and some healthy ingredients, I've decided to spend three orders for such, with one order composing of four balls. As I ate, I noticed street childrens along the sidewalk, and then I decided to give them some of the servings of "takoyaki", that I bought. As I felt full, I realized it was high-time that I get into the gym and work out a sweat. I then went to the second floor where gym was located, and was very impressed with the facilities. It was not like a boxing gym at all, but it was a very spacious work out area, where you can feel like working out and relaxing at the same time. I later asked the receptionist if there were boxing sessions available in that time, and she said, that the trainer left already a while ago. I was slightly disappointed, for I brought my pair of 18 oz boxing gloves. After placing my things in a cozy locker room, I decided to hit the cardio, and do some running on the treadmill, I then burned 270 calories, before I settled down into a fancy sofa to rest. Trying to recuperate, I noticed that there was a computer in the lobby, with free internet access. I then posted my progress via Facebook, and people responded well to what I have done. As I began to catch my breath, I then went to the upper level of the gym, and worked out for strength training. Coming into this circumstance, I already thought and planned to work out my lats or the latissimus dorsi, and so, I head to the Pull down exercise machine, in my hopes to improve the muscles, and build those wings. Watching boxing matches, I have always been fascinated with the body built of fighters, especially the latissimus dorsi which looked obvious and pretty solid. Working out this muscle in the gym was important for me, because it is the only device that I lack at home. I can do crunches, reverse crunches, isolation, running, jumping rope, heavy bag work-out and the like at home, but never for the lats. I have thought about a parallel bar for pull-ups as a substitute, but I never have come across it, for I don't have it. Only in the gym, can I work-out my lats. I did a hell amount of work-out focusing on the lats, and later worked out the lower aspect of my abdominal muscles. It was a huge machine, that is supported with some weights for resistance, and metal frames for doing a reverse crunches. It was a great experience to be working on different work-out machines at the time. I had to thank the instructors for helping me out, for it was the first time I worked-out on those types of machines at that time. Feeling the slight bulge and tightening of my muscles, I then decided to take a rest in that same spot on the fancy sofa, and went over a few magazines. As I recovered, I recalled the earlier experience on the treadmill, which I thought was a great. I then decided to go for the treadmill for a second time. Running solo, I was having an intense work-out on the treadmill as I was watching cabled television. I was watching a soccer match which motivated me to run, and made me burn an additional 200 calories. I was work-out crazy at the time, with a concern that I was a little out of shape due to the holiday season. After getting some rest, I head outside the lobby and bought some water. As I walk past the receptionist, she immediately told me that the boxing trainer was upstairs. I was so excited, I can't hardly wait. I rushed upstairs into the boxing area and found the trainer. I asked him if he was able to train me today, and he replied "sure." He helped me with the gloves, which was great, because as I recall, I was the only one helping myself with the gloves through my self-training. It sort of gave me some moral support, in such a simple act. He treated me with some mitt training, starting off with jabs, then complex combinations that I can hardly repeat. I was hitting the mitts on his hand so much that in the middle of my work-out, I began to not focus on the mitts anymore, I was looking at the trainers face, as if his face would be my next target. *chuckles* He stopped, and told me "hit the mitts, okay" as if concerned that I would hit him in the face. *LOL* It was hilarious, but I never had the time to laugh, only after I realized how funny it was. While the trainer was training me, he told me in Cebuano dialect, "kusog man lagi ka manumbag." which is translated to English as "You really hit hard." I told him "Yeah." He asked me, "Who was your trainer?", and I told him that I learned boxing on my own, that I have been watching boxing matches every single day possible. Soft spoken, He praised my power and was skeptic about the notion, that I was not trained by a trainer in the past. He gave me some weird combinations that I never trained in the past, like the double right cross. I had it easy with the jab, but a double cross made me feel awkward. I couldn't hit it as stronger as I have wanted it. As long as I keep learning, I'm all for that. If Roy Jones Jr. and Manny Pacquiao can do it, so can I. If they used it and become great, so will I be using it, and become great. These were the mindset that played to me when I was training. The trainer gave me repeated combinations, over and over, not to mention the fact, that I have been running on the treadmill for too long. I wanted to go on, but my body seemed to have reached its limit, and so I told the trainer that I have had enough. In the end of all that training, I was worried and asked him, "what else do I need to improve?" He told me that everything was good, and told me I need more stamina. As I removed the gloves, my hands were noticeably shaking tremendously, as I had a hard time writing a signature for the concluded session. It almost looked like "Parkinson's", but I knew it was all adrenaline. Retiring to the locker room, I joined some people in the sauna. (After a few days, my skin got so much better.) I showered, packed my things, and left. It was one heck of a training session that I will never forget.