DelBloggolo: I JOIN A GYM

Saturday, November 22, 2014

I JOIN A GYM

I decided after a recent doctor’s visit to join a gym.

At my age things start to get dicey and I want to be able to enjoy seeing my granddaughter grow up into the beautiful young lady she will become for sure. I think every grandpa should have that pleasure.

So off I went to the local gym and was surprised by what I found. In comparison to the last gym I joined, this one is really new in concept for me to grasp.

Way back in the mid-nineties, I signed up for a gym called Extreme Torture. (Actually it was Extreme Fitness) and I did carry things to the extreme. Getting up every morning at 4:00 am, off to the gym I went. Walking the treadmill, then a whole litany of exercises, I worked my way through the gym until I got to this large empty room with mirrors. Here in front of a mirror I would get down on my back and do crunches. By now it would be 6:30 am and I would be starving. Off to home I would go and have breakfast, shower, shave and drive between 1 and 2 hours to work, almost dozing off while I drove. I stopped the exercises.

Entering the Retro Fitness gym, I was struck first by the immediate impression of the décor. It looked like a large soda shop in the 1950’s replete with red and yellow color theme and a very long circular counter stocked with snacks and drinks and a sink and mixer! My immediate request to the young lady that greeted me was to order a burger with fries and an ice cream soda. She made a rather awkward face and said they don’t serve that. She began to explain to me the plans they have, the payment structures and an invitation was extended to me to look around. There was a large section in behind the counter and I was invited to go downstairs to this extremely large and vast setup of equipment being utilized by a lot of people. It was impressive!

I returned to the young lady and said I was ready to take on the self-inflicted challenge, and was led to a bank of computers where I answered all the questions and paid for my initiation. Can you believe that, you register on a computer, everything is modern at Retro Fitness.

I don’t know how long I will live, since I took it on for a year, and maybe I will outlive the contract, perhaps renewing it. I do know I want to lose about 50 pounds and feel a little better than I have been, this is a personal challenge and I usually respond to those. Wish me luck: my life depends on it.

I will try to keep you apprised of my progress or lack of it, maybe I’ll be a new retro me! But just in case, there is a Checkers Hamburger drive across the lot!