Heavy

Squatting 315 pounds for twelve reps with a low bench

I'm sitting on a low, steel bench in front of a squat rack with Even Flow by Pearl Jam blasting in my ears. There's a skinny Latino lad on the squat rack next to me, his body language revealing his self conscious determination. It's Saturday and the gym is practically empty. A great day to train legs.
I stare up at the Olympic bar with the six 45 pound plates I slid on after doing three sets of light warmup squats at 20 reps each. Lots of 45 pound plates on a bar always seem to mock me. It's as if they're whispering insults daring me to push them around. The Latino kid next to me racks his bar with 135 on it and glances over at me to see if I've done anything yet. Big dogs pounding heavy weight is always a curiosity at gyms. It's part inspiration and part "that dude's mucho loco." Out of habit I adjust my knee wraps. I need to be reassured they're tight. I stand up, put my weight belt on, take a step towards the bar and take a deep breath.
"Clear your head Mark."
I get under the bar, find the spot behind my traps where it likes to rest, find the bar's balance and lift it off the rack. I take a step back so I'm over the low bench and start my descent. My a*s hits the bench and I push myself back up through my quads, glutes and hamstrings. My abs and back tighten under the strain. One, two, three, four, five. I can feel my abdomen expanding as if it's trying to blow my weight belt off and that familiar ache in my lower back as I push off the low bench to a standing position. Six, seven, eight, nine. My quads are screaming under the strain, my face is beet red and the veins in my neck look like cables under my skin. 10. I'm grunting, practically screaming with that 315 pound bar across my shoulders pushing up from that bench with everything I have. 11. I can barely stand up, I'm close to failure, the place muscles grow.12. I'm done. I stand still for a moment to reorient myself, take a step forward and carefully rack the weight. My legs feel like steel Jello. I'm breathing so hard my lats are flaring with every breath and I can feel my pulse pounding in my head. The Latino kid had been watching me do the set.
"That's some heavy weight" he says.
I can't talk at the moment so I just smile and nod in agreement. I wait two minutes and do the same thing again. Same weight, same number of reps for a total of 5 sets reps 12,12,10,8,6. I'm well satisfied but not completely as I am aiming for 5 sets of 12 reps throughout the routine. Never be to satisfied in life. It leads to stagnation.
With squats out of the way I do the rest of my leg work out. Leg press, Straight leg dead lifts and leg extentions. Another glorious leg workout completed and it was awesome.
So if you're wondering why I subject myself to this 4 times a week the answer is simple. I f*****g love bodybuilding. The only thing I love more than bodybuilding is sex and both are physical forms of self expression a man with heavy Aries energy such as myself is a natural for. I'm a firm believer in finding positive outlets for the archetypal forces that pulsate through us and bodybuilding and Aries are a match made in heaven.

Author's Note

I don't have much practice in writing stories like I do poetry so if you read this thank you and I hope it was okay.

Reviews

[Ryan]

"My legs feel like steel Jello"... of all the times I could be enjoying a cup of jello, like I was when i started reading this, remind me to never again let them be while reading you XD
nice write, anyway. the voice is strong here, 100% BR. And yeah, whenever i see the big dogs lift heavy in the gym I definitely think "that guy's mucho loco"

[Baby Ricochet]

Ha! Thanks Ryan

[Ryan]

anytime

[Cassie]

mmmhhh I have read, I like the fact that someone can write practically about anything.

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you Cassie

[Tai Ryens]

Hmm... It was quite fine. Worry not.~
You have a tack for pleonasm, though that isn't exactly a bad thing.

[Baby Ricochet]

Thanks Tai

[KAOlmsted]

Your ability to tell a story is never in question, you do so with such a unique voice it is always a pleasure. The technical aspects, meh, you know what, Baby? If you're deadly serious about writing, you'll find the more you do it, the easier the process becomes. You're already more than half way there in that you have interesting things to say. Anyone can dot all of their "i"s and cross all of their "t"s...if it ain't interesting, who the hell cares, you know?

Meanwhile...I put my back out just reading this xD I'm literally counting the seconds until my chiropractor appointment ;-)

Great stuff. xoxo

[Baby Ricochet]

Chiropractors usually straighten everything out nice. Thanks for dropping by Kimmer. It's always a pleasure

[KAOlmsted]

Anytime, Baby...the pleasure is mine.

[Emily B]

i need some of your motivation

and discipline

[Baby Ricochet]

Well I am crazy. That helps

[Emily B]

seriously? compared to who? I really liked your narrative voice. Your passion for bodybuilding made this an interesting little conversation, a glimpse into the every day Mark.

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you. The hardest exercise to do are push aways. Push away the beer, push away the ice cream, push away the pie. Push aways can be brutal.

[Emily B]

as a matter of fact, i've been having the most trouble with pushaways, still have a little to lose :)

[Wez Hardyn]

Love my grunge so had to read this after the opening line. Then talk about an alien world - 'archetypal forces' and 'heavy Aries energy'. How come you like Pearl Jam with their despair and marvelous 'negativity? You sure you're not just rationalizing your narcissism? I say that 'cos you're halfway the other side of the world. Good writing though.

[Baby Ricochet]

Of course I'm rationalizing my own narcissism. Like everything to do with the human experience narcissism comes in degrees and a little bit of it is a good thing.

[D.E. Ball]

You've allowed us to join you on one of your workouts, and made it pretty darn entertaining. I like the first-person account; it really allows us to feel what you are feeling, even though we are only there in imagination. Nice work, man!

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you D.E.

[TL Boehm]

Awesome. I am in awe of those who are disciplined and dedicated enough to do what you do. And it guilts me a bit because I am pretty much a corn fed heifer....

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you TL

[Marie]

I'n very proud of you.

[Baby Ricochet]

Thanks Marie

[Emerald Seas]

I've lifted weights most of my life. I enjoyed this, understanding the mental aspect plays more of a role than the physical in beating the weight on the bar. This reminded me of a short story I wrote about running that I had here for a long time. I may drag that out and post again.
And dear God - you're an Aries?! Enough said! Lol...
Only a few astrological signs work well with an Aries man. Tough sometimes! ;) don't ask how I know that!

[Baby Ricochet]

I'd love to read it. Thanks for dropping in Serah. It's always good to hear from you