Big Scary Weight Room

Today as I arrived at the gym, the cardio room was so quiet I wondered if it was closed.  Yay, peace and quiet!  As I walked past the cardio equipment into the weight room, I had a slight flash of insecurity. 

Shivering (that room is kept at about 60 degrees) I eyed a room STUFFED with big scary guys trying their darndest to yank the weight machines off their bolts and grunting and sweating and growling and grimacing at each other.  And I, chubby, middle-aged, and sucking on an inhaler, was the only woman in sight.

Did I miss a memo??

I chanted (in my head, not out loud) "You have just as much right to be here as any of them.  Keep your ground.  This is YOUR space!  It's the very same room you walk into every single day!  You've seen every single guy in here before.  Being all grouped together doesn't change anything."

Still, I kept my eyes fixed on the floor as I started my warm-up.  I kept up my chant about owning my space.  I felt more confident as I noticed them not noticing me.  Serious people focus on their own work-out and these guys, friends though they were with each other, were serious.

I moved through my workout plan, eventually forgetting to be self-conscious.

Time for the kettlebell swings.  Four guys (each taller than me, BTW, which is saying something!) were standing around a fifth guy doing pull-downs with a truly impressive amount of weight.  They were partially blocking the kettlebell rack.

I bit my lip and scooted around them to score a kettlebell.  The ones behind me moved in closer to see the guy pulling the weight down. I was surrounded!

I took a deep breath, laughed a bit and said brightly, "I'm trapped!!"  All the guys laughed, and stepped aside.  One quipped, "You need to learn how to push people out of the way!" and we exchanged a few more witty words and I moved back into my "zone."  as I stuck my earbuds back in, one said, "Only a 40 pounder?" and another guy rolled his eyes and said to me, "He's just jealous cause he does 25!" which made us all grin.  When I went back to exchange kettlebells, they moved out of my way to clear the rack.

THEN, the rest of my time there, these scary guys smiled at me and were very nice to me.  Then they didn't seem so scary.

Oh, and I crushed my workout.