*unless it‘s something cool and interesting, like skiing or scuba diving.
every time I start going to the gym I become more uptight and less funny. plus, my taste in music goes to shit because I start listening to high-bpm edm while on the stairmaster. not to mention, we could use more chubby guys with a 70’s-character-actor type of look. spend those 5 hours a week doing something more interesting. a weekly hike is enough exercise.
Swim for twenty minutes. Or walk a mile to get coffee. Take the stairs up to my 13th floor apartment. Ten min beginner barre in my living room. The gym turns me gray, inside and out and I am over it.
I love doing planks, a few lunges, some crunches and leg stretches on my bedroom floor. No music, no timer, no internet video. It reminds me of doing warm-ups in upper elementary gym class where physical fitness could not have been less serious. Turns out I derive more joy from exercises when I am not watching a video of a very in-shape person I can't help but compare myself to. i count in my head, do whatever exercises come to mind, and then call it a day. Sure there is tension and strain during a plank or pain in a stretch but its a privilege to control its intensity and duration. I can pay attention to it, know it wont damage me, and after go with my day more relaxed.
Listen, if you’re just starting to lift weights and need something to get the juices flowin’, be my guest and listen to some corny ass rock music. Couldn’t be me! But be my guest. I want people to feel comfortable in their bodies, so as long as you feel as if have more agency than before, good. HOWEVER. Any experienced lifter knows you can only reach that upper echelon of workouts if you feel hot. Not like, “Oh I’m starting to see some progress good for me.” No, fuck that. I’m talkin’ HOT. You gotta feel SEXY. Step your game up by ditching the chugging guitars and put on some snap. If you are not walking onto the gym floor like you are on stage at Magic City in Atlanta circa 2008 than take your ass back to the couch.
Every scene, the entire movie. He’s throwing fits for 90 straight minutes. I won’t be providing reference images, so you’ll have to watch Fast Times to see for yourself.