Dufisthenics

So once again at the gym today some genius decided to turn the place into a dance club although the volume level was slightly lower than last time when I had to complain.  I didn’t complain this time, instead I took a little road trip after I left the gym a few minutes early.

First I measured the time and distance it took my to get from my gym back to the parking lot at work.  The 1.7 miles took me 7-8 minutes to traverse.  This time varies depending on how much of a pain in the ass it is to make a left turn across two lanes of traffic that particular day and a few other factors.  I would say the nearly 8 minutes it took today is a worst case scenario.

I then reset my odometer and headed to the NCH Wellness Center, where one of my gym buddies recently relocated to.  It’s about 1.25 miles further away but surprisingly I pulled into their lot in roughly 6 minutes.  In contrast, I seemed to have had a best case scenario, hitting mostly green lights along the way.  Since the Wellness Center is close to downtown Naples this only promises to be more snail-like once snowbird season resumes.

Well at least I had some numbers to work with now.  The last time I checked county employees get a discount off the normally pricey $50 a month membership.  For that money you get a state of the art facility with all the bells and whistles including sauna, steam room, spa, fitness classes and a lap pool.  Granted none of that would normally be used in my lunch time workout sessions but still it’s nice to have the option to do after work if I felt so inclined.

The Wellness center from all reports I have heard is pristine and clean.  In contrast, Royal Fitness is not clean as evidenced by the cobwebs in the corners, the dust bunnies under the equipment and the black hands I wind up with whenever I am doing floor work.  I also highly doubt I have to worry about staff at NCH playing brain maddening loud dance mix tracks. I also would expect they insist any trainers in the facility wear deodorant.  The higher membership price point should also help keep some of the people that annoy me the most out of the facility.

Over the years I have tolerated a number of individual annoying situations at Retro/Royal Fitness. Dirty conditions, cheap barbells that are so bent they wobble when they roll, smelly trainers, ignorant music selection, round robin staff turnover, and more has worn my cumulative patience out.  Perhaps tomorrow I will get my cardio workout in by parking a mile or so away and literally running to and from NCH to check out the facility.  I can join there for a measly 5 extra bucks a month and leave my office a minute or two earlier to negate the mileage difference. If I tack 5 extra minutes onto my lunch my boss won’t bat an eye.

On the positive side I pushed 240 pounds off my chest today.  My spotter buddy had his fingers on the bar when I looked to be struggling although he claimed he applied no upward force whatsoever.  However in my mind that invalidates the lift authenticity.  If any hands other than my own are on that bar it can’t count for real.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

Barbell bench press 135lbs x 10, 185lbs x 5, 225lbs x 1, 235lbs x 1, 240lbs x 1, 225lbs x 2, 185lbs x 9, 135lbs x 15

7 minutes A2G hold