I had the most uncomfortable experience at the gym last week.
I arrive and head into the locker room to change my shoes. I'm on the bench, tying my laces, when I hear screams and grunts coming from the main floor. My first thought is that there's some guy throwing around six plates, which is fine. People grunting during sets doesn't usually bother me.
I'm not even halfway done with the next shoe when I hear more screams. At this point I'm rolling my eyes because he's sounding super extra and excessive.
Out on the floor, I take a few discreet glances around the room to see who's the source of the noise, but I only see an older guy getting a drink from the water fountain and a middle-aged woman on the treadmill. Assuming the guy left, I proceed to warm up and forget all about it.
I nearly flinch a few minutes later when the old guy -- probably pushing his late fifties -- mounts the squat rack and shouts, wails, and cries out after
every single rep. And he doesn't just do it once or twice; during every exercise for the next twenty five minutes he is shouting and yelling like he's in pain. At one point he walks up to the mirrors behind the rack of free weights and starts hyping himself up like, "YOU'RE NOT TIRED. YOU CAN'T BE TIRED. WORK THROUGH THE PAIN!"
At this point I'm like
. I try to make eye contact with the woman on the treadmill -- hoping for an exchanged glance as if to say, "Yeah, I know. This dude's doing the most." -- but her music must be too loud to hear anything, as she's acting oblivious to what's going on. The shouting continues for another twenty minutes or so until he leaves. Haven't seen him since.
I'm still scratching my head over it, like
. Did he not realize how big of a scene he was making? Did he not care?
a new personal best!
I'll start doing this tomorrow
