So I have to take my boss to the Miami Airport at 6AM this morning... (yeah. sucks.)
So I decide to take an early (7AM) workout at a World Gym affiliate down in the area. I don't mind early workouts and it would give me a better reason to nap about noon today since it is still raining in this fucking region. Plus, I would get to see a new gym and we know how new gym visits are fun. But the main reason is I did not care to sit in the customary 1.5 hours morning traffic to get back to Ft Lauderdale.
So I get there and (unfortunately for him) the local gym hero is there as well. You know the kind... he was strutting around like a peacock.. Imaginary Lats flared out to gadzooks and back, brown leather worn out weight belt clinched around him... even between sets... so his rotund body was divided into a sort of figure "8" shape. Bandana tied around his head and clown pants with the patented "Bat Wrap" style waist band (remember those?) they "used" to be a neon yellow color... about 20,387,142 washings ago. These pants were stretched down and tucked into the customary black stripper boots. He was wearing a dingy white tank top that read :
VE CE
B H
G M
I am like WTF? Is that some wheel of fortune special shirt? Later I found out the reason.
So being the new guy, I was under the scurnity of him and a band of his little croonies. Three others, but he was certainly the ringleader of that little group. So I am there in an XXXL sweat shirt of Team Health (cause it was raining hellaciously when I left) and just some casual jogging pants. I look almost obese because everything is just lumpy in these big clothes.
Now I don't mind attention, but they were staring a little too hard. Ok. And they wasn't gay. They possessed too many beauty defiencies to play for our team. So I decide to have a little fun with them. When I came in, I could see Captain Lard was using the incline bench... there was 225 on it. So I go over and take the incline bench directly next to his... I start pressing up the empty bar and can see in the mirror that they are pointing and whispering... then they start slapping him on the back and laughing as he starts to walk over towards me (and his bench). He sits downs and looks at me when I rack the empty bar and smiles and goes "whats up matey?" showing his shit stained coffee and tobacco teeth. That was about as appealing as looking at a can of worms.
So I respond "not much, just working out early. I hate morning workouts cuz I am so weak then. I normally work out in the evenings." So he smiles even wider.. showing about 79 teeth scattered in that mouth like a vision from Dentist Hell. And he says "well everyone is weak at one point of time or another." Then he lays back and bangs out 6 reps with 225. Ok. When he lifts the bar... his entire ass and back (not just lower back but WHOLE back) arches off the seat. The only thing in contact with anything is head on the top of the seat and his feet on the floor. The rest of his body was bent like a bow. I mean, when he brought the bar down, I couldn't tell if he was going to press it or attempt to limbo under it. I mean, it was BAD. This was not even an incline press... his plane of movement in that position was the same as on a flat bench. I am sitting there thinking "oh you fucktard you in some deep shit now with this homo......"
So I go to 135 and then 225 for my second sets. Still "struggling" to end the set at the 5th or 6th rep. He responds by going up to 275 and getting three reps. While I sit there cringing expecting his spine to snap in half at any moment. He finishes and goes to the water fountain where he his croonies are hanging out. They are secretly smiling and throwing glances over my way and then laughing when he says something. When I go from 225 to putting 315 on the bar. They react in such a way that you would think I just stuck a gun in their face. They were stone faced silent and were now glancing at El Chief-o to see what his next move was going to be. He just stood there waiting (and praying) that I wouldn't lift it. So I do four reps. Still "struggling". When I rack the bar, he comes storming over... slaps his weight up to 315 and starts walking back and forth and sucking air in great gulps. Lays back... puts his hands around the bar and start snatching back and forth grunting and making rrrraarrrrhhh rarrrhhh noises. A might heave and the weight is up. He lowers it to his chest, the weight goes down. He blows out his air.. and the weight stays down. He goes RRRRRAAHHRHHRRHRRRR and that weight is like FUCK YOU I AIN"T GOING NOWHERE. He is like now... rrrrahhrrrr much weaker cause he ain't getting air in them pancaked lungs... and he is feverishly looking around... so one of his boys runs over and tries to haul it off him. No go. Well maybe about 2 inches.. rather he didn't pick it up as much as he shifted it closer to his throat.
So 30 seconds later I hear him grunt down down down... I look over and he lowers himself to the correct position in the incline and ROLLS the bar down his chest to his waist before ducking his legs out from under it. (This explains the missing letters from his tank top... obviously he has done this before) So there is a big crash and the gym manager naturally runs over to see what has happened. Fat Ass looks at him and goes, "It's just me Jim, it's cool." The manager waves and goes back to the front desk. Which leads me to believe this is not the first time he has stuck under a weight and had to dump it.
So they standing over there (all 4 of them) unloading the plates off the bar on the floor when I add a 25 to each side of my bar.. bringing it up to 365. They have stopped staring now and are GLARING instead. I sit back and do 7 reps with it. This time not struggling at all. Normally I get 9-10 reps with 365. But I stop just short so they don't see me putting effort into the last couple of reps. I rack that weight and wipe some imaginary sweat off my forehead (although it is dry as a bone and you can see it is dry and I am obviously making a sarcastic gesture) and I go "wheewwww. That was, like, hebby" I stand up and take off my sweatshirt so I just have on my 2xist tank top and turn around. Their eyes practically jump out of there heads. I look over and say "I think this is enough for this morning. I feel so weak and I don't really want to get too big."
Then - without unloading my bar - I walk over to the water and then walk past the front desk out the door. When I am at the water fountain, I can see in the mirrors that the three of the croonies are still staring at me while Fat Ass is still with his head down and unloading his bar on the floor.
I then drive to IHOP and spend the next hour eating and reading the paper while waiting for traffic to clear.
I can only imagine Fat Ass went home and cried himself to sleep.