By Ng Dawin (25A01D)
The best thing about the gym is also its worst thing: Its addictiveness. When you get that pump started, the whole world can go to hell for those few extra reps.
This is the most difficult feeling to convey to non-gym goers. A lot of people don’t understand why we would make the conscious decision to push our bodies to the limit, especially amidst our hectic schedules. In truth, neither did I.
The metamorphosis
Frankly speaking, I couldn’t understand this spirit last year. Past me was but a bumbling hypocrite. Every time my friends asked me to follow them to the gym, I’d give a pathetic excuse. Yesterday, I sprained my foot. Today, I’m feeling a little blue. Tomorrow, I have homework to catch up on.
We all knew that I was giving poor excuses to hide a simple fact – The gym intimidated me. I was out of shape. I couldn’t do a pull-up. I was scared that the so-called gym rats would judge me.
And so, we kept at it for a month, until one of us caved in.
In the end, it was my friends who got the better of me, dragging me to ActiveSG at Pasir Ris. I don’t remember how they convinced me. Maybe it was the promise of food. It’s not important now.
The only thing that mattered was our routine. Day in and day out, it was always the same reps of push, pull, legs. Push, pull, legs. Push, pull, legs.
We’d watch each other in silence as we did our 5 sets of 12, only talking whilst we rested. Every fibre of our being was concentrated on our targeted muscle groups, contracting and relaxing till failure.
As boring as it sounds, I began looking forward to going to the gym with my friends. Toiling away at the gym painted splashes of colour on the blank canvas of my life. Soon, I started going to the gym myself, without their prompting.
Before long, I had reached the final stage of the gym-goer’s life cycle – a full blown rat.
Interlude
With varying degrees of revulsion, people have asked me why I go to the gym so much.
For the longest time, I didn’t think much of it. To me, gym was about fitness and friends, nothing more.
But as life became more Kafkaesque, the gym started taking on a new mantle – A getaway of sorts from the intricacies of modern life.
Fitness
Let’s get the obvious out of the way.
Gym builds up your fitness. You can lift heavier weights, run faster, and do more push-ups the longer you gym. Aesthetically, your physique develops as you inch towards your ideal body. Seeing your pull up count enter the double digits, or watching your muscles gaining definition, feels good. Great, even. But that feeling can hardly compare to knocking 2 months off your Basic Military Training when you get that IPPT gold.
Many people have the impression that going to the gym is about becoming the next Arnold Schwarzeneggar. This is only true for 0.01% of the population. Most people don’t have the genetics necessary to attain the physique of a Greek god.
However, even if you can’t get Arnold’s bulging biceps, what gym can give you is that elite, Arnold level, mental fitness.
A caveat of life that everyone has to come to terms with is that we all have to do things we don’t want to do. Putting in hours at the gym after 10 gruelling hours of class is one of them.
However, every afternoon, amongst the weight racks and treadmills, you’ll see dozens of students getting their workout in for the day. For one thing, they’re consistent. The guy who comes in at 3 p.m. on Monday will be back at 2.10 p.m. on Tuesday. Rain or shine, CCA or no CCA, the only thing that can derail a gym-goer’s schedule is an impromptu make-up lesson.
While they are at the gym, these students are industrious and driven, lifting like their lives depend on it. Maintaining picture perfect form is difficult, but they make it look easy. Even on their last few reps, you see students gritting their teeth, groaning as they exert every last bit of their life-force – notwithstanding drop sets.
Under these circumstances, it’s no surprise that gym-goers have an uncanny amount of willpower. They have committed themselves to a path of achy muscles and callused hands, a commitment so monstrous that for it, even their chiselled physiques or personal records cannot justify.
Friends
But sheer willpower alone isn’t enough. There will be days where the last thing you want to do is exercise. Letting your mind drift away like a kite might seem like a better option than lifting weights. You want to idle away, but unfortunately for you, your gym friends aren’t going to let you.
So, instead of eating instant noodles or indulging in Netflix and Chill, you will be hitting squats at the local gym as your friends work out next to you.
There’s a feeling of guilt that gnaws away at your conscience each time you miss a gym session with a friend – But that’s not all. Friends are more than drill sergeants. Unlike drill sergeants, your friends will get down and dirty with you, forcing you to do more pushups not for money, but a genuine desire to see you reach your fullest potential.
To me, my gym friends are a source of constant motivation. I look forward to Tuesday gym days after PE, not because I like to torture myself, but because it is a chance for me to reconnect with my friends from the Science Stream.
These friendships were already so tight during secondary school, so why not bring it with you to the next level of ‘Gym Buddies’?
It’s all in the spirit of friendly competitiveness. We gym-goers can’t bear to see our friends (specifically those of similar build as us) out-lift us. Thus, we challenge ourselves to increase the number of our reps, or the weight of each dumbbell. You can call it foolhardiness, but at the end of the day, it is the both of us whose personal records increased.
Every session, we moan, complain about poor muscle recovery, stay clear of the bigger and stronger guys, but we always complete our 90 minute workouts (Even legs). It’s like a strange fear grips us, and we just can’t escape. Pessimists will say it’s FOMO. I say it’s a desire to be cured of existential loneliness.
A simpler existence
Oddly, the song that reminds me most about the gym isn’t some motivational song like “Eye of the Tiger” or “Stronger”. Nor is it a billboard hit by some up-and-coming pop artiste. Instead, it’s this gem by a Beatle:
“Imagine no possessions
Imagine, John Lennon
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man”
More than anything, the gym is a warm, safe place to fall back on. When we choke on bone whilst sucking out the marrow of life, many of us seek solace amongst barbells and machines. Stress, responsibilities, pressure, heartbreak, ambition – all of these worldly desires become irrelevant once you pick up a weight.
There’s an indescribable feeling of communion that permeates me (Other than the smell of sweat, of course) every time I step foot into the gym. Male or female, old or young, fit or unfit, everyone just keeps to their own routine. Contrary to popular belief, there’s no judging involved. The only feeling greater than hitting a personal record is watching someone else crush their own.
Some of my happier moments this year have been in the gym. Only in the gym, can you train quietly and reap the fruits of your labour. Only in the gym, will everyone be your willing spotter. Only in the gym, can you be rid of the complexities of life.
Maybe, just maybe, the gym is the peace that John Lennon envisioned. You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.