…was at least what I was thinking when this guy was spotting me, and trying to take my soul. Literally as he was helping me, his head was over the bar and almost over mine, and his eyes would not leave mine. Now ironically I’m an eye guy, at least when it comes to women, as that’s the first thing I notice.
Anyway, when being spotted it’s already an effort on where to look in the first place. If I look at the bar, I’m going to over think my form, which would probably be a good thing. If I stare at the light above, I’m going to get that after affect image halo thing where it’s right there but you can’t quite capture it. And obviously I’m not going to stare at the dude, while also being careful not to breathe too deeply, for obvious reasons.
And asking someone to spot in the first place is always fraught with awkwardness. I mean you don’t need to look at me long to guess yeah, that guy’s gonna need some assistance. I’m around a buck 40 and pretty much lifting my body weight, but a lot of times do far better with help. Even if they’re just mailing it in and barley touching the bar, at least if I can’t get it up after the fifth or sixth time, the nice person above will gladly assist me.
So a lot of times if I can’t find a gym buddy, I’ll look around and try to catch someone’s eye. Now I won’t lie ladies, I go for the guys in this case. Chances are if I’m almost lifting my body weight, or more when I’m feeling ballsy, it probably weighs more than you. And though the spot in most cases is there just as a backup, the spot still needs to be a backup, just in case. If I’m struggling when number 4 comes around and just peter out energy wise, your hands underneath won’t really protect my windpipe if you can’t get the bar secured, or at the very least off of me.
No worries though, because just the same, I know my limits. At the college gym where I started gym time, a meathead once asked me to spot him. I smiled, laughed, and pointed at myself and what he wanted to lift. I said that weighs more than I do, and if he gets into trouble is he really going to want me helping him? I even had my football gloves on, before I started using the runner’s kind, which definitely help more with tensile strength (and obviously keeping gym germs away) but still, why risk it.
One time I tried to out do my previous record when no one around, which should have been an indication that I shouldn’t have pushed. But there I was with the bar and weights sitting on my chest. Now thankfully I actually have one now as opposed to the chicken chest back in the day, but it still hurt, and wasn’t hurting less as the seconds went on. So I shrugged and just dumped the weights on the one side.
The noise wasn’t really bad and as I stood and stretched, looking at the one camera with a thumbs up and smile. I’ve always found people take themselves too seriously, especially at the gym, and or when they’re embarrassed. Look, this happens to everyone at one point and if it doesn’t, a genuine good for you!
Either way, I didn’t ask the guy that started me down this post for help again. The culty way in which he wouldn’t break eye contact, all wide eyed and twitchy, was as such that I thought eh, may as well go do more cardio. I mean come on, it’s cardio!