Gym visit #7

To celebrate Mark's seventh visit to the gym, I would like to post this picture of Mark working hard at the gym, apparently in the "hoops" section.

 

Two more visits, and you're the big winner for February... 

Visit #5

You can add number 5 to your little calendar, Todd, as I phoned in my latest visit last night. I am finding that later at night is my favorite time to go to the gym. The place is emptier, sometimes I can have the basketball court or the pool all to myself, and it cuts down on the number of 70 year old naked dicks I have to look at in the locker room.

I am quickly settling into a routine. I start out at the weights, then I move up to the cardio room where I usually use the elliptical machine for half an hour, then I do a light shoot around at the basketball court followed by swimming a few lanes in the pool and ending everything with a nice soak in the hot tub. My visits usually last about an hour and a half to two hours.

The worst thing about going to the gym is the locker room, which is usually crowded and poorly provisioned. At any given time, about half the showers seem like they're out of order and since they don't let you keep a permanent locker, you're always having to haul stuff in and out of there. There's barely enough room to get dressed, so I usually try to go to the gym already dressed in workout clothes. The second worst thing is the assinine workout music they usually play over the loudspeakers. Are there any studies that indicate that listening to C&C Music Factory improves muscle reconstruction? I doubt it.

On the whole, though, I've been enjoying the gym. It kind of reminds me of the Roman baths of old.

updates

Mark called in his 4th visit to the gym tonight- and I wanted to call attention to a new feature. I am logging all of Mark's visits on the calendar on the top left hand of this blog. Now we can all quickly see how many visits Mark has made to the gym.

Stats

Dear Mark,

Congratulations on making it to the gym! As far as verification, I would love a picture of you to post on the blog. Preferable in workout attire.

After hearing this news, I ran some numbers, and I though I would share them with you.

-For you break even (not pay me anything), you'll need to get approximately 28% usage out of your 7-day a week gym membership. To MAKE money, you only need to hit about 5% more!
-Since joining 6 days ago, you have gotten 16% usage of your membership. If you manage to go today or Sunday, that will raise you to your 28% push. Both, and you're on track to make some dollar bills! If you don't do either, your average will be a weak 14%. Do you think you'll work out pre or post Superbowl?

Chin up, buddy! You can still get me to pay for part of February! Just start working out more than once every six days! Well, technically, you'd need to work out more than once every three days, but you get the idea.

One Down...

I went to the gym for the first time last night as per the terms of our arrangement. I think we're going to have to verify my visits in a different way than proposed, however, as the counter was really busy and I didn't really feel like asking to tie up their phone line for some stupid bet of mine. Would you accept a picture of me at the gym with a current newspaper? Luckily, I ran into Christi Richardson while I was there, so she'll be able to confirm my presence last night.

As for what actually went down, I did my core lifts, my bench press, my lat pulls, my bicep curls, etc. Then I spent half an hour on the elliptical machines. I never really used the elliptical machines before because I always thought people looked kind of stupid on them, but the experience was actually far less fruity than I imagined. In fact, it was a pretty good workout. In half an hour, I burned the caloric equivalent of a McDonald's cheeseburger, which is a good thing because I was eating a cheeseburger while on the machine. Well, not really, but the idea did occur to me.

After the workout, Nora and I went to unwind in the hot tub. She brought her latest copy of Bomb, which is an arts/conversation magazine. Her high-falutin magazine piqued the interest of the locals. All the hairy, overweight guys sitting in the hot tub with us gathered around and marveled at her exotic magazine like a bunch of apes who've discovered a coke bottle. Their interest in the magazine developed alternately into conversations about terrorism, 19th century sailing practices and writing.

Then I went home and slept like a baby.

Dear Mark,

Thank you for joining me at the Blazers game last night. I was disappointed we didn't get a coupon for a free Chalupa, but I'm glad I could derail your fitness plan for one more day.

In an unrelated note, would you like to come over and watch the Lost premiere with me?

Regardless, hope you're doing well.

Sincerely,

Todd J. Pangilinan

Accepted.

Mark has responded:

I accept your challenge gladly and look forward to spending your money. I understand your skepticism, but I think you should know that I have been going to the gym three times a week (for the most part) for years now and this wager is only going to motivate me more. Given the sweetener you've added (the promise of joining me and wearing gym clothes of my choosing) makes the opportunity practically irresistible. Right now, I'm leaning towards having you wear an oversized Tasmanian Devil t-shirt, but I suppose I have twelve months to think it over.

The only detail we may need to work out is the verification of my visits. I'm not sure that 24 Hour Fitness will allow me to use their phone, even if a bet is at stake. Would you accept photos of me at the gym holding up a copy of that day's paper?