Fourth September, 2021. I made the decision to start going to the gym and I can easily tag it my best decision of the year. The first day was weird for me, I barely knew what to but at the end it still felt good. The trainer at the gym was more of the gym supervisor than a trainer, I soon learnt it was best to ditch him if I wanted any success and growth with my gym life.
Anyways, I soon found my first gym buddy – Kaydee. He was my friend from years ago and becoming workout buddies brought us closer. Our clique would later grow to include a few other friends – Chisom, Bran, Violet, Richie, and Humphery, Tino and Arthur; total sweethearts all of them. We formed a WhatsApp group to encourage each other with our workouts as well as to plan parties and hangouts, but successful and unsuccessful ones. I was grateful for them, having a friend urge and cheer you on in the middle of a burning set was super encouraging; ’go sugar’. ’you can do this’. ’nice one!’
Overtime I started to enjoy working out alone, ears plugged, properly dosed on pre-workout, gloves on, and I feel unstoppable. I work go on and on, pushing myself even harder with no one watching. When I started going to the gym I would go mornings and evenings, while I like morning workouts I didn’t enjoy it much because there were always a lot of people at the gym, I don’t fare well with crowd, plus the gym wasn’t filled with lots of equipment so I would often have to wait for the guys who were benching to be done with the barbell before I could use it, that wasn’t fun.
The gym was in a hotel and the management didn’t manage the gym well. I would have to go the gym like an hour earlier in order to use the limited equipment to get in a good burn before everyone else starts to arrive. That was how I fell in love with working out alone. I look forward to owning a comfortable apartment and a personal gym in it.
Going to gym saved my life, literally. I was in a terrible space of mind, having lost my dad and still having to go through with school, it was all too much to deal with and I needed an outlet for all the emotions and mental stress held up in my body. I thought about running again, I used to run on weekends with my friend Eze some years ago but I decided to do gym instead and I have zero regrets.
One thing I love about working out is how much control it gives me over my body and mind. Knowing I can change the way a certain part of my body looks by just lifting weight and making repeated movements is something that fascinates me. Another thing I love about working out is the exhaustion right after. I feel so exhausted after my session but it’s the good kind of exhausted. I get home and I just lay down lifeless and this feeling is unmatched.
My favorite workout program has to be legs. Leg day is an absolute burner. People like my boyfriend dread it but I love it a lot. The pain is insane. Leaving the gym after leg day requires grace and perseverance. My legs normally get wobbly when I’m walking out of the gym but it’s a pain I choose.
I have two favorite workout terms, one of which is MIND-MUSCLE CONNECTION. This is simply being in tune with your mind as you target the muscles you’re working on. It is a conscious and deliberate act of contracting your muscles. You have to focus every tension created on the muscle group that you’re working. It calls for a more active than passive workout.
The second term is PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD. Progressive overload is a method of strength training. It basically means increasing the stress placed on the targeted muscle. It could be by increasing the weight gradually after each set or by increasing the number of reps done.
I’ve recently moved cities and found a new gym but I miss the old one and all my friends at the gym. I don’t have any friends from the new gym yet but it’s okay. I just go there, do me and head home.
Most pictures shared are screenshots from videos as I happen to have more videos of myself than pictures.
I am a gym rat in action and at heart and it’s my wish to remain so and continue to grow.