Hangin' out

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning, I rush to the gym around opening to fight for a spot at the bench press and Gravitron. My rivals are older men and women who could be my grandparents. The older ladies are generally taking it easy, but it is incredible to see how hard many of the older men are going after it. A few of these dudes are huge, but most are there, apparently, to keep the qi moving and maybe to get a bit of a sweat on. Very few show any awareness of weight room etiquette from Western gyms: toweling off the bench after use, replacing weights when repping in on a machine, moving quickly through an exercise if you see someone is waiting. Not really a big deal, though, because as soon as you ask to jump in on a machine folks generally either hurry along to their next routine or let you jump in. The trainers are attentive to clients misusing machines--letting weights crash, pushing on levers meant to be pulled--in all instances where things that cost money could get broken.

One, who we call Mr. Clean, is usually pumping iron and is very outspoken, leading the locker-room banter going back and forth across the mirrored room. He is a good dude, more courteous than mostAt least when I'm around, it seems like the conversation swings to talk of America or the West in comparison to China: NBA vs CBA, clothing, money. Most comments have nothing to do with me directly, but I do become the topic of analysis occasionally, particularly as I'm trying to force out the last rep of a set and am making some excruciating face or emitting some kind of gross sound. Feels good to be a celebrity--just wish it wasn't for my bitter-beer bench press face.