Pretty at the gym

Of course I want to look pretty. If I were a dude I would want to be cool, but I am a gal and wanting to look pretty is a built in reflex.

The only place where this doesn't apply is the gym. In the gym it is all about getting the best out of this one hour or so that I am spending there and the term that I would choose for my look is: Appropriate!

See, the gym is a bubble in which a lot of things are turned upside down... that is why a lot of people are scared of it, I guess. Once I learned to understand this weird, little world I started to love it. It is therapeutic because things are allowed and even asked for which usually are highly inappropriate.

There are two things that made me feel awkward initially: Clothes, and well, how to phrase it?... bodily things... I'd say.

Clothes

I choose tight clothes for good reasons. 

A big shirt may seem appropriate because it covers the wobbly bits nicely, and although one feels dressed like in a potato sack, at least nothing will be showed off, or will it?

Well, at times one might be upside down in the gym and the previously comfy cotton wrapper, does not really wrap anymore.

Then there is this matter of jewellery. Two good reasons to not wear them however plain I might feel. I might injure myself and I might  break the jewellery. I actually would even like to take off my wedding ring, but my hands have become bonier and bigger with age, it just won't come off - divorce impossible...

No seriously! My grandma had to have her wedding ring cut open when she sprayed the finger during her gymnastic class and it swell up. The problem is that the swelling can't go down anymore when the blood that streamed in is held in place by the ring. This is dangerous and the ring has to be removed surgically. In a gym there are so many moving parts and things sticking out, that everything dangling is dangerous.

Another thing that can distract from a good workout is hair. Untied, it is all over the place, tied back it is in the way when having to lie down. So I came up with an ingenious piggy tail look. It's really worthwhile trying out a few things to find the best hairdo for the respective gym session. And Yes! People did look at me as if I were bonkers, but they got over it soon when they realised that I am not carrying an axe in my sports bag, and that in general I am friendly and harmless.

Well, and my look did the trick. It was practical and let me do what needed to be done and it started to pay off!

Bodily things

OK! We all sweat when we move about, ... and we all know that sweat can smell and of course we don't want that and hence we rather not sweat or we use remedies. The 'not sweatting' thing is a bit counter productive, though. My focus lies in weight training which makes me sweat less than during a workout on the treadmill, but sweatting I do nevertheless. However, fresh sweat does not stink. It's the bacteria in the sweat that procude the odourous stuff... it's basically bacteria poo that stinks... so if gym clothes are fresh and the skin is washed, the body odour can be kept at bay... a bit of sweat might even have an appeal to some as it also contains feromones which are said to be a big turn on ...

The worst thing for me in the gym is the smell of last nights dinner hanging in clothes and PERFUME! Having to take a deep breath next to a perfume laden lady can be a reall performance killer. So just clean and soapy it is for me.

By Babul
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Then there are grimaces and red faces. Ladies, let's just agree that the gym is not the place to look pretty. I am working hard for my own benefit, and I had to learn to ignore ignorant people who feel obliged to comment.

This picture brought me a comment on a website: 'The ugliest I've even seen!' and I have to admit that I am not at my prettiest there. But see: the important thing is that two others stood in for me and liking the fact that I was not posing but working hard. 

This is not a proper statistical statement, it nevertheless shows that it will never be possible to make everybody happy. And so I decided to do what is best for me. 

By Bob
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And last but not least... the matter of 'noise'. The gym is THE place were I can let go and huff and puff however much I like. Ever heard of scream therapy? Well, however one is standing with this sort of therapy, here you get it for free. Thing just is: If something is getting difficult or heavy we tend to hold our breath putting pressure on the vessels. I you ever were congested and pressed too hard until little veins pop in your eyes... A similar thing can happen when the breathing goes wrong in the gym. Screaming is releasing  the pressure slowly and controlled and the noise of breathing enhances the rhythm and focus on what I do.  

I regularly see a funny effect in the gym. I am breathing technique obsessed and hence I am huffing, puffing and screaming a lot. At the beginning people look at me from under their eye lids, but after a while I hear similar noises from all over the place and people are starting to work out with more focus.

In a nutshell: The gym is the least place to look pretty. I am going to the gym in order to look pretty when I get out of it, and hopefully I will look my best until the end of my life.