"Excuse me," said a husky, feminine voice, "Would you mind spotting for me? There's no one else here." The voice continued, "I'd like to do a set of heavy bench-presses before I finish my workout, but I haven't lifted heavy in a while."
"Sure," I answered, as I looked up at the young woman. It was very late on a Thursday night. Besides the lone staff member, we were the only two people still left in the gym. I was sitting on a bench, cooling down after a hard workout, and an even harder day at work. I had a lot of things on my mind that day and I had barely even looked at the other people in the gym the entire night. I'm a project manager for a construction company, so I often have to work late to finish construction bids that are due the next morning.
The woman was fairly tall, at about five-feet eight-inches. She was wearing a baggy sweat suit, that almost completely hid her figure, but I could clearly see she had the broad shoulders of a seasoned weightlifter. She was also wearing a pair of worn leather, fingerless lifting gloves; another sign that she was no novice to pumping iron.
She had a cute, almost pixy face, with clear, wide-set, gray-blue eyes and very short, crop-cut, dark-brown, almost black hair. I judged her, age-wise, to be to be somewhere in her late twenties. I keep using the term "woman" instead of "girl" to describe her, because in spite of her age, she was clearly not a little girly-girl. Given the woman's deep, dark tan, I immediately suspected that she was a bodybuilder.
But, the woman didn't have that emaciated, dried-out look, like a lot of female bodybuilders, so I wasn't completely sure if she was one. On top of that, a lot of female bodybuilders favor the brassy, longhaired, bleach-blonde bombshell look. Or, maybe, those women are all trying to look like California surfer girls? Anyway, I'm not really sure why so many female bodybuilders go the longhaired, bleach-blonde route, but if this young woman was a bodybuilder, she definitely wasn't going along with the stereotype of the sport.
I followed the woman over to her bench and was surprised to see that she was using an Olympic bar and some very heavy weights. Very few women can do that. As I took my place behind her, as her spotter, she quickly knocked out a high-repetition set of heavy bench-presses.
"Wow!"
I thought to myself,
this girl is really strong!"
"I'm impressed," I said, when she finished, "There aren't many women that can handle that much weight so easily." I continued, "Are you a bodybuilder?" I thought that it would be more diplomatic to ask her if she was a bodybuilder. The woman might have been insulted if I had, instead, asked her if she was a powerlifter! I finished, "From your tan, I'm guessing that you're a bodybuilder, although you're certainly strong enough to be a powerlifter."
Her cute face broke into a big smile, so I was pleased to see that my compliment, and my attempt at diplomacy, had been successful. She chuckled, "Good guess! I used to be a hardcore bodybuilder." She finished, as she looked at my own broad shoulders, thick chest, and eighteen-inch arms, "And, from the looks of it, I'd say that you're a bodybuilder, too."
"Thanks," I said, "I am, but I'm not hardcore anymore, either."
"I'm Christine, by the way," she said, as she offered me her hand, "So, did you ever compete?"
"I'm Walt," I answered, as I took her strong hand, "I competed a few times, years ago, but I'm not really into all of that strict contest dieting. I like to eat way too much!"
"I can relate to that!" Christine answered with a delightful laugh, "Well, it was nice meeting you, Walt. Thanks for the spot!" as she turned and headed for the women's locker room.
******
I ran into Christine, again at the gym, the following week. She waved to me when she came in and later came over to ask me if I would spot for her again. She was wearing those same baggy sweats, so other than seeing her broad shoulders again, I still had no idea what kind of a figure she had. But, I thought,
"We seem to be keeping similar hours. Maybe she'd make a good workout buddy."
On that day, it was earlier in the evening. After she finished her heavy set of bench presses, I was really curious to learn more about her, so I said, "It's still fairly early, Christine. Would you like to go get a cup of coffee, or something, with me?" I finished with a laugh, "After I take a shower and change into my street clothes, of course!"
Christine looked at me carefully and hesitated. Finally, she said, "I'd like to, Walt, but I really have to get going. I have to get up very early tomorrow morning. Will you give me a rain check on that coffee?"
"Sure, Christine," I answered, "We'll go out for coffee some other time."
Thanks, Walt!" she said with a smile, "I'm sure that I'll see you in here again, real soon. Well, I've got to get going now. Good night!"
"Good night, Christine!" I said, as she walked away. At that point, I shrugged my shoulders and headed for the men's locker room. I really didn't expect anything to come out of our little rain check agreement.
******
The following Wednesday, however, I did see Christine again at the gym, as soon as I walked in. To my surprise, she came right over to me and said, "Hi, Walt! I just got here a few minutes ago, myself. Can I cash in my rain check for that coffee, this evening?"
"That would be great, Christine!" I answered, "I plan on working out for about an hour and a half. How about you?"
"About the same," she replied.
"Well then, we can go for coffee after we're finished," I said.
Again, Christine was wearing those baggy sweats that almost completely hid her figure. We agreed to meet at the front desk, after we had finished our workouts, showered, and changed into our street clothes. I, of course, was finished first, and was waiting for her to come out of the women's locker room.
When Christine walked up to me, at last, she was wearing a plain, white, long-sleeved, cotton blouse and blue jeans. In her street clothes, I could now see that, besides her broad shoulders, Christine had the classic, vee-shaped torso of a real bodybuilder. She had a wide chest, average, maybe B-cup size breasts, a narrow waist, and very thick thighs. I still couldn't clearly see Christine's arms, in that long-sleeved blouse, but they appeared to be fairly muscular.
"Nice,"
I thought to myself,
"she doesn't have one of those 'monster porn star boobjobs', like a lot of female bodybuilders are getting these days."