I joined a gym to tone up and lose a few pounds after my marriage failed and had been going regularly in the early mornings for 6 months. At 40 years of age, I was only a bit heavier than I was in high school but I was challenging myself to get as fit as possible. My relationship with my ex-wife had been toxic in the last couple years and I never had the time or energy to work on myself. Suddenly, I had more time on my hands and a desire to improve myself. Standing at 5'9" tall I barely tipped the scales at 160 lbs so, although I'd probably never be a bodybuilder, I was happy to be lean and fit again.
I enjoyed the quiet of my early-morning workouts when the gym wasn't as busy. I had a routine set for myself, I'd prepare some overnight oats, fix myself a thermos of coffee, leave my place early in the morning, get in a good training session and then enjoy my well-earned breakfast after I got to the office, usually about 20 minutes before the start of my workday.
Recently, my whole schedule experienced a shake-up as my boss needed me in the office at 6 AM to deal with some overseas clients. I didn't really want to give up my morning workouts but I had developed a reputation as a quiet, competent professional and our European clients liked to deal with me personally.
So, I had no other option than to work out after work. I wasn't about to give up the gains I had made.
I found the gym to be way too busy for my liking in the late afternoon, so I started going home right after work, grabbing a quick nap, fuelling up and then heading to the gym for 8 PM. It was tougher to stay motivated but I managed to stick with it. Later, I would reflect on how happy I was that I did.
So, 8:30 on a Thursday evening found me warming up for my weight workout with a 20-minute run on the treadmill. The gym was fairly quiet with a few ladies and one couple training at various stations. I plugged my ear-buds in and started a slow warm-up trot. I don't like to wear flashy gym-clothes so I had a pair of cotton shorts on and Guinness t-shirt. I hate running. I really do, but it works wonders for my waistline. Sometimes I'd do 40-50 minutes on the treadmill and forgo my weight session. That night I was looking forward to a chest and triceps workout.
After 20 minutes, I felt warm enough and headed over to the weight-room. It was empty and I started in on some dumbbell bench-presses. I was taking a quick rest after my second set when I noticed an older guy walk into the room. I say noticed because I couldn't help it. He appeared to be in his early to mid-fifties and had short-cropped salt-and-pepper hair and a matching, neat goatee. He looked to be about 6 feet tall and it was obvious that he was no stranger to the weights. He was solid and muscular but without the overly-bulky look of a hard-core bodybuilder. He was in the kind of shape that I wanted to be; bigger but not massive. The kind of guy who still looks good in a suit.
I must have been staring a little longer than normal because he smiled as he walk past me and said, "Hey." I nodded back and lay back down for my third set of presses. I moved on to triceps pull-downs as he worked on his chest exercises on the pec machine. "Looks like we're both on chest day," he remarked at one point. "Yeah, it's usually my favourite," I replied. We both continued our training session while moving around the gym from station to station, a few times we crossed paths and briefly chatted. I learned that his name was Alan but that he went by Al. told him mine (Mark).
We worked out and chatted about training and nutrition a little bit and I related my usual complaint that it was tough to eat well on a busy schedule. Al told me that he had an online resource he used religiously for quick and healthy meal prep and offered to text it to me. I said that it sounded like something I'd want to check out so he handed me his phone and said, "Enter your number and I'll fire it off to you later." I used to be reluctant to give my number out, but blocking a bothersome contact is so simple nowadays that I didn't mind. So I did. "Great," he said, "I'll shoot that to you later this evening."
I thanked him and finished my workout. Al was still training so I wished him a great night and he said he'd be sure to send me the link later. I went to the locker room, stripped down and rewarded myself with a long, hot shower. Longer than I usually do.
I gave my aching muscles all the hot water and soap they could handle. After about 15 minutes, I turned the shower off, towelled myself off and wrapped the towel around my waist and padded back to the locker room in my flip flops. Al was sitting at a bench removing his shoes and he smiled as I came in. "Good shower?" he asked.
"Yeah," I replied, suddenly feeling shy, "the best part of my workout."
"I hear ya!" Al said, as he stood up and pulled off his damp t-shirt.
Wow. The guy had obviously put in a lot of time in the gym, as evidenced by his well-defined arms and chest. He had a flat stomach but no over-developed abs. Before I turned my eyes away he skinned down his shorts and, standing back up, tossed them in his bag. I got a glimpse of a thick penis, hanging about 4 inches, and two heavy-looking balls. All of which he kept neatly trimmed. Luckily, I didn't think he noticed me looking before I turned away. He headed off to the shower and I got dressed and left the gym.
It was nearly 10:30 by the time I got home. Luckily, I don't live far from the gym. I watched a bit of news on TV and decided to turn in for the night. I was brushing my teeth when I heard a text notification on my phone. I grabbed it off the bedside table after I crawled into bed and saw a text from a number I didn't know. It was a link to a nutrition site. Before I got a chance to click the link a second text popped up, "Here's the site I mentioned. Lots of good recipes there. It's Al from the gym BTW."
