Heavy

Squatting 315 pounds for twelve reps with a low bench

I'm sitting on a low, steel bench in front of a squat rack with Even Flow by Pearl Jam blasting in my ears. There's a skinny Latino lad on the squat rack next to me, his body language revealing his self conscious determination. It's Saturday and the gym is practically empty. A great day to train legs.
I stare up at the Olympic bar with the six 45 pound plates I slid on after doing three sets of light warmup squats at 20 reps each. Lots of 45 pound plates on a bar always seem to mock me. It's as if they're whispering insults daring me to push them around. The Latino kid next to me racks his bar with 135 on it and glances over at me to see if I've done anything yet. Big dogs pounding heavy weight is always a curiosity at gyms. It's part inspiration and part "that dude's mucho loco." Out of habit I adjust my knee wraps. I need to be reassured they're tight. I stand up, put my weight belt on, take a step towards the bar and take a deep breath.
"Clear your head Mark."
I get under the bar, find the spot behind my traps where it likes to rest, find the bar's balance and lift it off the rack. I take a step back so I'm over the low bench and start my descent. My a*s hits the bench and I push myself back up through my quads, glutes and hamstrings. My abs and back tighten under the strain. One, two, three, four, five. I can feel my abdomen expanding as if it's trying to blow my weight belt off and that familiar ache in my lower back as I push off the low bench to a standing position. Six, seven, eight, nine. My quads are screaming under the strain, my face is beet red and the veins in my neck look like cables under my skin. 10. I'm grunting, practically screaming with that 315 pound bar across my shoulders pushing up from that bench with everything I have. 11. I can barely stand up, I'm close to failure, the place muscles grow.12. I'm done. I stand still for a moment to reorient myself, take a step forward and carefully rack the weight. My legs feel like steel Jello. I'm breathing so hard my lats are flaring with every breath and I can feel my pulse pounding in my head. The Latino kid had been watching me do the set.
"That's some heavy weight" he says.
I can't talk at the moment so I just smile and nod in agreement. I wait two minutes and do the same thing again. Same weight, same number of reps for a total of 5 sets reps 12,12,10,8,6. I'm well satisfied but not completely as I am aiming for 5 sets of 12 reps throughout the routine. Never be to satisfied in life. It leads to stagnation.
With squats out of the way I do the rest of my leg work out. Leg press, Straight leg dead lifts and leg extentions. Another glorious leg workout completed and it was awesome.
So if you're wondering why I subject myself to this 4 times a week the answer is simple. I f*****g love bodybuilding. The only thing I love more than bodybuilding is sex and both are physical forms of self expression a man with heavy Aries energy such as myself is a natural for. I'm a firm believer in finding positive outlets for the archetypal forces that pulsate through us and bodybuilding and Aries are a match made in heaven.

Author's Note

I don't have much practice in writing stories like I do poetry so if you read this thank you and I hope it was okay.

Reviews

[Will]

For being mainly a poet, your story writing is pretty damn good. The second paragrap ph is heavily laden with wonderful imagery, and I can practically feel the weight across my shoulders and the popping veins. Nice story, Ricochet.

[Baby Ricochet]

Thank you Will

[Tate Morgan]

Mark like all addictions weightlifting gives a adrenaline high. I imagine you wont dispute this is an addiction lol I see you are branching out a bit in the story arena. I like that it gives us a deeper look into your life. All men fear weakness. However few devote so much time to strength. I think it great that you exercise your brain here as well. A good man from where I sit. You seem to keep your demons in check well. Not all of us can do that. We all like having you here. You are the everyman among us. My guess is you do a lot of your thinking when lifting. You have something others lack. The courage to follow your dreams come what may. By the way I assume it is time we were on a fist name basis.

[Baby Ricochet]

The endorphin rush is there. That's for sure. Thank you Tate. I appreciate your input.