Saturday, November 13, 2010

Peaks and perks

Sitting here after the gym one contemplates why any sane person would do this level of self abuse. Most days you just hurt and who in their right mind takes up a hobby that hurts? The only answer one has is masochism and an addiction to endorphins. That and living in a warm climate. The last one has a peculiar positive side effect in that you don’t hurt as much as you could because the muscles don’t cramp up as badly. Winter, such as it is here, was shocking as there were some days that one could barely lift the arms up, but you persist because of that addiction thing.

You know you are addicted when you are running on the cross trainer in between sets and you find yourself smiling. And humming. Even after the logic part of the brain catches you and passes little observations like you are going to hurt in the morning. For the record that little logic voice is really prissy and annoying. This is where the masochism comes in. Anyone committed to weight training has to like pain on some level. Not the nasty sharp stingy kind, but the deep persistent kind that comes from muscles being damaged and rebuilt on a regular basis. It is the only logical explanation... well that and the endorphin high is pretty spectacular.

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