the gym

I entered the gym. It was my first time and I felt extremely nervous and apprehensive of what lay ahead. I knew that soon I would be lifting weights that I had never even dreamed of lifting and that I would probably be making a fool out of myself in front of all those men that had been coming here years. However at the same time I was excited! Excited that soon I would be working my body to its full potential, feeling the muscle fibres breaking with every rep and praying that they would grow back bigger and stronger.
We walked up the stairs and my friend casually said, hello, to some of the members leaving, looking sweaty and exhausted but happy that they had completed another work out. The smell of sweat overwhelmed me as we reached the top of the stairs; I turned to look at my friend but he didn’t even react to the smell that was invading my nostrils. I guessed that he must have conditioned himself to ignore it and I hoped that I could do the same.
We walked to the reception and handed over our money to the owner who politely asked us what we would be working on, but I was too nervous to speak and my friend casually chatted to him while I fiddled with my thumbs eager to start training. I wished that like my friend I could be cool and relaxed but I couldn’t.
We entered the gym and the sight of 20 fully grown muscly men awaited me. This intensified my fears as I felt my skinny arms and my cheeks reddened. No one turned to look at us but as we walked to the first machine we would be working on I felt as if everyone was eyeing me up and mocking me. I sat on the first machine and completed my first rep with extreme ease and the excitement arose from my stomach. The journey had started and didn’t know where it would finish.