7 8 9

There is this PJ which goes like

“Why is 10 scared of 7? ”
“Cause 7 8 (ate) 9”

Let me be honest. I did find it funny when I heard it for the first time. I was probably 10 years old then. But this post is no Joke.

I don’t know if 10 is scared of 7. But I am really scared. Not scared, but I dread it and kinda hate it. That’s because I started going to the gym.

I am told to do 3 sets of 12 repetitions of any exercise. It could be push-ups, pull-ups, bicep curls, or whatever. For most of them, the first few repetitions are ok. But when I reach the 7th, it gets so hard. The part of the body that I am exercising wails in pain. And when the mind counts

Rep 7, the pain starts to increase even further.

Next rep 8 – the pain goes on an overdrive and the body curses itself for doing this exercise.

Next rep 9 – the body shows all of its pain in the muscles on the face. Whether the muscle that is being exercised is working out or not, the facial muscles workout. The face shows up a tight grimace contorting every possible muscle on the face complaining to everyone that the body is being hurt. The sad part is, nobody looks at me (C’mon, I am not a girl) and even if they do, they don’t really care.

Next rep 10 – The body feels that the mind is more powerful and borderline masochistic. Fighting the mind is not going to be useful. So the body decides to start tricking the mind. It starts putting thoughts in the mind such as “What if this tears the muscle”, “May be the posture of the exercise is wrong”, “May be we have to call the instructor”, “Hey you need to wipe off the sweat from your forehead”. All these thoughts have no real value. The only reason they are implanted is to stop the mind from counting any more. But it’s all in vain.

Next rep 11 – The mind doesn’t listen any more. The facial muscles have twisted themselves to their max. All the fat from the face has burnt and drained out already. But the mind is not budging. So the vocal cords come to the rescue. A “hnnnggg” or a “uhhhhh” grunting sound is created by the vocal cords and the sound escapes from the lips. The heavier the weight I am pushing, the the higher the decibel level of the sound. Still, nobody turns or comes to help.

Next rep 12 – Somehow the body injects a burst of energy just for this rep. It’s like the nitro boost in car racing games. The body is also smart. It was holding this energy all this while and never released it. It’s because the body knows that this torture is going to end now. The tension from the weights is going to drop off and the muscles are going to breathe. Pleasure is just around the corner.

And then the instructor comes in and says “Good, now don’t stop.. two more reps”