Russ's Ravings: I Went Back To My Gym. And It Felt Normal

Editor's note: The following is Patch Field Editor Russ Crespolini's, hopefully, weekly column. It is reflective of his opinion alone.

Last week, for the first time in nine months, I stepped into my regular gym and lifted weights for 30 minutes. And it felt...normal.

Whatever that is.

I don't like the word normal because it assumes too much. There is nothing that is universally normal despite what society might agree upon. Normalcy is individual. Much like the concept of big "T" and little "t" truths. There no universal truth, there are a series of smaller truths that get agreed upon by consensus.

But that is the word I am using because for me, that is how it felt. Normal.

But that is not to say it was business as usual. It was very different. My particular gym has capped the number about inside at one time at 92. This adheres to the 25 percent rule imposed upon them for reopening. There is also a tracker online so you can view how many people are at the club before you even leave your house. In my case, there were less than 20 people there when I went.

Inside they took my temperature while I scanned my credentials in and beyond the enhanced cleaning, reminder signs and prerecorded messages about precautions things looked and felt and smelled the same.

Except everyone had a mask on.

Sure, there was one guy who wore it like a chinstrap and another who kept lowering it to unlock his phone to take selfies, but that is kind of what I would expect at the gym. These are the same guys who wouldn't wipe down their machines before all this. New mandates don't make those people suck less.

I found my return to the gym extremely comforting. The familiar drive to the parking lot, pulling into roughly the same space I've parked in for more than a decade and a half. The slight resistance of the door when I opened it, the layout all where I left it.

And those familiar archetypes of gym goer was there as well.

The guy who makes up excuses to talk to every girl on the floor.

"Hey, Sabrina...is your name Sabrina? No? I couldn't really tell with the mask. Crazy though being back here again but I can't tell who is who. You been back here since they reopened or? What? Oh yeah sure. No problem. Don't pull a mask muscle!"

(spins around)

"Lucy? Is that you? Ah. From the back you looked like Lucy. Anyways maybe I can jump in there in between sets? Right. There is another machine right next to you. Good observation!"

The woman who is climbing the stair-stepper with her legs looking like they are about to fall off her body as she desperately hangs on to the railings.

The guy in jeans. For no reason. Walking the treadmill almost in reverse.

The father and son duo who banter around the weight sets.

The guy with sleeve tattoos listening to hardcore metal music on his phone strutting around in circles like he's about to enter a pit fight with a dinosaur.

The couple who wear matching unitards.

The dude with the Ultimate Warrior wrist straps and gallon jug 1/4 full of some sort of protein Kool Aid.

And I couldn't have been happier to see them all back. It felt good, it felt right and most importantly, it felt safe.

I was so excited I didn't factor in the fact that between the recovery from my brain surgery and the pandemic I hadn't lifted a serious weight since January. Ironically relying on muscle memory I set things to my usual weight.

And now I am typing this column with my nose, pecking away at the keyboard like a chicken because I can't move my arms.

So lesson learned.

But this made me curious about what activities you have resumed that made you feel this way. Was it dining outdoors or dining indoors? Checking out an outdoor concert or shopping in your favorite store?

Drop me a line or let me know in the comments below.

Russ Crespolini is a Field Editor for Patch Media, adjunct professor and college newspaper advisor. His columns have won awards from the National Newspaper Association and the New Jersey Press Association.

He writes them in hopes of connecting with readers and engaging with them. And because it is cheaper than therapy. He can be reached at russ.crespolini@patch.com