by Julian Noyola
Frail, scrawny arms dangled from my delicate body. Pessimism, timidity, and fear grew inside me as I walked into my school’s gloomy gymnasium and saw a rack full of colorless cast iron dumbbells, a multifunctional workout machine that belonged in a tomb, and a power rack that was probably built before the school was founded. During my childhood, I suffered from a lack of attention from my incredibly busy family, which caused a long-standing forlornness in my life. With this inside me, I felt a deep connection with the emptiness that enveloped the room.
Feeling comfortable, I advanced towards the rack with “light” dumbbells and grabbed a 20-pound dumbbell to test my strength. Immediately, the overpowering weight pulled my entire slim body down, I let the free weight drop. I struggled to put it up with two hands. I then grasped a 5-pound weight and, with my lack of knowledge and experience, tried to imitate the exercises I had seen on TV.
Urgency, curiosity, and a yearning to improve drove the research I conducted as I surfed the internet. YouTube videos and online workout articles were my go-to sources. I tried different exercises I found, attempted numerous challenges in the fitness community, and tried a multitude of diet plans to live a healthier life.
Between the number of hours I dedicated to working out and opening tabs on my laptop with “the best protein powder to buy,” I slowly started to realize that I did not feel as apathetic towards life as I had before. The connection with my school’s gymnasium changed from a feeling of desolation to one filled with fulfilment and accomplishment.
“I am surrounded by a community of people who have a shared purpose as they walk into the old gymnasium: to work together to improve our lives physically and mentally, one dumbbell at a time."
Realizing that I was genuinely ignited by the passion that exercising had given me, I developed a plan. Exercising resulted in improved mental health, grades, nutrition, and focus in classes, and I wanted to share those benefits with my friends. I decided to create a club at my school for others to work out and learn how exercising could improve their lives.
I created different workout routines for people and demonstrated how to properly perform the exercises. I learned how to use Microsoft Excel to format the workout routines for each individual.
A few months after starting the club, the results have exceeded expectations. Instead of a single person working out in the gloomy, out-dated gym, there are now seven people who go every day, with an additional person occasionally joining. Music blasts and competition arises between individuals as they strive to beat one another in their progress. My friends often come up to me to demonstrate their successes and a feeling of ecstasy always echoes in their voices. I have been successful in igniting my passion for working out into my schoolmates.
With the love of weight lifting I have accumulated through every individual work out, I no longer feel a sense of longstanding forlornness in my life. I have created a club where I can intertwine exercise and health with the bona fide enjoyment helping others brings me. I am surrounded by a community of people who have a shared purpose as they walk into the old gymnasium: to work together to improve our lives physically and mentally, one dumbbell at a time.
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