After classes, you sit at home bored, trying to find something to do. You look at your calendar and realize with a shock that you haven’t exercised in more than a week. You sigh and lace up your tennis shoes. You suppose that you should probably go get a work out. You walk over and stare at the huge imposing structure that is bound to be filled with students ridiculously more in shape than you are. It is the University of Oregon Student Recreation Center, and here are some thoughts that may pop up in students’ minds when they walk through its doors.
1. “ Wow this place is nice. Look! They have giant TVs!”
Walking through the front doors, you are dumped in the huge open front lobby. Perked on the wall are multiple giant TVs showing the sporting events of the evening. You pause. “Would I get away with sitting and watching TV for a workout?” you wonder to yourself. Hey, you’re at the Rec Center. You made the walk over. You could totally sit around watching TV. They wouldn’t have these here if they didn’t want you to use them.
2. “How the hell does this even work?”
You are at one of the many confusing weight lifting machines. You stand there casually trying to appear like you totally know what you are doing. In your head, you are frantically scanning the instructions. You don’t even know what body part supposedly gets a work out from this particular machine. Sighing and not wanting to look like a fool, you walk away to a different machine and start the process over again.
3. “How is this person not even breaking a sweat, yet I’m here panting like a dog?”
Now, you decide to run on a treadmill. The person next to you has perfect posture even in a full sprint. They’ve been running for a half an hour and they are breathing like they are walking. You, however, have been running for all of five minutes. You feel like you are going to die and desperately want to take a break. How fast is this person even going? You glance over. Faster than you are, naturally. You bump up the speed. You find yourself competing with your neighbor without them even knowing it, and you still aren’t winning.
4. “How much longer should I stay?”
You’ve only been at the gym for 20 minutes, but it feels like 20 hours. So far, you have run, or rather jogged, on the treadmill and contemplated lifting weights. You didn’t actually lift weights, but hey, at least you thought about it. “How much longer should I stay?” you think to yourself. “Can’t I just go home and lie in bed?” You decide to stick it out and stay just a little bit longer.
5. “Oh look at that! I should definitely do that the next time I go to the gym.”
You wander around aimlessly, looking at all the different equipment and classes the Rec Center has to offer. You pick out different things to do the next time you work up the motivation to go workout. Not this time, but next time you will totally use all those machines. You plan the perfect work out in your head.
6. “Well, I’m bored.”
You feel as though your time spent at the gym, mostly walking around and thinking about exercising, has given you enough of a workout. You find yourself glancing continuously at the clock, waiting for the appropriate time to leave. Eventually, you walk out the front door, and start your way home to your nice comfortable bed and your warm home. You are proud of yourself for even going to the gym, maybe next time you’ll manage to get a full work out in.