Gym Adventures

Cross-cultural gym stories are fun. I’ve been in nearly 50 countries. I’ve been to a gym in almost every country.

Gyms are a fun way to meet people.

Gyms are an interesting way to learn about the local culture.

Gyms are always good for a story or 2 😊.

One gym story that really stands out in my mind is in Tbilisi, Georgia.

I communicated well enough (in English and in Russian) that I wanted to buy a gym pass. Communication was limited, but we got it done. I had a multi-day pass that I could use.

In any gym, there’s going to be some variety in equipment available and the condition of it. This gym in Tibilisi was no exception. For some reason, they were limited on free weights. I was doing bench press….and suddenly I realized…I had all the weights on the bar. I mean all the weights in the gym.

I didn’t realize it was going to, but this attracted major attention. Everyone dropped what they were doing to come over to see if I could actually do it.

You are probably thinking ‘Wow Brent -  did you have 400 pounds on the bar? No. It was tapped out at a cool 185 – about 50 less pounds than what I could do at that time. But…to the average Georgian, I was clearly Mr Olympia. I lifted the bar with the weights and there were surprised smiles all around.

Not to be outdone, one guy came over and stood on his head. I have no idea what this has to do with exercise….but it was clear that he was proud of himself. He was also excited to know that I wasn’t able to accomplish this feat. He had a leg up on the Herculean American.

Seems like there was quite a bit of testosterone flowing. It was fun to interact with all the guys that were there -much more interesting than back in my home gym in Kansas. There, I’m no Hercules. I’m a bit of wimp with guys lifting 350 or better on a regular basis.

Stay tuned….more gym stories coming……