By no means am I a meathead or muscle jock of any kind. In fact, quite the opposite. I’m an ardent supporter of the elliptical, I don’t even belong to a gym (shout out to my office for having a gym in the building, y’all!) and I probably actually lift weights once or twice a week max.
That said… and this is probably (although I’m ready to be proven wrong here, trust me) a male-centric viewpoint… I can’t help but look to see what other people are lifting. Now, most of the time, I’m going to come in second place in this little contest. There aren’t many men my age lifting less than what I’m putting up, so it’s not like I’m doing this because I’m such a tough guy. In fact, it’s mainly because I want to know where I stack up and if I’m really being as big of a pussy as I feel like.
Typically, the person I’m spying on is in my general vicinity weight-wise. However, every so often, I’ll either spy someone I’m totally outdoing or, better still, someone that has way bigger arms than I do (not a difficult feat to accomplish, I’ll remind) and is still lifting less (even if it’s only 5 lbs. less).
It’s a fleeting bit of superiority, but it exists. And it’s basically the only time I feel more than adequate about myself in that setting.
Polar Opposite of this Feeling?: When that hot girl you’ve been watching stretch for ten minutes comes over and easily lifts more weight than you do.
scott spinelli 