The Weirdness of Nothingness

Being the workout nut that I am, I enjoy going to the gym to workout on weekends. Weekends are a great time to go to the gym, as the gym is deathly quiet. Most people go to workout right after work, so the weekend is pretty empty.

When the gym is empty, there are no line ups for machines, I can always find a large locker, and the steam room isn’t crowded.

But today, aside from the usual quietness from it being the weekend, there was a certain weirdness too.

It took me a few minutes to figure out what was wrong, as everything seemed to be in the right place – all the machines were there. The free weights were where they should be, even all the floor mats were stacked in perfect order.

There was no music pounding through the speakers! Usually the speakers are blaring music to workout too. Not today though, and it really made for an eerie silence.

I asked one of the receptionists if they were closing early. She said they weren’t, just the satellite was down, that’s why there wasn’t any music.

The previous night we had a major snow storm – got over 30cm of snow. It probably knocked out their satellite dish, or the master control dish which feeds out the signals.

I don’t always agree with the gym’s choice for music. Sometimes they play tunes which I enjoy, other times I shake my head and wonder what that noise is?

But working out without any music was very different. I heard things which I guess I hear all the time, but they are muffled with the music, so they don’t stand out quite so much.

Sounds of people working out – grunting, grimacing, and those types of noises really stood out today, because there was no music. With music, these noises are usually background sound, but today, they were definitely in the forefront.

There was a boxing class today too. I’ve been in some of the boxing classes, they are a lot of fun. But you don’t really think about how much noise you make hitting the bag, until you are running on the treadmill, only to hear the walloping yourself. Music also helps drown out this sound too.

I’ve been going to gyms now for many years, and I guess the regular routine is to listen to the music while working out. So it felt strange working out hearing all the noises of the gym, without any music.

Maybe I should invest in a good MP3 player, so next time the satellite goes down, I’ll still have some good tunes to listen too.