Gym Workout With A Difference
A few years ago I was asked ‘out of the blue’ to work out at Adelaide’s most elite gym, Next Generation. The guy who asked me was a business colleague named Justin who I could only describe as a complete wanker! You are probably wondering why I was working out with another man?….I always wanted to see the gym, and he was a member, and said he could get me in for a free session and show me around the gym everyone was raving about.
Justin picked me up from work and we dropped into his very expensive home at King William Road, Hyde Park. My ‘wanker radar’ was starting to rage when I went to a bedroom to change into my gym gear and noticed bottles of Dom Perignon Champagne used as doorstops. Upon arrival at the gym Justin said “just follow me and I will get you in no problem”. As we reached the electronic entry turnstile he swiped his membership card and he pushed me through the gate at the same time as him. I was shocked as I thought he knew someone at the gym who could arrange my free visit, not sneak through. I felt really guilty and would rather pay $30 for the non member workout. I decided to not say anything at this stage, and thought to myself ” there is probably gonna be an interesting story here?”.Indeed there was.
Justin then gave me his own unique version of the gym tour. He showed me the bar, he went through each equipment area, before ending up in the pool area. It was here that he took me through the poolside change rooms. We went through the change room door and as we did I noticed some ladies in the pool laughing at us. I had no idea why, but thought their behaviour was odd. When in the change room, something felt wrong. The fact there was at least 10 half naked women standing by their lockers glaring at us, told me one of two things:
1. This gym is sensational and the ‘mixed change room’ must be a radical new idea.
or
2. We were accidentally standing in the Ladies change rooms!!!
Indeed it was the latter, and we retreated back out of there very quickly, where we were greeted with much laughter from the people in the pool..how embarrassing!
By this stage, I was completely rocked and needed to start this workout to de-stress. I jumped on a treadmill and started to think about how I was going to leave the gym without having a membership card. Justin went on a stepper machine nearby. We were on the machines about 15 minutes when he came up to my machine and said “brewski??'” (Beer). I said ” we have only just started the workout!” He said the food is great, you gotta check it out. I thought how much more bizarre can this get?
I said I will meet him there in 20 minutes. When I arrived he had a massive cone of chips drizzled in mayonnaise and two pints of beer waiting. What kind of gym workout is this? I then started to think about leaving the gym as I knew we had obtained illegal entry and wanted to get out without incident. Justin assured me it would be no problem and to just go through the turnstiles when he swipes his card.
We reached the turnstiles and I was really nervous, Justin swiped his card, but the gate jammed as we both tried to get through together. Oh no……we had caused a commotion as I shook the gate to try and get it to move. The lady at reception heard the noise and instantly started glaring at us. I could not bear to look at her as I forced the gate open and pushed through making a beeline for the front doors. I thought we were home free when the inevitable occurred “Excuse Me…..(silence)…EXCUSE ME!!!!…..Come here please!” . My heart stopped at this stage and I was panicking. Justin and I then had to do the ‘walk of shame’ back to the reception desk where we were grilled by the lady.
She started to yell at us and warned that Justin’s membership could be revoked and we were not to do this ever again etc…..We received a right tongue lashing and I felt absolutely terrible about it. I was so embarrassed I did not join this gym for another six months when I was sure the staff would forget what I looked like and not recognise me. Once I had joined I was entering the club legally through the turnstiles for the first time where I was shocked to be greeted by a shiny gold sign dedicated to Justin & myself stating the following:
‘Any Member found swiping ‘non members’ into this gym will receive an instant loss of membership…Thankyou Management’
Oops……
