I’m Going to have my Heels and Wear them, too

“Why do you walk so heavy?”  It’s a complaint more than a question, one I’ve gotten frequently from my father, from Mr. Trizzle, from anyone else who isn’t afraid to say it like it is.  I always chalked it up to being such a wonderful bouncy, bubbly person.  - Ok, tongue slightly in cheek there.  But I do bounce a lot when I walk and just accepted that as part of my personality, as well as a decent excuse for occasionally tipping a bit sideways into walls.

Turns, out there’s probably a less subconscious reasons for the bounciness that results in extra impact on the floor, loud booming noises and a bit of rumbling.  A few months ago, I twittered upon this article about what you can learn from someone’s walk,  15 Things Your Walk Reveals About Your Health.  Take a look at #14, go on, I’ll wait right here.

There it is, bouncing as a symptom of tight calf muscles.  I didn’t even have to read the bit about high heels causing tight calf muscles before the light bulb over my head was glowing.  I know I have tight calf muscles.  I’ve avoided flat shoes for years because they hurt my legs, causing my calves to remain stretched for far too long.  Even when I would occasionally wear them, I’d wind up walking as if I were wearing heels and I wouldn’t even realize it.  “Ba Nchimunya, ino kayi mwakwala so? – Nchimunya, why are you walking like that?”

At no time was it more apparent how tight my calves really were than the first time I attempted squats at the gym.  For most people who begin squats, the weight of the bar or their inability to balance cause problems.  My gym had light pre-set barbells so that wasn’t a problem.  And, thanks to Africa, I had no problems with the balance. 

For me, the biggest problem was that I couldn’t keep my feet flat on the ground and bend my knees into a squat. My calves just would not stretch that far.  It took months of stretching and partial squats before I could get my knees to bend as far as they needed to.

Two years after starting squats, I still have to give my calves an extra stretch, I’m still wearing my beautiful heels, and I still bounce when I walk.  I can’t completely cut that out of my personality.

My Neighborhood Trademark Infringement

Just in time for INTA…

Walking down the street to get some quarters from the bowling alley, I passed a sign taped to a lamp post.  It caught my eye, and I had wait for the light to change before I could cross the street, so I took a closer look.

“A new gym in the neighborhood.  Awesome!  Maybe I’ll check it out; it would be nice to walk instead of BARTing or driving to the gym.”  Then I saw the logo and became slightly puzzled.  “Is this a subsidiary of 24 Hour Fitness, or related in some other way?  If it is, maybe my 24 Hour membership will work there and I could start using it now without any extra fees.” 

The fact that this question even came up in my mind – is this gym related to another gym I know – raises trademark concerns.  Here is a closer view of the logo on the flyer:

And here is one of the 24 Hour Fitness logo:

Same colors, same use of a red circular shape, outlined in blue with white text in the middle.  The fonts are different, the names are different and the word “fitness” is in a different color, but there’s still a lot of visual similarity between the two.

The standard for trademark infringement is whether a mark is confusingly similar to another mark.  I was confused.  Mr. Trizzle wasn’t.  “They have different names.”  What do you think?  Would you wonder if the two were part of the same company?

After looking at the poster in more detail, I decided the gym is likely not related to 24 Hour Fitness, but I’m still not sure.  In either case, I think the new gym is trying to use 24 Hour’s reputation and strong presence in the area to its advantage, which is still a problem.

100 Trips to the Gym

How do you get the most value out of your gym membership? Go!

This past weekend I made my 100th trip to the gym.  As of that date, each trip to the gym cost me $2.99, and it’s only going down from there.

I purchased my two-year gym membership from Costco last Thanksgiving season, and the day after Christmas, headed to the gym with Mr. Trizzle to start on the adventurous path of the Stripped 5x5.

There’s lots of things I love about going to the gym.  It feels good; it’s fun; people don’t bother you because they’re too busy looking at themselves in the mirror (unlike on BART); and most of all, I can really see results.  I’ve dropped a size in clothing, but that’s not so exciting, it just means needing to buy new clothes.  And I can’t brag about weight loss because I’ve gained nearly 10 lbs.  But boy have I gotten stronger!

When I first began going to the gym eight months ago, I could barely bench press 30lbs and couldn’t deadlift enough to move an airline-weight-approved suitcase.  Now, I can bench press half my own weight and nearly deadlift Mr. Trizzle’s weight.   Mr. Trizzle’s doing even crazier things, nearly bench-pressing my weight, deadlifting two of me.  That’s fun to see, watching the numbers go up, watching the plates on the ends of the barbells get bigger, get more numerous.   But the really really great part is when I see the difference in everyday activities.

I can move through the BART trains without struggling with all my might to open the doors between the cars.  Sometimes, I can even open them one-handed now.  When I move heavy bankers boxes of files off of closet shelves or boxes of cds down from my storage unit, I can control the box and bring it down in one smooth movement, inside of momentarily hoisting and then sort of guiding its fall to the ground.  I can move the bookshelves, mattresses and tables in my apartment by picking them up instead of dragging them across the floor, which I bet my downstairs neighbors appreciate.  And the speed of my ball when I bowl has gone up to 16/17 mph.  That’s nice for making some fun strikes.

In fact, there’s really only one kinda downside to the gym.  Ok, two, and both are so worth the benefits.  One, I’m hungry all the time, even more than before, and not just oh-I-want-something-to-munch-on kind of hungry; I-need-protein-now kind of hungry.  That can be a bit tough sometimes, so I carry Cliff bars with me everywhere.  Two, my shoulders and arms are starting to not fit in my clothes.  I busted all the sleeve hem stitches out of a dress one week at bowling, and there’s another dress I love in which I can no longer raise my arms above my head.  But that’s easily dealt with; I love me some sweaters. Nice, stretchy sweaters.

I’m so glad Mr. Trizzle helped me get a visitors pass to his gym way back in November.  It was enough for me to get my own membership, and I love it.  The Stripped 5x5 has been a great starting workout, and I’m looking forward moving up to the next program.  And to watching my cost per gym visit continue to drop.