Pumping Iron with Gustavo

Just before I departed for a six-month trip to Argentina and South America, I dislocated my knee playing indoor soccer.  After seeing an orthopedic surgeon and outruling surgery as integral to recovery, I decided to continue with my plans to move abroad and rehabilitate my knee in my new destination: Buenos Aires.  Step one in my knee recovery plan was to find a kinesiólogo or physical therapist in order to learn exercises and recover mobility.  Having spent almost a month in a knee immobilizer, flexibility and muscle strengthening were high on my list of priorities.  Secondarily, I wanted to join a gym in order to get back into shape and continue what exercises I learned from the kinesiólogo once the 3/week visits began to slowly chip away at my travel budget.  

Cue Gustavo, the most flamboyant straight man I have ever met.  Muscles bulged from beneath his gym suit, and you’d often see him sneak a peak at his own six-pack when he believed no one was watching.  Gustavo instructed a class called “Bodypump” at the local Megatlon (the Argentine equivalent of a slightly higher-end 24 Hour Fitness).  Every class included an identical routine of bench presses, squats, upright rows, and other weightlifting exercieses paired to an identical soundtrack.  Black Eyed Peas’ “Pump It” served as the backdrop for bicep curls, as well as the most enthusiastic response from Gustavo.  Every chorus of “Pump It!...Louder!” he would stomp each foot independently to the beat while simultaneously raising his barbell just slightly higher until he reached his max height.  I will never hear that song without wanting to emulate Gustavo’s enthusiasm for bicep curls.