Pulling Weight

Posted on 31 Jan 2015 @ 8:46pm by Lieutenant JG Zane Neptune
Edited on on 03 Feb 2015 @ 3:48am

1,254 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: USS Galileo: Holodeck 1
Timeline: MD 40 - 1000

ON:

Looking forward to get some flight time in, but in one of the craft he was already fully trained to fly, Wintrow approached the holodeck. He had planned to load a program with his trusty Razor, he missed flying his fighter very much even though he was learning a great deal flying shuttles at the moment. Raising his hand to enter his program, he suddenly stopped short; the holodeck was already in use. Curious, Wintrow told the computer to open the holodeck doors, so he could see who was inside.

When the door opened, Zane placed the 105 lb dumbbell back on the floor and looked up. While he could have had others milling about in the simulation of the gym, he only had his "spotter" appear whenever he needed assistance, and otherwise had the entire simulation to himself. The experience was calming and reminded him that he was often alone even among a crowd.

"You need the holodeck?" Zane asked. He was dripping with sweat and only about halfway through "back day." Working out was still a way of life.

The teenager froze when he was suddenly addressed, his dark - almost black but not quite - eyes fixed on the man. "Uhm..." he started, unable to look away. Compared to his own wiry frame, this man was big! "No," he finally answered softly, "no not really." Feeling intimidated, Wintrow started to turn away.

"Hey," Zane said, in the least threatening tone he could muster. "I didn't mean to scare you off. I was just lifting some weights, nothing too intense. Just need to stay in shape. You lift?" Zane didn't know if the kid was starting out or anything but he was still short on friends on board, so far, and didn't want to chase one off.

Turning back, and approaching slowly, Wintrow shook his head. "No sir," he replied, without any chance in his tone. "No I don't." His eyes fell on the heavy dumbells the man had been lifting. "I doubt I could even hope to lift those sir," he added, gesturing to them.

"We all start somewhere, kid," said Zane. "I barely lifted 5 pound dumbbells when I started. Muscles don't grow instantly, they take work. Interested?"

"Yes sir," the teenager replied quietly, "I don't really have a lot of muscle strength sir. I mean, I work out but not so much on the lifting area. I'm a pilot sir."

"I have to imagine that the G forces in piloting can end up affecting you pretty adversely. Well, inertial dampeners help, I suppose. Still, I'd rather be able to withstand those forces than be at their mercy." To Zane, the kid still looked dumbfounded. He imagined talking to someone three times his own size and knew that the experience might have been similar.

Zane saw some potential in the kid. He had the chance to mentor someone, not to any competitive level or anything, but certainly to bring him up to at least twice his size. Even though the intent wasn't such, walking around Starfleet assignments as bulky as he was commanded a lot of respect. Some even understood the discipline Zane put in to achieve his ends.

"Would you like a trainer?" Zane blurted it out but he meant it.

The boy's face brightened considerably at the idea. "Oh, would you?" he answered in sudden delight. He didn't have a whole many friends on this ship, though he considered Doctor Mott and Cadet Saalm to be among the few he did have. "How do I start?" Then as if on cue, he remembered that there hadn't been any introductions at all. "My name's Wintrow sir, Wintrow Paragon."

"Zane Neptune, current lieutenant and former three time Mr. Olympia. I might know a thing or two about lifting weights. Our most important start is eating, but since we're already in the gym, why not hustle over to the rack and show me what you can lift." Zane nodded towards the dumbbells in all weights. The smallest was 5 pounds but Zane figured that the kid would be somewhere around 15 to 20 as a starter.

"I'm sorry sir I don't know what a Mr. Olympia is," Wintrow apologized as he went over to the rack and examined the weights there. Given that he knew how to haul ropes on a boat, which could be heavy too, the teenager selected the 15lbs weight and pulled it from the rack. He held it a bit clumsily, having no idea really what to do with it now.

Zane pointed at the bench next to the one he was using and simply decided to show the kid what to do. He started with a single armed dumbbell row. After a few reps, he decided to see how the kid did.

"You want to keep your body still. Lift with only the arm. You want to do 8 to 12 reps, and if you can do more, then you want to go heavier. Give it a shot."

Unfortunately, the first attempts were a complete failure where his movement included torso and shoulder as well. "I think I'll need some help with this," he huffed as he dropped the weight to the floor and massaged his arm. "I'm used to hauling ropes on a boat, or keeping a fighter steady but this is something else."

"You use different sets of muscles for different activities," Zane said. "Drop 5 pounds and try a little lighter. Don't worry about comparing yourself to this." Zane hefted a 100 pound dumbbell off the rack. "I'm not only a professional, I have done this for decades. You're just starting."

"Pounds sir?" Wintrow wasn't sure which kind of pounds were meant here. Yet he returned the ones he had to the rack and selected a lighter set. His arms were starting to burn after several sessions and in the end he found he could actually no longer lift his arms.

"Bodybuilding still uses pounds and ounces, I guess," Zane said. He should have known better, he used grams and kilograms in every other sense and almost nothing was the old system anymore. "You got the right idea there, though. On top of this, you have to eat a specific way. In your case, I'd build up a high calorie diet made of healthy options... not that much these days is unhealthy."

Wintrow rubbed his arms, flexing his fingers at the same time. He was definitely going to be sore! "A special diet?" he queried, "what would you suggest I eat? I already eat very specific...no sweets, no drugs, no alcohol..." Though, his vacation on Rigel had been very different. He'd gone overboard on both, and bore the consequences.

"That's a nice start." Zane was sure that he could help this kid out but he was still a little hesitant. The kid needed to come out of his shell a little more. "We will see what we can design."

"I'd like that. I need to..work on my self defense technique too. Any recommendations?" A cloud passed over the boy's features as he was reminded once again that he barely knew how to defend himself in combat.

"I'm not necessarily a fighter," Zane said. "Don't let the physique fool you."

"You're certainly stronger than me," Wintrow offered uncertainly, obviously still daunted by the man's physique. "You could probably lift me with just one hand."


OFF:
Cadet SO Wintrow Paragon
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
[PNPC T'Vanna]

Lieutenant JG Zane Neptune
Science Officer
USS Galileo

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