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How Wrong Is It To Laugh at the Soreness of Others?

feet toes

Touching your toes is a big challenge for the inflexible! Credit: joelklal

So as a part of the new gym-member experience, my husband and I both received free fit assessments. The assessment hits all of the key fitness criteria: strength, cardio, flexibility, and you also get weighed and have your body fat measured. All good things to know at the start of a fitness journey, so you can see that wonderful progress.

Fresh off of his first gym workout where he jogged on the treadmill and hit “a few weights,” my husband cranked out as many push-ups as he could to gauge his strength. The trainer measured his flexibility and was told he had none. I take that back: He had the flexibility of a man twice his age. That’s right. My 35-year-old husband has the flexibility of a 70-YEAR-OLD MAN. I’ve seen him try to touch his toes, so I must say that the assessment was spot on.

The days that followed? My abs still hurt from laughing at him hobbling all over because of his soreness. The man could barely lift his arms. Someone at work noticed how he struggled to get his lab coat on. He practically had to shave by moving his face instead of his hand. Day after day after day, his upper body was so sore I thought I would have to start functioning as his arms.

I finally said that I was surprised that his lower body wasn’t sore, too. After all, he hadn’t run in awhile either.

“Oh, my legs are sore. Really sore. It just pales in comparison to my arm soreness.”

I laughed really, really hard. And even harder at what he said next.

“And to think, all of this damage happened in about 10 minutes.”

Oh my gosh, you guys. Ten minutes! Poor guy. I don’t think it helped that he pushed himself on the fit assessment push-ups when he should have been recovering from his workout the day before. But he has since recovered. And is taking it a little easier as he gets back into shape.

Have you ever bitten off more than you could chew? Been so sore you couldn’t shave? Let him know he’s not alone. —Erin

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