Nerd Mentality

Eye of the Tiger

Posted March 5th 2009 by Adrian DeHerrera.

Xavius finds the "Eye of the Tiger" at the gym. Surprisingly it's on a treadmill.

Is there any song more inspiring than "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor? I mean seriously, regardless of whether you think Rocky III is classic cinema, which it is, there is something to be said for hearing that song and knowing you have the "eye of the tiger" inside you; the will to stop being ordinary and train hard enough to beat the shit out of Mr. T.

Since I've been looking for said tiger eye inside meal deals at Whataburger and gourmet cupcake shops, you might guess that I'm a little flabbier than, say, Rocky Balboa – and how right you'd be! After trying all sorts of crazy diet pills (one of which was recalled for killing people), and throwing mounds of cash at the newest exercise machines (Thighmaster, the Gazelle, some shit where you leaned back and used your own weight to build muscle but mostly injured your back), not much was happening, except me getting fatter.

Then, out of the blue, someone suggested I try eating right and doing regular exercise. Since this person was not talking to me from an infomercial at 3am, I figured he was a lying sack. After spending 2 hours on the Cardio Twister followed by a chocolate éclair, I thought to myself, "You know, maybe he's right. I should try out that newfangled jogging thing I heard about on AM radio." So, after the entire left side of my body stopped tingling, I found my gym membership card underneath a stack of Burger King coupons and started my new path to success.

Long story short, I've begun my love affair with jogging. Granted it's only been 2 weeks, but I am sure it's love because when I do it, I get dizzy, my palms sweat, and feel like dying. Actually I'm exaggerating a bit, but the first time wasn't easy. I walked most of the time and jogged for a few minutes, wheezing, watching my heart rate skyrocket up to 178bpm during the toughest parts, thinking, "this is not going to get easier."

But strangely enough it does. After only a few weeks I've been able to jog for an entire mile without stopping and can walk/run another mile without feeling like I'm going to make a bad step and go flying backward off the treadmill – which is a distinct possibility. Nobody ever tells you how hard it is to balance on that thing without holding onto the sides – and the reality is that any small misstep or untied shoelace or break in concentration could mean your untimely death or paralyzation from a piece of workout equipment. In a huge change, I now have to work to get my heartrate past 163bpm, which I could probably have done before by just watching an episode of Dukes of Hazzard.

What is surprising is that not only can you exercise without infomercial related merchandise, the rise in fitness actually causes you to want to.. exercise MORE. I'm serious did you know people get up before 7am and they ENJOY IT? You just see the most cheery, happy go lucky, sweaty smiley bastards in the morning, glowing with the knowledge that they are becoming more fit, or just overjoyed they are just escaping a family who hates them. Whatever the case, going to the gym isn't as bad as it seems.

And yes, Eye of the Tiger is an awesome song to work out to. Now, to figure out what kind of running shoes to buy. I hear $15 cross trainers do nothing for your knees, much to my chagrin. But hey, all that Street Fighter IV + new controller cash is going to a good cause right?

Right?

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