Real men working out.

Mike, (the scum defender below), is one of my gym heros.

Besides looking like the comic book version of Clark Kent. he has the strength and pain fighting abilities of his super powered alter ego as well. Routinely he does so much weight at the gym that the steel bars warp under the tonnage at the ends. His form is impeccable (and this is saying a lot from a guy like me who scrutinizes almost everyone's form there).

He also plays volleyball, but unlike me I am sure he is a better player than I am.

Over the weekend, I ran into him going up the elevator. I asked him how his volleyball team is doing. He said they won their three games but that he was out for the season.

Why? I asked.

He held up his right hand: the pinky finger was visably broken and bent out of alignment. No splint, no tape, no cast. I think my jaw dropped open.

I asked him why he was at the gym. He said that he could grip with the rest of his hand.
Does it hurt? I asked.

Well, it throbs and it hurts when I jam it like when I put my hand in my pocket.

But he did his workout, working arms and chest. He did decide, however, to tone it down, by not working dumbbells. Thank goodness.

His pain threshold makes mine look ridiculously low. But then again, his need to be at the gym with an unsplinted finger at the gym, makes me look a little more balanced.