muscle beach

this morning I went to a spin class at a different facility.
I have become so accustomed to the jcc that I don't give a second thought to the way things are. it's a family place; most people there are married; most of the people who I see there during my workout times are solidly positioned in adulthood. if they're younger, they are usually just the children of the well-into-adulthood adults I know.
classes are rarely ---but sometimes--- full, and it is such a large, sprawling building that I have never have a sense that it's crowded. perhaps the weight room becomes so occasionally (and the outdoor pool on hot summer days), but those are the only spots I experience a sense of "full."
this morning I felt as though I walked into another existence.
people flowed everywhere, moving between cardio machines and weights and the spin room and the aerobics room and in and out the main doors and down to the locker rooms . . . I have never seen this many people exercising, waiting to exercise, and completing their exercising experience in one place at one time. on a saturday morning, no less, between 7:30 and 9. I'm still stunned.
I was the little alien visiting a new planet, dumbstruck as muscles flashed past me in every direction. I have never seen so many carved and defined arms in one location before. (I know, I've led a deprived life, apparently.)
the realization I finally came to was that most of these people were young. younger than me, anyway. and before you doubt me, let me expand on this statement: there were quite a few people my age and older, but the majority, the majority, were younger than me.
now I have no desire to be younger than I am, to re-experience my 30's or even my early 40's. ooh, well, maybe I'd go back just a few years, if I am to be completely honest.
which is all moot.
my observation today came without self-recrimination, it was just an eye-opening observation. there are lots of people here, lots of them are young, many of them are very fit, and I am just seeing a great deal of muscle definition.
wow.
perhaps the people at the jcc just cover up a little more. in fact, I'm pretty sure that's it. it's a family place, you know.