Seth Ostheimer
Seth following an unsuccessful Alaskan lift off
Photo: Daniel Factor
Lifting weights has always been an important pastime in my family. When I was a toddler my father built a weight bench from old two by four boards for my brother and me. At the time the bench got little to no use. However, today lifting has become routine for me, even when traveling around the world. So while on the island of Koh Toa, Thailand, seeing an ad for the Monsoon Gym meant I had to go.
The gym was tucked back from the road with tropical trees and shrubs in front. Once I started walking down the sand drive way, I began to see the gym. It was definitely not what I expected. The gym resembled an old multi-car garage with a sheet metal roof. Around the gym was loads of scrap metal, caged chickens, and in back was a Muay Thai fighting ring. Muay Thai is a type of martial arts that is a cultural sport of Thailand. In this sport punching, kicking, and the use of knees and elbows are all allowed.
Growing more nervous the closer I got, I reached the gym. The first thing I noticed was a giant Thai body builder who was at least six-three and weighed at least 270 pounds and, if that was not frightening enough, he lifted without a shirt. Instantly I thought, "I didn't know they made Thais that big." At this point I knew I was definitely not in Hiram anymore. Thankfully though there was another man in the gym who was quite a bit older but still had an athletic build. In the corner of the one room gym was a desk with a small Thai woman. As I entered the gym I went up to the desk and the woman asked for 150 baht to exercise. I gladly paid.
The gym had the bare minimum of gym equipment. There were only seven machines in all and most were the basics: bench, squat rack, and dumbbells. Oddly enough the music in the gym was techno, but for some reason it went well with the gym. The tempo was quick and the intensity of the gym racing as well.
Then I realized I had already made my first mistake. No shoes. In Thai culture, shoes are considered dirty and are to be left outside buildings and the gym was no exception. This seemed counterintuitive to me because in America everyone wears shoes in the gym to protect their feet from falling weights. But when in Thailand, do as the Thai do, so I took off my shoes.
Now it was time to lift, so I decided to start with flat bench, an exercise in which you lie on a bench and press weight off of your chest. After doing the exercise a few times, I was beginning to approach a weight that I could no longer do without the help of a spotter. The giant was out of the question--he was far too intimidating--so I asked the older man if he would help me as I pointed to the bench. In his best English he said, “O.K.” which still was difficult to understand. As soon as he said this, I thought, “Oh God, don’t let this man let me die.”
As I lay back on the bench the man curled his finger toward his palms and began to make an upward motion with his arms. It was quickly apparent that he was asking me if I wanted help with picking up the weight which is called a lift off. I shook my head now more hopeful of surviving this set.