I find myself walking downstairs, eager to experience what many of my friends have talked about for weeks. The halls of the basement are dark and quiet. I walked through red heavy doors leading to another hallway which was hidden away. I walk through the door of the weightlifting room, and find many weights and equipment. The lights reflected from the bright light walls, and made the room so much brighter. I heard several voices laughing, sighing, and groaning. This was going to be one of the hardest days. I had no idea what any of these exercises were, but I knew they were tough! The club was only for an hour, but it felt like forever.

Everyone who attended was very welcoming, and helped me out. They had smiles on their faces when they weren’t grunting while lifting weights. The uplifting attitudes of everyone was very helpful and enjoyable. We all got along great, and it actually felt like we were a team. Everybody helped out one another without any complaints. In fact, they seemed ecstatic to help others.

James Even demonstrated most of the exercises, which was very helpful considering there were a few inexperienced people there, including myself. His face turned red, matching the color of his hair. He was giving these exercises his all. When James finally stopped, everyone stretched and warmed up. I heard sighs when Dr. Lamphere told everyone to stretch. Dr. Lamphere heard these sighs, and with a stern voice emphasized the importance of stretching and warming up. Once everybody stopped talking and looking lifeless due to the boredom, we went outside. It was cold, and there were still damp circular spots on the gray concrete. We started off with a light jog to get our heart rate up. When I completed my jog, I wasn’t feeling cold at all. I was hot and sweaty. I instantly knew I was going to be sore tomorrow.

We went inside one by one, like ants in a single file line. I saw the students who regularly attended the club start walking towards gigantic weights. It hurt my whole body just looking at them. Me, not being so smart with health and exercise, asked, “What are they doing with those big black weight things?”. A few of the members looked at me, trying to hold in their laughs, with a big smile. They told me that they were called ‘Deadlifts’. Once I got over the embarrassment of not knowing anything we were doing, I joined my group and started on the deadlifts. They were a bit of a challenge, but after doing the exercises I felt very accomplished and strong. I definitely didn’t use the heavy ones. With just the small weights I was sweating. My face felt hot, and my hair was sticking to my forehead. I was determined to finish what I had begun. I ended the day with the deadlifts, which felt like an eternity.

I believe that the encouraging environment within the weightroom made a huge difference with my work out. I strongly recommend attending the Iron Phoenix Club for anyone that goes to Odyssey. Just be prepared to feel the burn! The club is held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday every week in room 185 from 3 to 4 pm.