Muscle Memory Lane

[LuvsMusl]

This was maybe in the fifth or sixth grade. There was a big, red-headed kid named James in my class, and his size and development made him look at least three or four years older than the rest of us. He came up to bat in a schoolyard softball game. Connected with the first pitch with ridiculous power and hit it hard enough and far enough to temporarily stop the game. It was like a grown man was playing against children. He didn?t showboat or make a fuss about it, but I?m sure everyone else was as blown away as I was.



A couple years later a buddy and I went to help set up a carnival at the local Catholic school. We were probably 12 at this point. Along with James we were helping to put together a snack booth. At some point a big plastic trash can full of ice needed to be pulled into the booth. I have no idea what it weighed, but it was a trash can filled to the top with ice. My friend and I teamed up and with great difficulty we dragged and grunted it to the booth. James was standing ON TOP of the table that formed the front of the booth. He said, ?Here, let me get that.? Then reached down and all by himself lifted the can from the ground to the top of the table. Without any trouble. At that angle it was 100% upper body strength. It would have been a stunning feat for anyone, let alone a 12 year old kid. I?ll never forget that.


Some memories from high school. We came back to school after the summer so everyone was a few months older than the last time we saw each other. Sophomores, maybe, age 15 or so. A kid named John Smith (for real) was in my class, kind of a rowdy bad boy who sat in the back of the room and was in trouble all the time. This was in the late 60?s (I?m old) and nobody I knew belonged to a gym or worked out. The fitness craze hadn?t hit yet. But I think John Smith had a natural overdose of testosterone or something. He showed up looking ripped and massive, with big muscles like none of the other guys, even the athletes, came close to having. Gym class always started with us lining up in rows. Four teams for whatever that day?s activity was. I remember John exploding out of the locker room, carrying the shirt he hadn?t put on yet. Obviously wanted everyone to see his bulging muscles. Making a lot of noise to get everyone?s attention, he flexed a couple of times. An impressive double biceps shot. A pure display of testosterone-fueled macho strutting. Gave me a lot to think about.



My cousin was a senior and she was dating a guy named Bob who was on the gymnastics team. I knew him pretty well, and frankly envied my cousin?s access to his buff, stunning body. The school gym had big sliding walls that allowed it to be separated into different sections. One of those times we were lining up at the start of class, Bob emerged from the locker room, shirtless. Just in gym shorts. He was heading to the other section of the gym to practice or work out. There were maybe 50 or 60 of us sophomores in that class, and nobody had ever seen a kid with body like Bob?s. I remember the room going quiet, except for some muttered expressions of amazement. Bob nodded hello to me, and for a second or two I was a rock star.

[arpeejay]

Great post!

I'm a little bit younger than you are (graduated from h.s. in 1976) so pretty much the same applies with respect to the fitness craze not having caught on quite yet. But there were still some hotties I recall to this day:

Bill was in my classes from about 7th grade on. A football player, he never topped about 5'6 (which pretty much put the kibosh on any post h.s. football plans) but he was always totally ripped. By senior year he was up to about 185 lbs. with BIG bulging biceps, broad shoulders, and a thick, muscular chest.

Pat was too cool to be a jock but he was built like one anyway. By senior year he was 5'11 and 190 lbs. of muscle, with shoulder-length blond hair and loads of curly blond hair on his arms, legs, and chest.

And then there was Mike, the surfer jock. Even in middle school he had muscles and a killer tan. By the time he was 18 he was 6'2 and over 200 lbs., all muscle. One day I saw him standing in the hall without his shirt on (for some reason!), his six pack abs glistening.

It's really no wonder people write stories about teenagers. Surely that's when most of us experienced our first sexual awakenings, even if (I'm guessing) most of us didn't do anything about it? (God knows I didn't!)

xoxo

Richard

[BigLittleTim]

I think the distinction has to be made between being THERE and looking back from HERE. Muscle fiction that makes a fetish out of school aged muscle boys is very creepy in my opinion. That said, I do remember what it was like BEING an eighth grader and having a crush on a boy of the same age who was very handsome and well developed. It is always embarrassing and humbling to find an old photograph, taken freshman year of high school, of a boy one idolized as the epitome of masculine grace and power, only to see a rather wistful looking child staring back at you. What you see often depends on your point of vantage.

TIM