The night was easier for him because all he did was lie on his bed, not moving, but the biggest challenge was in the morning—dragging his body for his daily morning routine. It was something he had to fully use his might to do—the push-ups were too great a challenge; he felt like his ankles were about to break. He had to pause between four or five push-ups, when he was done, sit-ups were better, but sitting down preparing for the sit-up position was tough for him. When Dumi came to check up on him, he was surprised to see him moving, he thought he would find him mopping around the bed. But he was reminded by how determined Winston was when he dragged himself up. "How long have you been up, C'mon, breakfast is ready?,"
"I just woke up. Oh, okay, I am coming."
Winston flapped his arms around for balance, watching Dumi walk out of the room while rhythmically whistling his favorite tune; Winston also heard Dumi's footsteps trailing away on the wooden tile floor. Last night when Winston came to lie on his bed after eating dinner, he took hours taking off his shoes—lifting his feet took him about two to three hours. As Winston made his way slowly down the corridor, Anna and Ivan, with enthusiastic tail wags, seemed to be encouraging him to persevere. Leaning on the corridor wall with his elbow for stability, the entire experience felt akin to him learning to walk. When he stopped to catch his breath, he would pat the two German Shepherds, "Hey Ivan, Anna," he said in a low voice. He looked at the spiral stairs, he let out long breaths before he tried to take the first step. He missed, and he went speeding down the stairs, and he slammed the wall, banging his head on the first brick check patterned wall. Holding his head in pain, he used the wall as his walking crutch. He used his hands to walk forward.
After arriving on the dining table, the steaming bowl of porridge was on the table. When Winston scanned around the dining room, Boris was not in the room, only Dumi sat opposite him, flipping through his papers. "Where is Mr. Boris," Winston asked, blowing at the spoon of porridge—Dumi with a nonchalant response, said, "Oh, he is out, apparently seeing you working out yesterday. Inspired him, and he decided to anchor himself with the ankle weights,"
"By the way, I didn't know you played at the senior club, your head coach also told me that you also got demoted to a junior league,"
Winston paused for a moment, he clenched his fist under the table. He recalled the poor performance he played and the ridicule he faced in the changing room, the insults he endured. He let out a heavy sigh. And he continued eating before he replied, "Yes, the senior club suffered a lot of injuries, I was a new signee on a reserve,"
Leaning back on the dining chair, with a laid back nonchalant voice, Dumi asked, "Oh, wow, how was it playing at the senior club?"
Taken aback, Winston pondered for a moment before he responded, with a high—pitched voice, "It was amazing, I never thought it would be this amazing, the fans, the stadium, the lights, the atmosphere. It was mind-blowing."
"Oh, you got a premier bug,"
Winston curiously looked at Dumi, and with a curious voice, he asked, "A premier bug?"
Dumi stood up and took the porridge bowl after Winston was done. He said, "It is a term we used to use back in my day, it means. It's a feeling of euphoria when you reach something that you have been working hard toward."
Winston swung on his chair with more curious He asked, "Did you feel it too, when you first played at the senior club,"
Standing over the sink washing the dishes, before he could respond. A door swung open, "oh you finally woke up, my young friend," drenched in sweat, Boris continued, "I just ran one hundred kilometers around the field, this is just like back in the training camp back home,"
What type of training was he doing back in his home country. Winston said in his heart. He stood up with a smile on his face, "I am ready, Mr. Boris, what type of training we would be focusing on today."
"We're lifting weights—I've set up the equipment in the other house on the other side." Boris said, pressing his wristwatch.
Eventually, after a protracted and laborious journey to the opposite extremity of the estate, positioned apart from the principal building, a rudimentary dwelling constructed of brick became visible, characterized by an appended section with doors made of glass, and this was enclosed by a symmetrical, two-story residence painted in a dark hue. When they entered the house, Winston's eyes widened in surprise, he couldn't believe that this house was full of gym equipment. This was Boris's private gym, this is where he trains most of his clients who hire him for one-on-one training.
While Dumi and Boris were actively engaged in their workouts, Dumi motioned towards the treadmill positioned next to the one he was using, encouraging Winston to start his exercise on that treadmill. Dragging his feet—he hopped on the treadmill and started walking little by little. Dumi raised the speed of the treadmill until Winston was sprinting alongside him. Glancing over at Dumi, who was calming running, looking at the glass window, humming over his favorite songs, huffing and puffing trying to catch his breath.
[Nethen Essence: 69%]
[Voltage Core: 69%]
After a few minutes, Dumi suddenly pressed stop on both treadmills. Because of the abrupt halt of the treadmill, Winston's stumble almost resulted in him falling face-first. Dumi cast a glance in his direction and then said, "Kid, you're okay," Dumi helped Winston up, Winston holding his knees with a cheerful voice. He said, "Yeah, I am okay coach, I nearly face-planted the treadmill."
Dumi patted Winston back and said in an encouraging voice, "Atta boy, C'mon, let's join Boris on the leg press machine,"
As the metallic clang of steel reverberated, Boris was engaged in a strenuous leg press, the machine groaning under his exertion as if pushed to its absolute breaking point, and during the midst of his powerful repetitions, his gaze shifted towards Winston and Dumi. smile and said, "oh you guys are done, let me do a few more press,"
Winston was amazed by how Boris made it look easy to move with these 20 Kilograms (approximately 44.1 Pound lbs) heavy, black, circular- strapped ankle weights. Even though it was still early in the morning, Winston observed that Boris was not experiencing any difficulty in his movements; After observing Boris for s while, Winston was also determined to move normally at the end of the day.
With Boris's turn concluded, Winston swiftly made his way to the leg press, while Dumi, standing on his flank, kept an accurate count of his leg presses, and he likened the effort of the first press to the monumental struggle of pushing against an immovable concrete wall. "Take deep breaths and push," said Boris, standing on Winston's other side with his hands folded. After completing the first press, he found that the subsequent press was considerably easier, leading him to descend with his weight to press his leg, with the ankle weights applying pressure to his leg and his knees pressing into his chest. Dumi and Boris tried to stop him, but Winston was determined to push through the excruciating pain of his legs pressing on his chest. Summoning all his might, he leg presses the machine without waiting to take a break, he kept up with the momentum. This amazed both Dumi and Boris, they both clapped and encouraged him to keep going. Once Winston had successfully executed ten presses, a sensation of unsteadiness settled in his legs, leading Dumi to support him as he sat on the dark leather bench and then provide him with a water bottle.
A few minutes later, Dumi suggested chest presses. The chest presses were not hard as the previous exercise, and the rest of the exercises Winston passed by them with ease. Until he came to the prone hamstring curl machine, he struggled for a while. As he struggled with the ankle weights, he found it necessary to intensely tighten his thigh muscles, thereby enabling him to successfully elevate his legs. After he was done, Winston did not struggle to move around the homemade gym, he didn't notice until Boris and Dumi pointed it out. When he looked down at his feet, he was also taken aback by it. When he tested them instead, he walked across the room to grab the bottle of water. His feet weren't dragging like before, instead, they felt normal. With a grin on his face, he felt like the hard work he had been putting is going somewhere.
[Nethen Essence: 70%]
[Voltage Core: 70%]