"Looking For Workout Partner, More? - m4m"

There's a car in our apartment's parking lot that I can totally match to it's owner. The car, a basic brown, older model 4-door, is usually seen parked with a front passenger: a huge mesh bag full of sports equipment of the "ball" variety (basketballs, footballs, volley balls, etc.). It belongs to a guy who lives just upstairs from us. I see him all the time leaving to go running or workout at the rec center across the street, decked in low-slung jersey shorts and tank, sportin' an iPod that I can only assume is usually synched to his Nikes. And recently, I've noticed he's had a friend or two with him. When I see them together, they're always walking with an energy bar or drink in hand, both wearing sweatbands on their wrists and white iPod headphones. When I see them leaving, I know they're going to go workout. And I wonder, did they meet eachother on Craigslist?

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Guys that are really into working out amuse me. I don't mean the type that goes to the gym every other day to do some miles on the treadmill or a few bench presses; I mean the ones who are ripped and still spend hours a day working out and making protein shakes. Something remarkable happens around these Macho Men of men. Their reliance on male companionship seems to increase and logically so, as a lifestyle focus on weight training is not one shared by many women (though they are out there). The weight room scene from Final Destination 3 comes to mind, as men around the room get increasingly loud and macho. They grunt and roar and yell about how they're going to defeat the other team because the latter are so weak; in unison they pump their iron harder and faster as they break out into a steady flow of sweat. It's men being men: the primal, strong, brutish animals they are. Rawr.

C'mon, doesn't that sound, I mean, just a little bit gay? I'm all for men sharing time and bonding with other men; girls cluster together all the time (or so I hear). But the whole body building scene really takes it up a level. Body building is all about revelling in the human body and the extremes you can take it to, and seeing those extremes as beautiful form and execution. So I really have to snicker when I read Craigslist ads for a guy looking to find "workout buddies" to get together with a few times a week and pick up heavy objects. To me, that whole scene just smacks of circle jerks and cries of "It's not gay if you don't use your hands!"

Nothing against gay people, of course. You know hating's not my style. And I don't mean to disrespect the people out there who dedicate their lives to body building. I just can't help but be amused and fascinated by the sub culture, and wonder about any possible lascivious undertones. I mean, it's got to happen at least sometimes, right? Craigslist is a known go-to for finding annonymous encounters or sexual escapades, and I doubt some of these "plutonic" postings with pictures of muscle-bound torsos are any less guilty of such. I know it's easier to workout with a partner, and overall safer, but seriously.

Surely you can see why I wonder about our upstairs neighbor and his equally buffed-out buddies. Sure, they could be just friends. Maybe they knew eachother in high school, or work together. Maybe he has a roommate and I don't see the other guy enough to realize he lives here too. But either way, that doesn't stop me from being a nosy neighbor and wondering just how they met...