‘It all started with two best friends watching a bodybuilding documentary on the television. One of the friends, Dereck, was spellbound by what he saw and was hooked then and there.

He vowed to himself that he would become like the man on the television. He would have that lifestyle. He would sacrifice everything and do anything to look like that.’

 

Here is a sample from the novella ‘Big Ambitions’.

 

Part I

Norman had known Dereck since they were young kids. Dereck had always been so full of life, larger than life and it was easy to like him as he was so exuberant. It seemed that he loved life and everyone in it. Most days Norman could not wait to see his friend who had quickly became his best friend. People had described them as being peas in a pod as they hung around together, they were the same age, the same height and had the same likes. They supported the same football teams.

Norman would hear Dereck before he saw him. He would be shouting at the other end of the street and giving a massive wave with both arms. He liked to pat people on the back especially those he knew and got on well with and Norman was always a recipient of those pats and some could be harder than others. Still, Norman was glad he had a friend like Dereck and would not have changed him for the world. Loyalty was his greatest gift and he was always there to help and support Norman.

Dereck made friends with other people easily. His infectious smile and his laugh enabled him to get on with many people. He was thoughtful as well which put him on side with most people. If there was a trait that Dereck had which niggled with Norman, it would have been his competitiveness. For some reason everything had to be a competition. Maybe it was just his way of getting on in life. Whatever he did, he wanted to do it as best as he could. He wanted to be the fastest runner, the best football player the best person at playing hide and seek when they were kids or the best at whatever he was doing. This was something that Norman noticed and it may have detracted from his character but his friendliness and likeability always shone through and won out in the end. Everyone couldn’t help liking Dereck.

They loved to wrestle each other as many times as they could. It would start out as a conversation which turned into a difference of opinion which turned out to be an argument which was eventually decided with a bout of wrestling. In this department they were equally matched. They had the same weight, height and leverage. The winner was normally decided by who got the best headlock on first. Keeping tally, the wins were about equal for both of them.

Norman loved to play tricks on Dereck as often as possible. His favourite trick was knocking on his front door and running away. One day he was able to do it three times in row, watching from a safe distance to see his bewildered face. On the fourth time he knocked on the door he ran to the side of the house outside Dereck’s bedroom window. Dereck flew to the front door and yanked open the front door to see no one there. On returning to his bedroom Norman jumped up in the air frightening the life out of him. Once he had calmed down he eventually saw the funny side of it but still vowed to get his revenge.

They both had a great sense of humour and loved to laugh. It didn’t matter what they laughed at as long as they were laughing. They would laugh at themselves, their friends, their parents which got them into trouble a lot of times, awkward situations and anything really. They loved comedy films and always rented out films or watched them on the television. Old films, new films it didn’t matter as long as they were comedy films. They both saw the funny side of life and thought it was a wasted day it they never had a good belly laugh.

Norman may have been more introverted especially in comparison to Dereck. He still got on with people but perhaps lacked Dereck’s animation. Despite everything that happened throughout the years the pair stuck together. They took the same classes at school and achieved the same grades. Whenever they studied, which was not as often as it should have been, they were with each other. Copying may have happened form time to time but this was not noticed by the teachers.

They both left school at 18 years old and whilst their other friends had decided to go to universities to become scientists, engineers or teachers they decided that they would get jobs locally. University or college was always something that they could do later.

They were lean and 6 feet tall. The main difference between them was that Norman had blonde hair and Dereck had brown hair. Throughout school they had girlfriends and this was normally at the same as each other.  It was always striking that the girls would be best friends or at least friends. The foursome would last for a couple of months and then break up for some silly reason. Dereck and Norman could rack it up to experience and then get on with life.

 

They took turns at visiting each other and on one particular evening Dereck was at Norman’s house. They switched on the television and flicking through the channels they came across a documentary covering the life of a bodybuilder. The programme was very well presented and at peak viewing time it was bound to attract a lot of viewers. Dereck couldn’t get over how big this young man was. When he went to the local beach and started posing the young girls swarmed around him trying to get closer which did not impress his girlfriend. By the look of the bodybuilder he didn’t mind the adulation from the fans.

The bodybuilder described what his life was like, the long training sessions, the hard workouts, his diet and all the sacrifices he was making. He earned money by winning competitions and making endorsements for local companies. His biggest endorsements were for weight training belts and protein shakes. He was thinking about writing a training book in which he could describe his routines. He hadn’t start this yet, but it was an idea.

Dereck was hooked by what the guy was saying. He was earning good money, he had a good looking girlfriend, all his fans loved him and he was fit.

“That’s it, that’s what we should do. We should become bodybuilders and we’ll be famous just like him and we’ll have loads of girlfriends. We’ll look massive as well,” said Dereck.

Norman had never seen Dereck so worked up about anything. Normally they sat down in the room and watched a film, making some comments about the cheesy storylines and special effects. This night was different as this night Dereck had become inspired.

“Ok then, so how are we going to do that? It has taken this guy ages to look like that, he said so himself. Anyway we don’t need to be famous and why do you want loads of girlfriends? You only need the one,” remarked Norman.

“It’ll be different for us and we could treat it like a hobby. It’s better than sitting in each other’s room every night watching television. Most of these programmes are boring anyway. They’re always showing the same old stuff, all the old repeats. This will be exciting for us, it will change the way we look and we will be super healthy,” enthused Dereck.

“It’s worth thinking about then. We need to get hold of some weights and some barbells or dumbbells to start us off. There’s also a lot for us to learn if we want to look anything like that bloke on the telly,” said Norman.

 

Norman saw the weight set in the catalogue. His mum had been working the catalogue for years and had made many orders. She was a loyal customer and was given good bargains. There were many weights sets offering different amounts of overall weight and differing numbers of barbells and dumbbells. He opted for the set with a barbell, dumbbells and collars and with a total of 80kg worth of weight. The weights were 4 x 10kg, 4 x 5kg, 8 x 2kg and 4 x 1kg and made of metal. Other weights were available such as those covered in plastic or those full of sand but those were a bit larger. The weights covered in plastic were also slightly more expensive.

The weights were advertised next to a weights bench which was sold separately. Norman could not afford to buy that due to lack of finances. At the side of the bench was a male model with his arms folded wearing shorts, t-shirt socks and trainers. Again the clothing was advertised separately. The same model could be seen throughout the catalogue, wearing a shirt in one section and wearing y-fonts in another with the same smile and with his arms folded all the way through the catalogue. Some people had easy jobs.

The repayment terms were reasonable and Norman placed the order. Three weeks later the weights arrived in a delivery van. Two delivery men brought the free weight, the collars and the barbell and dumbbells to the house. Norman signed for them as these were placed in the hallway. It was an exciting time, he was ready to start his transformation. The weight set also came with a small exercise book demonstrating the main exercises and some tips on their proper form.

Norman went upstairs and pushed his single bed to the wall to make some exercise room where he could use his weights. Dereck came rushing to the house and just in time.

“Well am I glad to see you. You can help me carry the weights upstairs,” said Norman.

With not too great technique they both placed their hands on the weights. For small objects they did seem heavy, especially the 10kg discs. They were both equally excited to try them out.

“So how do we use them then? Is there any particular order in which we can do the exercises?” asked Dereck.

“I’m not too sure. This book has a few exercise routines in it, but it’s fairly small. It shows you how to do the bench press, but from the picture you need a bench and a weights rack. I think we’ll just have to do that one from the floor for the moment,” replied Norman.

Dereck fitted the collars onto the barbell. He was able to place them on using an Allan key. Satisfied that the inner collars were fitted properly and in the right position he placed a 10kg weight on each side before fixing them on with the outer collars.

“There you go,” said Dereck. “20kg of weights with the barbell and collars giving us a total weight of about 22 to 23kg. All ready for our first bench presses even if it is without a bench. Could you pass me the bar please when I’m ready?”

Dereck laid on the floor and Norman stood over him lowering what seemed to him a heavy barbell. Dereck took the strain and lowered the barbell as far as he could. The full descent to the chest was prevented as his elbows came in contact with the floor. With a bench he would have got a full stretch and the barbell would have come down to his chest. For now they had to make do with what they had. Dereck finished the first set of ten repetitions and asked Norman to take the barbell.

He stood and walked in front of the wardrobe mirror looking for any difference in his physique no matter how miniscule.

“You don’t look any different. How did it feel? Was it sore?” asked Norman………………………

 

‘Big Ambitions’ is available as an eBook on Amazon.

alanrove@hotmail.com

Regards

Alan