Page 2 of Master Daddy

WHOEVER YOU ARE, YOU ARE A FRIEND.

TRAIN HARD, MAKE THOSE GAINS.

BUT MOST OF ALL… LOVE YOURSELF!

There’s no judgement in this gym. Whether you are young or old, a seasoned lifter or just starting out, everyone is treated equally and with respect. Oh, and I truly love the fact that there’s a little juice and protein shake bar here too. Sadly, it doesn’t open until 09:00, but it’s a super addition and has some of the tastiest protein shakes you could ever dream of.

Cookie crunch and vanilla flavor with thirty-five grams of protein? Yummy!

Anyway, I’ll have to get a protein shake another time. I’ll be done and dusted here and on my way to the grocery store before the juice bar is open.

“Hmmm,” I mutter, looking around. “Milo?”

I’m meant to be meeting Milo, one of my BFFs here, and so far, there’s no sign of him. He’s usually pretty good at timekeeping, so I’m a little surprised that he’s not here yet.

Oh well, I guess I’ll make a start and hopefully he’ll be walking in through those doors any minute. After all, we’ve both decided that we’re going to go for PB’s on our bench presses today. We might be Littles, but that doesn’t mean we don’t take this seriously! We’ve got a bit of friendly competition running between us as to who can break their personal best the soonest. I think I’m going to win, and naturally Milo thinks he’s going to come out on top.

The winner of our contest will be treated to an all expenses paid visit to the diner for a big celebratory brunch with extra pancakes, milkshake, and chocolate-covered waffles too.

So, yeah, I’m definitely going to make sure I show Milo that I’m the strongest Little in town.

And speaking of my tardy buddy, I hear my phone ping and see a message from Milo pop up…

MILO: Yo! I’m soooo sorry but I’m going to have to skip training this morning. Connor has set-up a big Daddy surprise road trip for me! Eeek! I’m so excited (but also super-sorry to cancel last minute on you!!!!) Please forgive me? XoXo

I can’t help but smile. Milo and his Daddy Connor have a great relationship, and I honestly am not even slightly bothered that he won’t be able to train with me this morning. If anything, I think I can actually spin this into a positive…

LUKE: Hehe, that’s cool! You guys will have a wicked-cool time wherever you go, and I want to hear all the details when you get back. And by the way… I’m going to have an extra juicy training session to make sure I win our little contest mw-ha-ha! Evil laugh evil laugh! ;)

With that, I put my phone away and make a start on my workout. And it doesn’t take long before I’m feeling my body warm up to the task at hand as I cycle through my routine of movements and exercises.

But there is one slight cloud on the horizon…

I’m down to work on my bench press today and without Milo being with me, I don’t have a spotter. A spotter is a buddy who makes sure that if things get a little rough on the bench press, they’re there to help you get that barbell up and away from you if you’re arms and chest give-out and can’t push any more.

I spot that there is a free bench available. I know I should quickly walk over toward it and make it mine. After all, if I miss this chance I know I might not get another if someone else gets on there and decides to take their sweet time between each set.

Suddenly my mind is spinning with all the negative thoughts, a far cry from my usual sunny demeanor…

I’ll be by myself though…

What happens if I get stuck…

Do I really want to crush myself LOL…

“No, let’s do it,” I say, gritting my teeth and striding over toward the bench.

I decide that I won’t push myself too hard and instead work on my form and technique. This way, the need for a potential spotter will be massively reduced and I won’t have to worry about crushing my body and leaving in an ambulance!

I set myself down and lie on the smooth, black leather bench. After adjusting my shoulders and legs I do a few warm-up repetitions with just the barbell and no weight on it.

“Feeling good,” I say, smiling to myself.

And as I progress up the weights, I can’t help but shake the feeling that today might actually be a good day to try for a personal best. If I could actually nail a new weight today, it would put me in a totally awesome position to beat Milo at the climax of our contest.

I finish my final warm-up set and stand up from the bench.

Should I go for it?