James Franco

Professor Grant
UWRT 1101
First Draft due: November 17, 2014

The Perfect Fit

Who says you cant have that perfect body you saw in the
magazine? Who says you cant have a healthier life? Who says you cant
do it? No one does. Many individuals may think of the gym as a place
only for muscle heads. However, this isnt true. The gym is a place for
diversity and people with different motivations.
The way I see the gym community at UNCC is as a group within a
larger group. Its only a small part of something bigger. The gym is a
place for people with similar motives but different goals. By this, I mean
that everyone goes to change his or her lifestyle. They want something
different and expect an outcome. What is that outcome? Well, it varies
amongst each individual. Some may go just to be healthier, others to get in
shape.
As clich as this may sound, the most common way of
intercommunicating within this community is by talking. This is within
the UNCC gym community. When in the gym, I may ask an individual if

theyre still using some form of equipment just by simply using my voice.
Between my friends and I, the type of communication we use are text
messages. We have a group message to communicate when one of us will
miss out on a workout day. Within the larger community there are
different forms of communication like forums. One popular forum is
Bodybuilding.com. Many people communicate their ideas and seek advice
from experts on how to do specific workouts.
This community has lexis written all over it. The lexis even
extends to words that may be found in another type of community. By this
I mean lexis like: quads, traps, and triceps. These are all muscles and
relevant to the gym community, but they are also part of the medical
community. Some lexis that are native to the gym community are: reps,
set, spot. The set is an interval. Reps are the repetitions. Its how many
times you can repeat an action in one set. To spot someone is to observe
an individual while they are completing a workout just in case they need
assistance.
I believe there are more experts in this community than newbies.
The reason I believe this is because people are not as likely to join a
community such as the gym where it can be intimidating joining for the
first time. Like I said previously, anyone can join but no one can just join
for the first time knowing what he or she is doing. Its not easy to
mushfake in the gym community. Its obvious to tell when an individual
doesnt know what theyre doing. The other reason why I believe there

are more experts than newbies is because everyone seems to know how to
perform specific tasks. You never see any major accidents occur or anyone
get hurt. The way that the newbies can learn is from training with someone
who knows how to properly work out. This can either be with a
professional trainer or a friend.
My observations were very mutual to the way I naturally perceived
the community. Everyone is always active. The only time you see
someone taking a break is after each set. Theres never just one person
who sits around and watches others. Those who attend the gym seem to be
very individualistic. I dont see that many people have workout partners.
Many like to go about on their own. Its rare to see any mushfakers. Ive
only spotted a few. The way I can tell is that they arent as occupied as the
experts. They are much more observant. They like to watch others and
learn from them.
Swales characteristics of a discourse community are definitely
applicable to this community. However, Ann M. Johns characteristics,
not so much. The reason this being is because the members of this
community are individualistic. Members dont rely on other members
unless its their workout buddy. Theres hardly any conflict and because
there is no conflict, there is no difficulty working with others.
There isnt any authority because there is no group effort. Each
person is his own leader. They are the only ones who can push themselves
and motivate themselves one hundred percent of the way. The newcomers

can emulate experts and acquire the knowledge that will enable them to
belong to the community, but from there on out it is only up to them to
reach their goal.
The following information are the answers that I acquired from an
acquaintance of mine. He told me that hes been a member of this group
since the start of college at UNCC. The reason that he got involved was to
get bigger. He wanted to build his mass (Lian). I then asked him to tell me
what some specific lexis meant. He told me that the word muscle failure
is when you perform as many of a single workout as you can until you
cant do it anymore. The word max is a single rep that you perform with
the most weights when lifting (Lian). He said he uses these terms to see
how strong he is. I went on to ask him how we communicate within the
community. He replied by asking the question what other methods are
there except verbal communication? (Lian). Lastly I asked him about the
newbies and experts. He told me anyone can join with a certain degree of
dedication and perseverance. He can tell when someone is a newbie
with the form that they project. He would consider himself a notch
below an expert. Hes taken two physical conditioning classes where
theyve taught him proper form (Lian).
So what am I trying to say? The gym community is a place for
individuals who strive to reach their goals with hard work. They represent
dedication. It isnt just a place where athletes and body builders spend

their days. Its a place where youll gain strengths by acknowledging your
weaknesses.

Works Cited

Lian, Danny. "Do You Even Lift?" Personal interview. 16 Nov. 2014.