Sean lost his father in a car accident at the age of 10. Shortly after, him and Sarah, his mother, moved into a nice 2 bedroom condo. It was a nice move cause Sarah had a full day schedule and the condo had a lot of commodities, such as a playground, a nice pool, a gym and lots of security. It was a nice place to raise a child.
During those first years, Sean took a while to make some friends. He had always been a quiet boy, but the condo had other kids and he played around with them every now and then. Sean had always been skinny and not much into sports, not like his mother, who despite of taking care of the money and the house, always made time for jogging, eating healthy and keeping fit.
Five years since Sean's father's death, Sarah became a bit worried that her son, already a junior in high school, wasn't very popular around. She knew that he wasn't the most confident person, and she figured maybe practicing some sort of sport might help. The first chance came a few weeks later, when the condo administration hired a personal trainer to consult and prescribe an exercise routine for anyone who wanted. Not thinking twice, Sarah signed both herself and her son for an initial evaluation on Saturday.
The day came and they both headed to the gym. Arriving there, Sean noticed someone new. It was a mid 20's woman, with short curly hair. What caught Sean's eyes, however, was the girl's frame. Although she was lean, she looked very solid, Her shoulders were very round and popped out nicely from her sleeveless tank top.
"Hi, you must be Cory" Sarah approached the woman and introduced herself "I'm Sarah and this is my son, Sean"
"Hi! Nice to meet you both" she answered with a smile "So, first I'll ask you a few questions to know you better and make a more personal workout routine for you, ok?"
They nodded
"Great. So, I'm assuming Sean here wants to build some muscle. Am I right?" she blinked one eye to him
"Yeah. Sure" He answered, trying to sound uninterested like every teen.
"And you, Sarah? What are your goals?"
"Well, same as him, of course!" Sarah asked promptly. Sean was caught by surprise. He turned to his mother trying to be sure he heard correctly. She wanted to get muscles? Cory was surprised as well
"Oh, really? That's so nice! I love when I have the opportunity to help women get a little bigger.... So I guess we can start with the same routine for you both, and take it from there. Sounds good?"
"Sure do!" Sarah was really excited with the whole thing. Sean was still trying to make some sense from it.
"Good. So, today we'll start with some dumbbell presses. This is an exercise for your chest. Here guys, lay on this bench" Cory pointed
Sarah took place and laid back. Cory handed her 2 15 pounds dumbbells.
"So, we'll start with these" She explained the proper technique and ordered Sarah to perform 10 reps. She did it and stood up, giving the bench to her son. Using the same weights, Sean performed the same exercise.
Two more series and Cory commanded "Now we will do some shoulder presses. Here, Sarah, use these" she said, handing over the 10 pound dumbbells. Again, Sarah started out and switched places with Sean, who worked out with the same dumbbells.
Their joint workout went on for another 30 minutes. Cory made sure to teach the right technique for them on each exercise, orienting them to do drop sets and increasing weight constantly. When they were done, she said goodbye and scheduled a second workout for the next day, where they'd exercise the remaining muscle groups.
Two weeks in and Sean noticed that Sarah had bought some supplements, changed her diet a bit and seemed more well disposed. She was really excited with the whole program, and assumed her son was too. Sean, however, soon enough felt unmotivated. He wasn't being able to add much weight to his series and wasn't seeing any real progress. As time went on, he skipped more and more workouts.
Unlike his son, Sarah was religiously following every instruction from Cory. A couple months in and she was already noticing changes on her body. For a 40 year old woman, she was loving that her waist had slimmed, her shirts were fitting better and even her shoulders looked a bit more prominent. What Sarah loved the most, however, was how nice her thighs and abs looked. She had developed a nice six pack. Yeah, she needed to flex them in order for them to appear, but she was loving it.
Since they were supposed to workout in different hours, Sarah just assumed Sean was progressing as well. She didn't know that her son was going at most twice a week, whereas she was following Cory's rules precisely, working out 6 times a week, getting enough rest and eating perfectly. Once she noticed some bulges on muscles she never had before, liker her triceps and biceps, she got even more exhilarated, dedicating more and more to building them up.
It was another Saturday when Sean decided he would go for a workout. It had been 5 months since his mother dragged him to it, and even though he never saw much results, he liked how he looked after a workout. It made him feel strong and confident. He entered the empty gym and considered what he was going to do first. After a moment, he decided he was going to do the dumbbell presses. He had just laid back with some 25 pounds on his hands when he heard someone coming in. Not bothering to look back, Sean started his series. He had just finished his set and was racking the dumbbells back when he heard his mother's voice
"Oh, excellent, Sean! Maybe we can workout together today!"
"Oh, hey mom. Sure"
"So, what are you training today?" she asked, placing her towel and her water bottle down. As she lowered her body, Sean noticed that his mother looked different. Maybe it was her outfit, a sleeveless, swimmer type tank top that fully exposed her back and shoulders, but she looked buff. Her back looked all lumpy and hard.
"Erm... I just did some dumbbell presses" He answered
"Great! So let me follow your lead"
Without giving much thought, Sarah picked up the 30 pound dumbbells from the rack and laid back on the bench. Sean watched in shock as his mother pressed the dumbbells up and down, up and down. She finished 8 perfect reps before getting up, switching places with him.
Not sure how to behave, Sean picked up the weights his mother was using and started his exercise. He managed 7 reps, but he shook and trembled in the last 3, unlike her who did them in perfect timing.
When Sean got up to switch places with his mother, Sarah had picked up the 35 pound dumbbells. Laying back, Sarah began her second set. Sean looked in disbelief. Was it possible that his mother was stronger than him?
Changing places again, Sean picked up the 35s and tried his best. He managed 4 reps before collapsing.
Sarah grabbed the 40 pounds and laid back. She did 6 strong, slow reps, exhaling when extending her arms every time, looking like a pro. When she finished, she offered the weight to Sean, who stumbled back
"I'm... I'm not sure I can use those..." he admitted, ashamed
"Oh" Sarah was a bit surprised "That's ok... so... shoulder presses?"
"S-sure"
Sarah grabbed the 20s and Sean relaxed. That was the weight he was used to. His mother did 12 fast reps with ease. Suddenly put back into a defensive place, Sean took the weights from her and did his 10 extenuating reps. Sarah watched closely. She was finally realizing that her son wasn't able to keep up with her weights.
Not saying anything, she grabbed the 25s and performed her second set. Sean watched her mother's shoulders press those weights up. They looked hard. When she finished her set, Sean noticed that her deltoids were swollen and defined. You could clearly see the separation between them and her arm muscles. Looking at his own, he could see that he didn't have shoulders like hers. He felt small and weak.
As their workout progressed, Sarah noticed more and more that she had grown stronger than her own son. She looked buffer and bigger. Her upper body looked better than his.
Before the end, she decided to confront him about his dedication to his routine. "Uh... Sean, come here please"
"Yeah, mom?" Sean was trying to wrap this up as soon as he could. He didn't want to feel any more embarrassed than he already was.
Sarah had put 2 10 pound plates on a 15 pound W shaped bar.
"Curl this, please"
"What? Why?"
"Just do it"
Sean grabbed the bar and curled it. No big deal.
"Done. Why did you asked me to...?"
Sarah added another 10 pound plate on each side
"Again"
Sean grabbed the bar once again and curled it. He could feel his biceps burning, but he managed the rep.
"Done. Now, can I go?"
Sarah, without looking at him, added a third 10 pound plate on each side.
"Again"
Not sure if he was able, Sean grabbed the bar and tried his best. His arms shook and burn, but he was only able to bring the weight halfway through.
"Why..." Sarah picked the bar from his hands and curled it perfectly, 3 times. The 40 year old woman's biceps popped out beautifully at each curl. Sean was mute. Sarah racked the bar and turned to her son
"I could have added some more weight, you know. But that's not the point here. Do you know why I'm lifting more weight than you in every single exercise, Sean?" She asked him, seriously
"It's.. it's..." Sean was ashamed of what was happening
"It's because you haven't dedicated yourself. We both started this together, Sean. Now look at me and look at yourself. What do you see?" Sarah placed her hands on her hips, involuntarily expanding her torso. She looked dominant.
"I... I..." he had no idea of what to say
"You know that in this 5 month I've added 10 pounds of weight? You know what weight is that, Sean? It's muscle. Raw, strong muscle. Look at me. Look at these" Sarah raised her arms and flexed her biceps. A considerable sized hard ball of muscle popped out "You see these? These are dedication, Sean. I hoped you had these too. I hoped you had bigger. But... do you? Care to show me?"
Sean was in the verge of crying "Mom, why are you doing this?"
"To teach you a lesson. Nothing will come to you in your life if you don't put your heart into it. And your time, and consideration."
"But, but mom..."
"No buts, Sean. I tried my whole life to be a role model to you. Someone you could admire. I always figured that you'd miss a paternal figure in your life, you know? The whole 'I beat my dad at armwrestling' thing. Well, I'm gonna make you a promise now. I will turn my body into living, walking memory to you that if you dedicate yourself to something, you can achieve it. Every time you look at me and see my hard, muscular body, every time you realize I grew bigger and stronger, I hope you remember that it didn't came easy. That you remember I've put a lot of sweat and heart on every fiber of it. And maybe you'll remember you need to do that too"
"M-mom... I... I'm sorry"
"Don't be sorry. Make me proud. Dedicate yourself. And... well, you'll have to, if you ever want to be able to say you beat your parents in armwrestling, you know?" Sarah flexed her right bicep again. "Cause I promise you it won't be easy"