Young Gym Goers Mock Old Man Who Comes to Work Out, Next Day They Ask Him to Train Them – Story of the Day

An old man in his 70s entered the gym one day, only to have the younger gym-goers scoff at him. They believed he was too old to work out until they watched him impressively lift weights. The following day, they shamefully asked the old man to train them.

One day, an old man named Bob surprised gym goers when he walked in wearing a pair of cycling shorts and a dri-fit shirt, ready to work out. He had on a pair of lifting gloves and walked straight towards the dumbbell rack.

Everyone noticed Bob and watched him as he made his way to the rack. "What is he thinking?" one man asked loudly. "There's no way he can lift those weights," he said.

Partly concerned but also somewhat mocking the older man, another gym-goer decided to approach him. "Sir, with all due respect, I don't think you can lift those anymore. You might hurt yourself," he told him.

"Yeah. Don't let the gym pay for your hospitalization. Why don't you just go on the treadmill and get some steps in?" another chimed in.

Bob looked at the two men with a smirk on his face. "You're testing me. I'll show you," he thought to himself. He silently walked towards the dumbbell rack and picked up two 30kg dumbbells.

All the gym-goers silently laughed behind him, shaking their heads. "There is absolutely no way he can even make two reps with those weights," the same man who approached him whispered to another.

Then Bob sat on one of the gym benches, facing all who mocked him. He started lifting the weights, doing 15 reps before taking a quick 30-second break.

After his break, he did another 15 reps, much to the surprise of those around him. "How does he do it?! He can't be younger than 70!" a man said in disbelief.

Bob then walked toward the pull-up bars, wowing gym-goers as he pulled his entire weight up a couple of times. Wanting answers, one of them decided to approach the old man again.

"I'm sorry we doubted you. It turns out you're a lot stronger than many of us here! You should be the one judging us," he commended. "How do you do it?"

Bob revealed that he was once an athlete. "I was a football player for two decades. My love for sports didn't stop when I got older. Every day, I run to the gym and work out."

"Why haven't we seen you here before?" the man asked. "We would have noticed you in an instant. This is the first time we're seeing you."

"The gym near my house closed down recently, and this was the next nearest branch. So, you can all expect to see an older man lifting weights every morning. Nothing to be surprised about; carry on with your workouts," he explained, this time addressing the entire room as everyone was still watching him.

The following day, he returned to the gym, and several gym-goers from the previous day went up to him to apologize for mocking him. "We're sorry for judging you so quickly. It shouldn't have been our business in the first place," said one of them.

Bob shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you aren't used to seeing a 72-year-old walking into the gym to lift weights. Many people my age would rather get on a bike or walk on the treadmill," he said.

"My name is Bob. I look forward to getting to know you all," he added, extending his hand for them to shake. Everybody introduced themselves one by one, and they started talking casually about several topics.

Eventually, Bob and the other gym-goers became comfortable with one another and would sometimes even hang out outside of the gym. They were glad to meet him and he became an inspiration to them to live a healthy lifestyle so they too could look good and feel good as they grew older.

Bob would constantly give them tips on how they could live to be as active as he was at 72. More than constantly working out, Bob told them that they should also maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating healthy and cutting down on vices.

What can we learn from this story?

• Don't judge someone by their age and appearance. Age is just a number. The gym goers quickly judged Bob for wanting to lift weights despite his advanced age. They ended up regretting this when they realized that Bob was actually a lot stronger than they thought he was. The old man taught them a powerful lesson about age being just a number and staying healthy even at an old age.
• Always be kind and respectful to people older than you. The gym-goers were disrespectful to Bob, laughing at him and mocking him for wanting to lift weights. Bob proved to them that he could do it, and the gym goers even ended up asking him for tips so that they too could age gracefully and healthily as he did. Always be respectful to those older than you. They've gone through a lot and can teach you more about life than you know.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about an old lady who her teen classmates mocked after she decided to go to driving school to get a license. In the end, they regret laughing at her after finding out why she took the lessons in the first place.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.