Every morning, I would wake up early before my day began and execute my daily exercise. It didn't matter if it rained or shined; I would always put in at least an hour of workout a day. That fact didn't change during the pandemic. In fact, the work-from-home lifestyle allowed me to exercise twice as hard.
It was a nice routine.
The same dumbbells, the same gym rack, the same yoga mat… It was almost therapeutic in a sense.
Yet, on this very day, there was a special oddity that stood before my eyes.
"... Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes! I need to return back to the weight I was before!"
"There's nothing wrong with the weight you are at now, though..."
Despite all of my assurances that Althea was at a healthy weight, the girl was adamant about losing the fat she gained. Apparently, the fact that she'd gone over fifty kilograms was too much of a shock for her.
Furthermore, I'm all for helping people develop good fitness habits. Althea was already eating a balanced diet due to my cooking, so why not go one step further and help her get in shape?
"Okay, before we begin, we need to be on the same page. How much do you know about fitness and exercise in general?"
"Not much..."
As I'd expected. This girl was blessed with good genes and never had a problem with her figure before. Well, at least I know where to begin now.
"No matter, I'll explain as much as I can."
I walked over to my phone and pulled out the infographic that I'd prepared. It was a simple image explaining the three main body types that all humans tend to have.
"Humans come in all shapes and sizes, and no two people are totally alike. However, in general, there are three main body types that we can be classified by."
"Three main body types?" Althea questioned with a puzzled look on her face. Evidently, it was the first time she'd heard of these terms.
"Yes," I smiled in reply. "They're called Endomorph, Ectomorph and Mesomorph. Endomorphs are people that tend to gain fat and muscle easier and quicker. They are also those with a higher bone density and would usually have stocky builds. An example of an Endomorph would be yours truly!"
When I was ignorant about health issues, I ate whatever I wanted and quickly gained plenty of fat. That turned out to be a massive mistake on my part. Being an Endomorph, my metabolism was piss poor, and all of that fat stayed on my body like a mistress that never wanted to leave. It was only after I changed all of my dietary habits and began exercising regularly that I reverted back to a more acceptable weight.
"Ectomorphs, on the other hand, have the fastest metabolism. They tend to stay lean and thin, no matter what they eat. They also have a hard time gaining muscles and are generally of a weaker frame."
Does that sound like anyone you know? I wanted to ask Althea, but there seems to be no need to. She was already reflecting on her own experiences and could easily conclude that she was a textbook Ectomorph.
"Finally, there are the Mesomorphs. They are mostly in the middle of the Ectomorphs and Endomorphs. They can gain muscles easily and don't gain much fat. Basically the genetic lottery."
Sienna and Len were the perfect examples of Mesomorphs. Even if they didn't exercise, they had a naturally athletic build. Also, since they play badminton year-round, their bodies are almost always in optimal conditions.
"Knowing your body type is the first step in every weight loss journey! For you, since you're thin throughout your entire life, you should be an Ectomorph. So you will be able to lose all of your excess fat quite fast."
"That's great!" Althea's eyes shone with excitement. She tiptoed her way to my weight rack and attempted to lift a ten-kilogram dumbbell. "So, how much lifting should I do?"
"Lifting? What makes you think that I'm asking you to lift weights?"
"... Isn't that how you exercise?"
This girl… What's with her stereotypical view on exercise? She must have watched too many dramas.
"There are several ways that you can exercise, Althea. Weights are just one of them. There's aerobic, stretching, planks, etcetera… Given your thin frame, I would suggest you stay away from heavy lifting for now..."
I chuckled as I removed the ten-kilogram dumbbell from Althea's struggling arms.
"Okay! So what should I focus on?"
"Cardio and yoga!"
"Yoga? Isn't that just stretching?"
"Hey, don't underestimate yoga. Just keeping a pose for a minute will be a strain, and trying to hold it for two will leave you sweating. Fortunately for you, I have an extra mat that you could use."
"What about running?"
"We can do that in the future. Today, we'll just focus on yoga."
In the end, I instructed Althea for a solid thirty minutes. I gave her a crash course on what exercises were suitable for her fitness needs and guided her through yoga poses.
I'm not going to lie; it was pretty amusing to see Althea struggle with her first exercise session. She stumbled and fell multiple times, just like a duckling that had just hatched out from the egg. Naturally, I did my best to guide the girl. Eventually, she started doing exercises all on her own, which gave me enough leeway to conduct my own workouts.
"Hah… Hah… Hah… That was hard..." Althea huffed as she downed a cup of iced water.
"I told you that yoga wasn't easy," I laughed as I drank my water too. "Don't worry, once you get used to it, it won't be as tiring."
The sweaty girl groaned before taking a minute to settle her palpitating heart rate. She took many deep breaths before noticing that her entire shirt was drenched with hard purged sweat. Althea then pursed her lips and declared: "I need better exercise clothes."
"Yeah, I think so too..."
There wasn't anything wrong with Althea's get-up per se, but it would be a hassle to wash the sweat-stained cotton shirt that she was wearing.
"We should go shop for some."
"I'm sorry, we?"
"That's right! I'm an amateur when it comes to exercise, let alone what clothes to wear! I don't know what's good to wear when doing a run! I need an expert there to help me choose what clothes to wear!"
"But… It's women's clothes. I don't think that I can help you there."
"Who says you can't help! Your opinion is important! The most important, in fact!"
"Urgh..."
Clothes again… I swear, this girl must have at least a thousand articles of clothes in her closet or something. Then again, Althea was putting effort into her fitness routine. I guess I should help her this once.
"Okay, we'll go after lunch. I know an excellent store that sells discount sporting apparel."
"Wow, I'd never thought there would be a day that Desir would recommend a clothing shop to go to."
"You..." I snarled at the girl, who happily skipped back to her apartment to shower. Did she think that I was a caveman or a hermit that lived under a rock or something? I do shop for clothes, alright! Just… once in a blue moon.
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"Wow… I'd never seen such a big department store before..."
Just as I'd promised, I brought Althea to my go-to place for all sporting apparel. It was a vast single-story store that only had one retailer. Due to the pandemic, there weren't as many people frequenting the store, but it was still quite packed given the circumstances.
"Yeah, this place specialises in all sorts of sporting goods. From badminton rackets to football boots. From ski masks to swimsuits. Everything that you need is crammed into this one store."
I wasn't lying.
The moment we stepped foot into this store, Althea and I were greeted with rows upon rows of random sporting goods. At the entrance, there were scooters and bikes at huge discounts. Walking in a bit further, there were shelves of pearly white shoes from various sporting brands. To the left, there were camping materials, summer shorts and a variety of different clothes. There were even gym equipment up for sale!
"This place… It smells like Desir..."
"What did you say?"
"N-No, nothing!" Althea shook her head before quickly changing the subject. "You must have bought many things from here. Those dumbbells and gym racks… They're identical to the ones you have at home."
"Haha, you're observant! Yeah, that's right! Most of my exercise equipment is from this store. In the future, if you need anything from here, feel free to use my membership card."
"Can I really?!"
"Of course! It'll give me membership points that I can claim for vouchers, and at the same time, it'll give you a five percent discount on all items purchased. Win-win for all!"
"Wow..."
Althea's eyes brightened up as she continued to eye down the massive department store. She was interested in the vast diversity of items, but her gaze gradually rested on the one place that all girls loved.
"Look at all of these clothes! They're so cute!"
"... yeah."
For the first time in my life, I was dragged into the female section of the sporting store. Usually, when I shopped, this section was always out of mind. Rightfully so, since I was almost always here to shop for men's clothes or shoes.
But now that I'm here…
"It's massive..."
The female section was three times larger than the men's. There were tank tops, sweat-absorbent shirts, sports bras, tight shorts, trendy skirts… The list went on and on.
And for some reason… The variety of apparel far surpassed what the men's sections had. A single t-shirt that had three colours in the men's section was multiplied by two in the women's section.
It was a little overwhelming for a person who only bought one shirt of the same design every time.
Althea, on the other hand, was behaving like a fish in the ocean.
"Desir! Look at this! Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yeah..."
"What about this?"
One after another, Althea brought forth different types of sporting clothes. Many of them looked the same to me. No, all of them looked the same to me. However, for Althea, there seemed to be some magical appeal to each and every one of them. And then… her eyes darted to a certain section of the store, a section that I had neither entered nor thought to enter before.
"... Should I buy some sports bras?"
"T-That..."
I struggled to give Althea a straight answer to that question.
An image popped into my mind at that moment. It was a hot summer day, and the mere mention of exercise would draw out sweat. A gorgeous girl, one that had perfect proportions that would make a succubus drool, started doing jumping jacks under the sun. She wore nothing but a tight black sports bra and shorts that were barely under her waist.
Hot, shiny beads of perspiration dripped down the exquisite, swan neck of hers and landed on her snow-white collarbone. The sweat show didn't stop there; it continued to drip onto her exposed, toned navel and down the long legs, which would make a giraffe jealous.
I gulped unconsciously as I realised who that girl I was imaging was, and I quickly snapped out of my delusions.
"Desir?"
"I-It's recommended to wear it during workouts. But remember to wear a shirt over it."
"Do people not wear shirts over their underwear?"
"Some girls do… I mean, I like to be shirtless for my workouts too..."
"A-Ah, I see..."
Althea's face fell deep into thought as her eyes lasered in on the sports bra in her hand. The way that she was looking at the bra… It seemed like she wanted to burn two holes in the poor undergarment.
"Desir… Which one do you prefer?"
"M-My preference doesn't matter, does it?!"
"It does! I need an expert's opinion!"
"Then get a staff member's help! Or you can call Sienna! I'm not an expert on women's underwear!"
"There's no need to be an expert! Just tell me which one you would like the most!"
"Didn't you just say that you needed an expert's opinion?!"
After some back and forth, I finally caved in and pointed out which sports bra I liked the most. And it was definitely based on its functional design, not because it showed the most skin.
Definitely not...