The older woman laughed heartily at Daniel's comment. "Young man! Now explain to me what's going on inside that head of yours."
She then offered Daniel some cookies. "Here. Have some of my infamous chocolate chip cookies." Daniel's mom initially protested but eventually allowed him to take some cookies.
Daniel grabbed two cookies and devoured them, his eyes still focused on the two dogs. "Thank you," he mumbled.
The older woman turned to Daniel's mom. "His name is Daniel, right?" Upon confirmation, she asked Daniel, "Daniel, my boy, do you know what your name means?" Daniel responded with little interest in the conversation.
The scene cut back to the gym where Eric announced the first challenge - bench press. Jonathan suggested increasing the stakes, which led to some banter among him and his kids.
Finally, Marcus announced the start of the challenge. Both Jonathan and Michelle got into position for the bench press challenge under their respective mentors' guidance.
"Ready?" Marcus asked.
"Yeah," Michelle responded.
"Hmm," Jonathan grunted in agreement.
"Go!" Eric commanded and started counting as they began their bench press reps.
The counting continued, echoing through the gym. A random overweight guy even joined the kids to watch the noisy couples compete with each other. Doria finished braiding Mimi's hair; Mimi's small head took her long minutes to finish it up.
"Done!" Doria exclaimed. Mimi turned so that Doria could have a good look at it.
"Wow! So pretty! Hey Jake, what do you think?" Doria asked.
"Mm. Not bad," Jake responded nonchalantly.
"Not bad?! What do you mean not bad! It's-it's... I don't even have a word to describe it," Doria protested.
Jake, uninterested, simply replied, "Same."
Meanwhile, Eric continued his count. "Sixteen!"
Jonathan pushed himself to the limit, counting each rep as he went. "Seventeen...eighteen...nineteen!" he gasped.
"Jonathan!" Eric called out.
Jonathan muttered, "Yep."
"If you know you can't make it, you can stop here," Eric advised.
"No! I can keep going," Jonathan insisted, his breaths coming in ragged gasps.
"At this rate, you'll end up hurting yourself," Eric warned. Jonathan tried to push through the pain, but he could only manage a few more reps before collapsing in exhaustion.
"First round goes to Michelle," Eric announced.
Jake turned to the overweight guy next to him, who was clutching a blue towel and looking nervous. "Is this your first time at the gym?" Jake asked.
"Yeah. My mom made me come. How could you tell?" the guy replied.
"You look tense," Jake observed.
"How could I not be?" the guy replied.
"Fair enough," Jake agreed.
"Okay, next up!" Eric announced. "We have the treadmill, going seven to eight miles per hour. One wrong step and you'll find yourself flying across the gym."
Everyone, especially the kids, was excited at the prospect of seeing someone fly across the gym. Everyone except Jonathan, who was left feeling terrified at the thought.
"Okay, let's do this!" Marcus announced. They both stepped onto the treadmill, with their mentors standing behind them in case they fell.
"Step on it!" Eric commanded.
For a few minutes, everything seemed to be going well. Jonathan managed to hold his pace and balance, while Michelle struggled to keep up.
"Wow!" Eric exclaimed.
"Great job!" Jake cheered.
"Dad, you're doing it!" Mimi encouraged.
"Yeah, Dad has always been great at sprinting," Doria added.
"Do you think he'll win?" the overweight guy asked.
Jonathan pushed himself to the limit, counting each rep as he went. "Seventeen...eighteen...nineteen!" he gasped.
"Jonathan!" Eric called out.
Jonathan muttered, "Yep."
"If you know you can't make it, you can stop here," Eric advised.
"No! I can keep going," Jonathan insisted, his breaths coming in ragged gasps.
"At this rate, you'll end up hurting yourself," Eric warned. Jonathan tried to push through the pain, but he could only manage a few more reps before collapsing in exhaustion.
"First round goes to Michelle," Eric announced.
Jake turned to the overweight guy next to him, who was clutching a blue towel and looking nervous. "Is this your first time at the gym?" Jake asked.
"Yeah. My mom made me come. How could you tell?" the guy replied.
"You look tense," Jake observed.
"How could I not be?" the guy replied.
"Fair enough," Jake agreed.
"Okay, next up!" Eric announced. "We have the lat pull-down machine. It's different from the bench press."
"Isn't that the same as bench press?" Jonathan asked.
"No, and you should know better than that," Eric responded, still annoyed from the earlier incident. Michelle and Jonathan positioned themselves in front of the machine, ready to lift.
"Ready, go! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven," Eric counted as they started lifting.
Jonathan couldn't hold on for more than twelve seconds. He let go of the bars at just twelve seconds.
"I can't do this anymore. I'm too tired," Jonathan admitted breathlessly.
"Okay, that was quick! You won!" Eric announced.
"I won!" Jonathan exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah, because Michelle let go of it first," Eric explained.
"To be frank, I was actually pretending to look tired, but I wasn't because you know-" Jonathan started explaining but was cut off by Eric.
"You only won one round. She has two and you have one," Eric pointed out.
"Besides, the only reason why you won is because of my left arm. It couldn't hold on anymore. I had applied too much strength to it," Michelle added.
"Your excuse!" Jonathan accused.
"No!" Michelle defended herself.