Paige and Doug: Workout Buddy
Apr. 16th, 2024 01:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_husk posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsPaige meets Doug and they have a training session.
Paige stood in a corner of the gym with a punching bag, throwing some light hits at it. Unlike Sam, she hadn’t done much fighting before moving up and needed to work on her basics. So using her phone for some lessons, she had headed to the gym to get some exercise and build up her form. This might have gone easier if she had asked someone for pointers, but Paige had always been a figure it out yourself kind of person. She could probably get this on her own, too, with enough work.
The best part of not dealing with a blood curse was that Doug could be a gym rat again. The worst part of being on the downhill toward his fortieth birthday was that he couldn't be quite the obsessive exerciser that he had been in his twenties. But that still meant he could often be found in the gym doing his best to keep himself in shape and ready for an X-Force mission. He recognized Paige as he walked in and took a spot to stretch and limber up before grabbing some free weights and running through a variety of arm and chest exercises. He could hear the video - some things apparently didn't change, and Paige Guthrie's 'do it myself' streak was apparently one of them.
"Pivot more," he offered mildly after one punch glanced off of the bag.
Paige startled at the voice, having not noticed that someone else had come in. "Uh...thanks." She took a moment to resettle herself, then threw her next punch, trying to pivot more and overshooting. Paige frowned and pulled back, ready to try again
Doug had a bit of an internal battle between his internal teacher and not wanting to impose himself on Paige's workout. Deciding that it was leg day, he made his way to one of the large press machines (though not the one for the folks with enhanced strength - he might be a gym rat, but he wasn't that dumb). "Settling in okay at the mansion?" he asked genially, his 'big brother' sneaking out a bit.
“Huh?” Paige dropped her stance and brushed her hair out of her face. “Oh, yeah. Finally startin’ to get used to the place, I think. Can’t believe it’s been two months. I’m Paige, by the way.” She reached over and hit pause on her video since this was turning into a conversation.
"Oh, I caught the Guthrie invasion as it was happening," Doug joked. If someone hadn't yet explained the frankenberry cat to Paige, he didn't feel like the one to have that awkward conversation when this one seemed plenty awkward by itself. Nothing like seeing a different version of an old classmate, especially when this version was young enough that he could almost be her dad. "I'm Doug. If you've got computer troubles, I'm generally your guy. Me or Darcy, pretty much." He waved at the phone. "So, what are you looking to learn?" He wouldn't say that most video channels might result in bad habits, but it kinda depended on what she was trying to accomplish.
Pagie gave a short laugh at the invasion comment. It was starting to feel like they were taking over the place. "Good to know, I'll keep that in mind the next time my computer crashes in the middle of a paper." She glanced back at her phone. "Uh....the basics, mostly. How to throw a punch, build up upper body strength, probably will have to ask someone to help me spar to learn how to take a hit. Y'know, stuff like that."
Doug gave her a wide grin. "I can guarantee you won't have any difficulty with finding people to spar with. Given the general level of excitement that tends to be drawn here..." And leaving aside the existence of the various teams - he didn't know how aware she was of their existence, after all. "...knowing how to take a hit is a great idea." He nodded toward the bag. "Would I be overstepping if I offered to help?"
“Not at all,” Paige Said, gesturing to the punching bag. “Honestly, YouTube can only help so much, but I wanted to get the basics down before I started asking Gen X for sparing sessions and tips.”
"Basics I can handle." Doug grabbed a roll of athletic tape and wound it around his hands, a long-practiced habit. Even if the nanite hand didn't really require it, he still did it. "Okay," he told Paige. "Your stance is pretty good, you generally want your feet shoulder width apart. But you definitely need to loosen up more - some of that will come with more practice and a better comfort level. Right now you're standing a bit too locked up like you're trying to get it exactly right. All the positioning is good, you just need to trust your body a little more." He demonstrated, feet and hands in roughly the same spots as Paige's had been, but more relaxed on the balls of his feet, as if he were ready to move in any direction.
Paige tried to copy Doug’s stance and to relax into it. She moved her feet further apart so they lined up under her shoulders and leaned onto the balls of her feet, fists held up, shoulders still raised up around her ears. “Like this?” This was already significantly more helpful than YouTube.
Doug nodded. "Yep. You want them up enough to protect your face, but not so high that you can't bring your elbow down to protect your ribs if need be." He demonstrated both, hunching his shoulder up as he protected his face, then dropping it down as he demonstrated how to protect the ribs.
After walking through that with Paige for a bit, he put one hand on the bag. "Okay, next thing that people don't always think about as they're getting started. When you punch something, you don't want to stop your fist at whatever you're punching at." He showed what that looked like, pulling his punch at the last second so his fist barely touched the bag. It swung back minutely. "See? No power. You want to learn to punch -through- your target, aiming a few inches behind where you want it to land." This time he pivoted, driving his right fist into the bag and sending it swaying back, then catching it upon its return.
"And remember how I said pivot more? See how that translates to momentum and force."
Paige nodded along with what Doug said, clearly taking mental notes. “Thank you so much. You’ve been a big help, and I don’t want to hold you up too much.” She took Doug’s place in front of the bag, ready to keep practicing until she felt she had built up some muscle memory. She’d have to figure out if she could send Doug some cookies or something as a thank you. Store bought cookies.
"You know where to find me," Doug told her with a nod as he went back to his own workout in companionable silence.
Paige stood in a corner of the gym with a punching bag, throwing some light hits at it. Unlike Sam, she hadn’t done much fighting before moving up and needed to work on her basics. So using her phone for some lessons, she had headed to the gym to get some exercise and build up her form. This might have gone easier if she had asked someone for pointers, but Paige had always been a figure it out yourself kind of person. She could probably get this on her own, too, with enough work.
The best part of not dealing with a blood curse was that Doug could be a gym rat again. The worst part of being on the downhill toward his fortieth birthday was that he couldn't be quite the obsessive exerciser that he had been in his twenties. But that still meant he could often be found in the gym doing his best to keep himself in shape and ready for an X-Force mission. He recognized Paige as he walked in and took a spot to stretch and limber up before grabbing some free weights and running through a variety of arm and chest exercises. He could hear the video - some things apparently didn't change, and Paige Guthrie's 'do it myself' streak was apparently one of them.
"Pivot more," he offered mildly after one punch glanced off of the bag.
Paige startled at the voice, having not noticed that someone else had come in. "Uh...thanks." She took a moment to resettle herself, then threw her next punch, trying to pivot more and overshooting. Paige frowned and pulled back, ready to try again
Doug had a bit of an internal battle between his internal teacher and not wanting to impose himself on Paige's workout. Deciding that it was leg day, he made his way to one of the large press machines (though not the one for the folks with enhanced strength - he might be a gym rat, but he wasn't that dumb). "Settling in okay at the mansion?" he asked genially, his 'big brother' sneaking out a bit.
“Huh?” Paige dropped her stance and brushed her hair out of her face. “Oh, yeah. Finally startin’ to get used to the place, I think. Can’t believe it’s been two months. I’m Paige, by the way.” She reached over and hit pause on her video since this was turning into a conversation.
"Oh, I caught the Guthrie invasion as it was happening," Doug joked. If someone hadn't yet explained the frankenberry cat to Paige, he didn't feel like the one to have that awkward conversation when this one seemed plenty awkward by itself. Nothing like seeing a different version of an old classmate, especially when this version was young enough that he could almost be her dad. "I'm Doug. If you've got computer troubles, I'm generally your guy. Me or Darcy, pretty much." He waved at the phone. "So, what are you looking to learn?" He wouldn't say that most video channels might result in bad habits, but it kinda depended on what she was trying to accomplish.
Pagie gave a short laugh at the invasion comment. It was starting to feel like they were taking over the place. "Good to know, I'll keep that in mind the next time my computer crashes in the middle of a paper." She glanced back at her phone. "Uh....the basics, mostly. How to throw a punch, build up upper body strength, probably will have to ask someone to help me spar to learn how to take a hit. Y'know, stuff like that."
Doug gave her a wide grin. "I can guarantee you won't have any difficulty with finding people to spar with. Given the general level of excitement that tends to be drawn here..." And leaving aside the existence of the various teams - he didn't know how aware she was of their existence, after all. "...knowing how to take a hit is a great idea." He nodded toward the bag. "Would I be overstepping if I offered to help?"
“Not at all,” Paige Said, gesturing to the punching bag. “Honestly, YouTube can only help so much, but I wanted to get the basics down before I started asking Gen X for sparing sessions and tips.”
"Basics I can handle." Doug grabbed a roll of athletic tape and wound it around his hands, a long-practiced habit. Even if the nanite hand didn't really require it, he still did it. "Okay," he told Paige. "Your stance is pretty good, you generally want your feet shoulder width apart. But you definitely need to loosen up more - some of that will come with more practice and a better comfort level. Right now you're standing a bit too locked up like you're trying to get it exactly right. All the positioning is good, you just need to trust your body a little more." He demonstrated, feet and hands in roughly the same spots as Paige's had been, but more relaxed on the balls of his feet, as if he were ready to move in any direction.
Paige tried to copy Doug’s stance and to relax into it. She moved her feet further apart so they lined up under her shoulders and leaned onto the balls of her feet, fists held up, shoulders still raised up around her ears. “Like this?” This was already significantly more helpful than YouTube.
Doug nodded. "Yep. You want them up enough to protect your face, but not so high that you can't bring your elbow down to protect your ribs if need be." He demonstrated both, hunching his shoulder up as he protected his face, then dropping it down as he demonstrated how to protect the ribs.
After walking through that with Paige for a bit, he put one hand on the bag. "Okay, next thing that people don't always think about as they're getting started. When you punch something, you don't want to stop your fist at whatever you're punching at." He showed what that looked like, pulling his punch at the last second so his fist barely touched the bag. It swung back minutely. "See? No power. You want to learn to punch -through- your target, aiming a few inches behind where you want it to land." This time he pivoted, driving his right fist into the bag and sending it swaying back, then catching it upon its return.
"And remember how I said pivot more? See how that translates to momentum and force."
Paige nodded along with what Doug said, clearly taking mental notes. “Thank you so much. You’ve been a big help, and I don’t want to hold you up too much.” She took Doug’s place in front of the bag, ready to keep practicing until she felt she had built up some muscle memory. She’d have to figure out if she could send Doug some cookies or something as a thank you. Store bought cookies.
"You know where to find me," Doug told her with a nod as he went back to his own workout in companionable silence.
