[Social] How To Train Your Manticore

[Leo Eskandari]

At a time agreed to over email, Leo entered the gym and looked around as he unzipped his hoodie in preparation to stowing it in his locker, wondering if Nika was already there. She seemed the type to either be exactly on time or arrive early. He was a little early himself, trying to make a good impression. Besides, she was taking the time to help him out.

[Nika Novak]

Turns out it's the former and thus she arrives a little after Leo.

"Oh good, you're already here." she notes.

[Leo Eskandari]

By the time she arrived, he had reduced his outfit to some workout shorts, exposed all of his well-muscled and inhuman frame. The plating on his back and shoulders gleamed dully in the glow of the fluorescent lightning as he turned to face her.

"Yeah. I figured I'd show up a few minutes early so I could get ready."

[Nika Novak]

"Plenty people would kill for that muscle tone." she points out with an appreciative nod.

[Leo Eskandari]

He grinned slightly. "Yeah. Gettin' all swole is a pretty wicked silver linin' to this body."

[Nika Novak]

"Alright, let's see them in action then. See what we have to work with here."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Okay. Weights or punching bag?"

[Nika Novak]

"Weights. Something you can lift comfortably for a minute or so."

[Leo Eskandari]

He nodded and climbed into the low-range superstrength weight machine. He started with what he lifted previously and, after a moment, dialed it back a bit to something he could sustain. He wouldn't be carrying cars around, but he could definitely lift half of one.

[Nika Novak]

Nika takes her time, slowly circling around Leo and taking in the muscles at work.

"Amazing. Alright, you can put it down for now."

[Leo Eskandari]

He put the weight bar down and breathed out.

"Amazin', huh?" he smiled boyishly.

[Nika Novak]

"To say the least. Your form's terrible, but with no formal training that's to be expected. Here, try again and this time try to space your feet apart a little more and put your shoulders in line with your hips..." she says, stepping a little closer and putting one hand on Leo's stomach, the other between his shoulderblades and helps guide them into a better position.

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo nodded and lifted again, muscles tensing under his soft months-old fur. "Yeah. That's definitely easier. Heck, I could probably lift a little bit more this way."

[Nika Novak]

"That's the idea. But you're going to need practice if you want to not slip back into what comes naturally when it matters the most."

[Leo Eskandari]

"So I need to what, do this daily 'til its what comes naturally?"

[Nika Novak]

"You wouldn't want to overwork your muscles, but I couldn't possibly say what that frequency is. You might be able to pull off daily, honestly."

[Leo Eskandari]

"You'd know better than I would. I'm sure it's obvious to you I haven't ever exercised much."

[Nika Novak]

"Not as much as you'd think. You are build like a tank."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Well, yeah. I guess my self-image hasn't caught up to reality yet. Like, I keep forgettin' that it's not that everyone is short, it's just that I'm bigger."

[Nika Novak]

"So, general workout discipline aside, what are your goals?"

[Leo Eskandari]

"No friggin' idea," he chuckled, "But I plan on trying things until something sticks."

"Unless you mean exercise goals. Then it's mostly just keeping my newfound state of fitness."

[Nika Novak]

"The later." she clarifies. "In that case you're probably fine doing a basic routine 3 times a week, maybe scale it down to twice once you've got a better feel for your new-found strength and frame. If you really want to develop some discipline and control then there are a number of martial arts forms that are low-impact enough you can do them daily."

[Leo Eskandari]

Martial arts? Really?" he asked with interest, "If that can help me not feel clumsy, I'm all for it."

[Nika Novak]

"Maybe not the way you're thinking. Breathing, awareness. The more underlieing principles to the, uhm, 'sweet kicks'." she says.

[Leo Eskandari]

He barked a laugh. "Well, I don't think I'll be re-enactin' any kung-fu movies or nothin'."

"I just hope to feel like this body is mine. If that makes sense."

[Nika Novak]

"Then that part of it might help." she says, widening her stance and going through a couple martial arts forms to demonstrate. "No combat, only body awareness."

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo watched her movements appreciatively.

"Which one do you think will work for me? Somethin' for big guys maybe?"

[Nika Novak]

"I'll be honest, most martial arts don't exactly have a body-builder physique in mind. You'll find movements in all of them that you might have trouble executing. You might have to improvise a little there."

[Leo Eskandari]

In truth, he was more muscled like a wild creature than a bodybuilder. But that distinction was largely academic.

"Well, yeah. I doubt they take a tail, animal legs, and strangely re-adjustable joints into account either. Definitely some fine-tuning needed."

[Nika Novak]

"Right, well, let's get to work then..."

[Leo Eskandari]

One training montage later, the pair managed to work out a proper stance and rudimentary training routine for the chimerical mutant.

Breathing somewhat heavily, he said, "That was... more work than I expected."

[Nika Novak]

"Without strain or exhaustion your body isn't going to feel the need to improve."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Yeah... that is how exercise works, isn't it?" he said with a quiet chuckle.

"Thanks for this."