Let's get buffed!

Joining a gym has probably been the most interesting thing I've done since my travelling spurt in January/February. The gym is, for the most part, the same as any gym you would find in the states. There's a row of treadmills, a row of bikes, a smattering of machines, and a designated free weight area. The whole gym also looks over an alluring pool that I still need to build up the courage to use. I'm not afraid of the pool, just of the choppy, broken English I'll need to employ to get past the women at the desk. All this is not what's exciting. The locker room and the muscle buffers are the real attractions.

I'll say right now that I'm not entirely comfortable sharing with the world what goes on in a Korean men's locker room. While it's nothing too shocking, let's just say that the grooming regimen of most Korean men is a bit more detailed than I'm used to. I will however discuss the strangest in-gym apparatus I've ever seen: the muscle buffer.

My gym has three muscle buffers and they're almost always in use. Essentially the muscle buffer is a thick strap attached to mechanic knobs that rotate at a furious speed. Can you picture drying your lower back with a thin length of towel by pulling it back and forth? This is basically what goes down, but much more aggressively. At first glance it seems as if the people are in a state of semi-convulsion, but with faces completely calm. The buffers are manufactured to reach almost all muscles. Many place them behind the lower back and on the shoulders, but there are the brave few who put them right on the ass. That's right, some people - mostly women - casually stand there as a strap angrily vibrates against their aged posteriors. It's a sight to behold.

Do I think the muscle buffer will catch on in the states? No. Will I give it a shot while I'm here? Probably... not. And I only say that out of fear that I'll like it too much.