Hellish Training

Trying to run five miles ended up being much tougher for Rocky than he first thought it would be.

As a teenager, Rocky wasn't just sitting around playing video games all day as he sometimes played sports and worked out too, considering himself to be in fairly good shape as he looked lean and handsome in the mirror.

However, having a good aesthetic shape didn't necessarily mean his lungs were up for a long run as when he tried to keep running for more than a few minutes, he quickly started to feel dizzy with his chest hurting, especially after hitting the one-mile mark.

Very soon, he found himself needing to stop for a five-minute break after each mile that he ran, just to breathe properly again.

At this pace, it took him a whole hour to finish the five-mile run at the end of which his new clothes were completely drenched in sweat, and he felt totally drained, like his body had run out of sugar and electrolytes.

Almost as soon as he returned to his apartment, he found himself really craving something refreshing to drink, like lemonade that could replenish the lost electrolytes and sugars in his body.

In comparison, the muscle based exercises felt much easier to perform as Rocky did not struggle much to complete a set, however, what did get him was the sheer number of repetitions.

He was supposed to perform roughly ten to fifteen sets of every exercise with ten to twenty five repetitions in each set and while his body could perform the first two sets easily, the third one became a difficult challenge to complete.

After performing just the first two sets of regular pushups, Rocky realized that the journey to completing 10 sets of regular push-ups was a long road and that the journey to completing the rest of the workout was even longer.

By the time he hit the 100th pushup, which was just his fourth set, he could feel his muscles throbbing and revolting, which was not a good sign and from there on things only went downhill as Rocky was forced to do 5 pushups and rest for 20 seconds and continue doing 5 more.

By the time he hit the 150 mark, tears started to drop down his eyes with the mental frustration kicking in, as completing the workout felt like an impossible job.

Fortunately or unfortunately, his ego and vain male pride was so strong that it would not allow for his honor to be sullied in public which was why although he hit his mental barrier of fatigue, he kept pushing through as after a gruesome 25 minutes, he completed his 250 pushups.

As Rocky moved on from regular push-ups to the other exercises listed by the system, each new task seemed to mock his dwindling reserves of strength and will.

The archer's push-ups demanded a precision and balance that his trembling arms could barely muster, each repetition being a battle against his body's plea for mercy.

Next came the decline push-ups, turning his world upside down, literally and metaphorically. With every push against gravity prompting his shoulders to scream in protest.

The bodyweight squats that followed were no reprieve for his legs that were already rubbery from the run, as they wobbled beneath him, threatening to collapse from under him with each descent.

The pull-ups were a fresh hell. Every lift of his body felt like hauling a mountain. His fingers gripping the bar with a desperation born of the fear of failing this insane challenge.

The lunges were a relentless torture on his already sore legs, each step forward feeling like an herculean effort, however, out of all the excercises that Rocky did, they felt the least taxing mentally.

Inverted rows and calf raises blurred into a continuum of pain and sweat. The planks and Russian twists added a cruel twist of core agony to his full-body torment with every set completed being a minor victory, bought with tears and sheer stubbornness.

Alas, the celebrations were always short-lived, swallowed by the dread of the next set as slowly the hours dragged on with the sun beginning its descent and casting long shadows that mirrored the darkening of Rocky's resolve. Yet, against the odds he persisted, driven by the horrifying penalties for failure more than any desire for success.

By the time he completed the last of his exercises, the sky was a canvas of deep purples and oranges with night ready to claim its time as it was around this point that the books that the system prompted him to read, that he ordered earlier in the day were delivered by the courier giving Rocky the next task for the day.

By the time he took the books and sat on his soft bed to read, his body felt so utterly exhausted that after reading just a few lines from the book, Rocky felt his eyes dropping as the exhaustion kicked in.

The sheer determination it took him to complete 50 pages of both books was absolutely unreal and by the time he completed it the hour clock reflected that it was already 9:30 pm, giving him only 2.5 hours to complete the last task of the day which was to trim, edit and compile the struggles of day one and upload them to MeTube.

Having very limited editing skills, his first edited video was a complete mess that was a broken mixture of abrupt transitions and awkward looking fast forwards, however, at this point Rocky was beyond giving a fuck as he uploaded the video after making a creator account.

It was 11:30 by the time Rocky finished all the tasks for the day, barely completing day1 of this 90 day long hell.