Walking through the winding sidewalks of East, gym bag on the back, workout clothes on, and my lifting buddies by my side, I was excited to check out the incredible IM building. My hopes were sky-high for my first time in the IM. Rumors of squat racks as far as the eye can see and a mountainous rock wall filled my imagination. As I closed the distance on the front doors, however, my hopes faded away.

Just the scene visible through the window showed a madhouse, with every machine and piece of equipment in the workout area taken. It was a sea of sweaty bodies competing for anything that might give a workout. As I walked in, I dreaded the search for a bench press—normally a hot-ticket item, but now even more valuable. My two workout buddies had already lost all hope and turned around to leave. However, I was determined to at least attempt a workout.

Managing to grab a squat rack at the very far end of the gym, tucked in the corner and overlooked by the people around it, I completed an hour-long workout on one piece of machinery. By some miracle, I left the gym tired, but still disgruntled.

The next day, I heard rumors that the gym was so packed because the other two gyms on campus were closed. I figured this would make sense and that I should give the IM building another chance. So I waited until the other gyms opened on Monday, and strategically planned the perfect time to fight the IM building mayhem. Thinking that lifting in the morning might solve my issues, I arrived at the IM at 8:00 sharp, and as I had hoped, the gym was normal. The bad news, however, was that this fueled my gym-timing cockiness.

I felt that it must have been just the one day that had a packed crowd, meaning I could go whenever I wanted now. Wrong. The next day, I once again approached the IM building, this time in the evening, around the time when I had first gone. To my shock, the gym was a replica of the first night, overflowing with people. I swore to myself that going in the evening was a mistake I would not make again.

I learned from my first three times at the IM that timing is everything. I would have to cope with the painful wake-up at 7am if I wanted a positive workout experience. Even though I would be groggy, moody, and battling a hungry stomach, my displeasure with a busy IM building transformed a night owl into an early riser. While it may not be fun, I am not angry with the IM building, but I can certainly say I am not loving it.