Christmas with the In-laws          (Musclefan UK)

 

My girlfriend and I had arm wrestled for the past few months. She was unaware of my passion for female muscle, yet she unknowingly excited me every time we locked up for the test of strength. My girlfriend was pretty damn strong. She did a little swimming and a few lightweight sessions, but was by no means a muscle girl. She had small but firm biceps, and as the months had passed; she became more of an equal challenge for me. Still, I was the stronger; she had never beaten me other than after 5 or 6 consecutive matches.

 

As Christmas approached, we agreed to visit her moms for X Mas dinner. Her mom lived with her second husband and her daughter (my gf’s sister). I got on with her mom and husband real well. Her sister was a different matter. We didn’t always see eye to eye. But, we were still civil to each other.

 

About 2 weeks before Christmas, my girlfriend told me that she had been to visit her sister at Uni and she had become a ‘hardbody’. I was intrigued, but didn’t want to sound too excited about the prospect of a X Mas muscle show.

“Hardbody? What do you mean?” I asked with pretend ignorance.

“She is really muscular, her arms are huge” replied my girlfriend

“I thought she was really thin?” I asked

“She is”, came the reply, “but she is toned too. She is really strong”

 

Now I was excited

“How do you know?” I asked with glee

“Well, mom said she is” Came the rather boring reply

“Have you not arm wrestled her?” I asked more boldly

“No way” she replied, “I wouldn’t have a chance. You would struggle, in fact, I think she would beat you”

 

I laughed this off, but I was intrigued, fascinated even.

 

Christmas soon came. I was excited about the prospect of seeing this muscle of her sisters. I thought that maybe I would even instigate a match between the two siblings, though I was aware of the risk I faced if I got sucked into a match with the older sister.

 

Over dinner we chatted about the TV and other boring Christmas talk. Suddenly, the conversation changed to my hot topic.

 

“…. And he even came to the gym with me the other day” pronounced Jennifer (My girlfriends sister).

 

Eager to keep this line of the conversation alive, I chirped up;

“Oh yeah, Kelly told me that you had been working out some”

 

Jennifer smiled, she seemed happy that her lifting was the topic of the conversation. She lifted her skinny arm up and flexed. I swear that I have never seen such a transformation. Jennifer had slim arms, they looked slim. But when she flexed, a huge mound of muscle popped up on her arm. It probably wasn’t that big to measure, but in comparison to her arm size, it was enormous.

 

“Wow, you certainly have been going to the gym. I wouldn’t want to arm wrestle you” I joked.

 

“Well you won’t have much choice later, eh Kelly” she joked back at me.

 

I wasn’t sure if she was joking or not. I was thrilled at the thought, but also very nervous. While Jennifer did look pretty strong, she was very skinny. I was sure I would be able to beat her. But imagine if I didn’t. Losing to a girl 3 years my junior in front of my potential in-laws. I was 26 and average build. I wasn’t particularly strong, but I was sure I could take most girls. Especially 23 year olds like Jennifer, or my 21-year-old girlfriend.

 

We finished the meal and ended up playing charades like you do.

“This is boring” pronounced my girlfriend.

“Well what do you suggest we do?” asked her mom

“How about Jennifer arm wrestling Jamie” she suggested

 

The moment of truth had arrived. Would she accept? Should I go ahead with it? Who would win? What would the reaction be if I lost? The questions were racing all round my mind.

 

Jennifer seemed to ponder for a while before giving her response to the idea;

“Are you ok to do this Jamie?” she asked me.

It was like she was fully expecting to beat me. I felt I had to go ahead with it, I couldn’t back down with the audience present. I was walking over to join her at the coffee table and my mouth went into action without thinking.

“Well I have never lost to a girl, and I doubt I ever will, so if you don’t mind joining the beaten list”

Jennifer just smiled. Her silence said a lot as to her mindset and her confidence level.

 

I put my arm up. My arm was thicker than Jennifer’s. I relaxed a little. As we gripped hands, my relaxation soon vanished. Just as before, her arm popped into lift with the force of initial grip. The slender arm remained, but protruding was a baseball of a bicep, and more amazingly, strings of visible triceps.

 

As we began the match, I got the early edge. I was giving about 90%, but it seemed enough to finish the job. Just as I had predicted. Impressive muscle, but at the end of the day, a skinny arm belonging to a girl. I smiled at Jennifer; sure I was on my way to a fast victory. The movement in my favour was slow but smooth.

I looked over at Jennifer and her swollen arm. I smiled. She smiled back. Then her smile grew in tandem with her bicep. My movement stopped. Her smile became a grin. The movement was now in full reverse. She hadn’t even been giving her all. I was moving backwards and she was laughing at me.

“Go on Jennifer” shouted her mom. I tried to slow her, stall her, anything, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t even hold her steady. My arm began to move down. I knew the end was inevitable. Jennifer slammed my hand down and the room began to applaud.

I had to speak, say something. Should I make a joke or an excuse?

I decided to play it safe. I reached over and shook her hand.

“Your lucky I haven’t been training this week” she mocked.

As I said earlier, we didn’t see eye to eye on some things, and I guess this was her payback. She knew that I knew she was stronger than me. No longer could I speak to her like I did and get away with it. The power balance had shifted. She knew it; she took full advantage of the situation.

 

“Well that was fun” started Jennifer, “shame to spoil it now. Why doesn’t Jamie arm wrestle Kelly?”

A chance to save face, or a chance to show myself up even more? I knew I was just about as strong as Kelly, but it had gotten very close, and we hadn’t arm wrestled in a few weeks. What if she had surpassed me to?

 

“Why don’t you take on Alan (step dad)” I shouted in rapid response.

“Been there, done that” came the reply from the cocky Jennifer

“He is very strong, bit too strong for me, but you and Kelly, that’s an even match don’t you think?” she added.

 

I couldn’t back out of this no win situation. Only Kelly could save me now. If I won, so what, I am older and it would hardly make them forget the fact that I had just lost to Jennifer. If I lost, oh God, that I don’t even want to contemplate.

 

Kelly paused. I guess she knew the predicament I was in. Did she want to dent my pride further in front of her family? Or was it worth it to her to get the massive ego boost. She was very jealous of her sister, and now she could show that she too was a strong girl. I prayed that Kelly would make the right decision. My prayers were in vain.

 

“Alright” said Kelly, “but don’t expect me to win, Jamie is stronger than me, not much, but he is stronger”

 

“Don’t be so sure” snapped Jennifer. I knew whom she wanted to win.

 

I once again kneeled at the table. Kelly joined me. I knew there would be no bulging bicep this time, but I knew too that Kelly was almost my equal in strength. One false move by me and I may end up very embarrassed.

 

We started off the same as we always did, in a stalemate. Kelly had this wicked grip that often brought a tear to my eye. She used it to intimidate me, and often forced me backward to begin with. Not this time. My mind was focused on the task in hand, beating her as quickly as possible. After about 40 seconds of the stalemate, I usually began the slow move towards victory. Something was wrong. She was refusing to move back. I gave a grunt and a shove, but nothing happened.

Suddenly I saw a glint in her eye. She suddenly had something that she had lacked in all our previous matches, self-belief. With a twist of her wrist, my arm began to move backwards.

 

“Go on Kelly, you have got him” shouted an excited sister

 

I pushed with everything I had, but I could only slow down her progression. Kelly began to laugh. Not a mocking laugh like Jennifer had done, but a kind of ‘I can’t believe this’ laugh. She was as shocked as I was that I was really struggling. About an inch from defeat, I managed to halt her. My arm was hurting; I knew hers would be too. My only hope was to hold her until her energy ran out. Maybe then I could muster just enough reserve strength to push her back. I held her steady. She was giving her all, I held her, had I carried out my last minute plan to salvage a victory? The answer was to be brought home in a painful way. After holding her for about a minute, I could see the pain in her face. I felt it too, but I didn’t let it show. I decided that the time was right. I gave a huge surge, but to my horror, she had exactly the same idea. With the advantage position to her, and the fact that I think she probably was a tad stronger than me now, she gave the huge push and slammed my hand hard to the table.

 

I put my head into my hands as Kelly jumped on the spot;

“Yes, yes, yes I did it. I beat you,” she proclaimed.

 

Once more I had a line of excuses in my head, but I decided not to waste my breath.

“Well done Kelly” I said to the whole room, “I better get some new dumbbells huh?”

Kelly flexed her biceps at me

“You will need more than dumbbells” she threatened, “I am stronger now and I don’t intend letting it slip”

 

“Great”, I thought to myself. The frenzy of arm wrestling was over. We went back to the annual board game marathon.

 

After a few drinks had been consumed, Kelly’s mom was a bit tipsy. She brought the whole arm wrestling issue back to the conversation.

“Show me them muscles again Jennifer” she asked her eldest daughter

Jennifer happily flexed, pointing the flex in my general direction as if to say, “remember these”.

“Show me yours Kelly” asked her mom

Kelly too proudly flexed. OK, so there was no bulging ball of muscle rising from her arm, but it was pretty big, if not defined. And I knew from experience that it was pretty damn hard. From this view, I could see why she had beaten me.

“Excellent. What about you Jamie?” asked her mom

“What?” I almost screamed. “You don’t want to see mine”

I was aware that compared to Jennifer’s muscles, mine were poor. They were maybe more defined than Kelly’s, but not as big.

After the whole room asked me to flex, I refused point blank.

“The reason I want to see” started Kelly’s mom, “is I wondered if you would be able to beat me”

I laughed, nobody else did. Jennifer was a gym addict. Deep down I could accept that she was stronger, I mean, if I worked out all day every day I would be ripped too. Even Kelly, I could kind of accept. She worked out a little more than I did, but she was bigger boned too. She was naturally strong. But Kelly’s mom? She had never done a days weight lifting in her life. Her arms were fairly thick, but not an ounce of muscle on them. Surely nobody else really thought she could beat me.

 

The 3 women all began to call me a coward for not joining Paula at the table. Her husband kept quiet. I expect he thought I was a real wimp, but as a fellow guy, he also felt sorry for me.

 

Backed against the wall I had little option. While I knew I was stronger than Kelly’s mom, I was nervous. The two matches had taken a lot out of me and my arm felt jelly like. I gripped hard against the hand of Paula. I tried to emphasize my size advantage by stretching up.

 

The match began with me taking the advantage. Paula was having a hard time holding on, and it was obvious for all to see. This was looking like an easy win. Just as I attempted my final surge, once more the movement ceased. Paula was hanging on for dear life, but she was laughing. She couldn’t understand why I wasn’t able to finish the match off. I tried, I really tried, but she was holding steady.

“Come on Jamie, finish her off” called out Kelly

I wanted to, but I just couldn’t manage to do it. My arm began to tire, I began to panic. Paula gave a heave and moved my arm back up a little. I shook my head and gritted my teeth. Another push by Paula and back I went again. My energy had gone and I was in full reverse. Paula noticed the reversal of movement and now had a real sense of victory. I was powerless as Paula forced me level, then down, and down and thud.

 

The room all cheered and began to laugh.

 

“You are so weak,” joked Jennifer

 

I looked to Kelly for some support;

“Don’t look at me” she laughed, “you are really weak”

 

Paula flexed her unimpressive arm at the audience who all applauded. I looked at her. She wasn’t even muscled, she didn’t even workout. Was she stronger, or had she just got lucky? It didn’t matter; I had looked like a complete wimp in front of my future wife and my future family.

There was nothing I could say or do other than to accept what had just happened.

 

I decided there and then to join the gym. I was going to beat all 3 of these women, I would show them all………(To be continued)