About Me
Working Hard for Change
Prior to bodybuilding I lived the life of an IT consultant. That lifestyle introduced me to on-the-run habits, such as fast food, going long periods without eating and late nights at the office.
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Years of this lifestyle in my 20's took it's toll. While still at a youthful 31 years of age I was showing symptoms of stage II hypertension, hypoglycemia (precursor to Type II diabetes), very high bad cholesterol levels and low good cholesterol levels, tachycardia, and anxiety.
Suffice to say I was in bad shape!
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I was in shock. I couldn't believe how far I let myself go, all in the name of what i was told "success" was supposed to be. And it wasn't just inside that i was falling apart; I could literally see how unhealthy I had become when I looked in the mirror. My body was like a box with sticks for arms and legs, plus a round belly that popped out. It was even beginning to show in my face! And all of this wasn't just my imagination; in those days I was often asked if I was sick or if I had been getting sleep.
By this time my two beautiful kids were beginning no longer toddlers. As with all parents, it felt like they were growing up so fast. When I comprehended my lack of health, I realized I had to do something if I wanted to be around to see thm grow up.
I had always been intimidated by the gym. I tried to go regularly to a gym a few times in my early 20's to go to a gym, but was always intimidated by the bigger guys. I looked up to these brutes in a way, so not being able to "keep up" was discouraging. They were powerful. They were confident. And they seemed (mostly) healthy. Yet my own early inabilities to put up comparable heavy weight bummed me out, and I let intimidation get the better of me.
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What hurt me the most was how it seemed assistance and input was reserved for those who were "already big." It was like if a guy wasn't well-muscled he could easily be passed by, and not given any help or consideration. Yet I wanted to learn! The conflict made gyms feel like a very tense environment for me. I just could not get myself to stay.
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That all was going to have to change when I received the results of that fateful lab. I then decided to make a true investment: one driven by passion and love of accomplishment. I decided to stick my insecurities up my ass, march into a gym and get started. And that is exactly what I did.
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I got myself a trainer. He was an encouraging dude named Bryan, and today I consider his guidance responsible for setting me on the path I'm on today. Bryan was energetic, outgoing and a positive soul. And he worked me hard! If I wasn't practically dead from working out, he would tease me that he himself hadn't done a good job with that session. He began employing the intensive work ethics he learned from his military background, and the process gave me newfound respect for what our nation puts our soldiers through. It was the discipline I needed to help me fight the intimidation and keep going!
I've lost touch with Bryan, as we all know can happen in the gym world. But I hope he sees all this one day. (Thanks, Bryan!)
After a matter of weeks of his training, I began to see exciting changes. Added to the hard work was a far cleaner diet. I was eating regularly, stopped skipping breakfast and increasing calories. Monitoring my carbs and increasing my protein intake was building more muscle mass than I thought possible in such a short time. Diet was all making a difference in a very short period of time.
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With all the new changes, I was hooked. After a few months of the discipline, bodybuilding became an obsession. And from there to now - over half a decade later – I'm still at it and haven't looked back at all. The changes and strength increases have become their own motivators for more as they all ramp their way up little by little.
I remember back when I had started and was stuck unable to bench past the 85 lb. dumbells, and how much I looked up to the guys who could flat bench over three plates, or incline over 120 lbs dumbells. Well, now I'm that monster repping out 130lb dumbells on the incline press and benching 335lbs for reps! Yet as thrilling as that power is, it is also sobering to remember how I used to just stare at such weight, wondering if i would ever be able to push that kind of weight – if I would ever be one of those powerful bodybuilders.
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Well, I am one of those guys now. I am a true bodybuilder, in the fullest sense of the word. And I am also now a bodybuilding competitor – another great accomplishment I used to admire yet never dreamed I could achieve! And yet I know that all these achievements are today only the beginning.
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I'm focused on earning my pro card in competitive bodybuilding someday in the near future. And a large part of that relies on the network around me. Just as the big bodybuilders I encountered in my past inspired me, so too do the brothers of muscle around me continue to drive me forward. Just as the trainers and resources have filled me with the know-how to blast through obstacles, so too does the sharing of motivation and information continue to advance my lead on my goals. I will become a great competitor, without a doubt. But I know it will never happen without a strong community around me.
So part of my journey towards pro status is a profound commitment to my fellow brothers of muscle. I am committed to strengthening my network with other competitive bodybuilders – both the beginners and the novices as well as the advanced and the pros – to gain further insight and to then pass it along.
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Bodybuilding is a journey that has its disappointments. But what I have been told and what I have seen is that from those disappointments so much is gained. I see it as the learning curve innate to our sport; that the data of our disappointment, when applied to modifying a new plan, always results in a successful venture the next time around. Little by little, paying dues, networking, sacrificing and persistence will prevail as new victories.
And the best part is then bringing what I have accomplished back to the bodybuilder tribe, and passing it all along to others, whether they are just starting out on their journey, or looking to take their advanced work to a new level! Time and patience are what must be embraced as the bare minimum for advancement. Fighting against this idea will only work against progress and sour our achievements. I still go through highs and lows, of course, but that is just what one accepts with this endeavor. It's part of the constant mastering of one's physique as a bodybuilder; the task will just never be complete.
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But all this glory and struggle has yielded for me a new blessing: the ability to inspire others to great achievements of their own! I am now able to turn towards others and offer the knowledge, insight and motivation which I have myself accumulated during my journey as I'm still learning, to others. After all, I know what it feels like to be the newbie, stepping into a gym and feeling like you don't belong. It took many years for me to find someone to mobilize me past that intimidation. I wish I had someone that would have been eager to mentor me in my earliest days; someone to offer me an environment in which to learn as a peer and absorb what I can.
I guess for me bodybuilding is a brotherhood. Within that brotherhood we all play a role toward helping one another achieve what we previously considered impossible. But just like my journey, it starts out small, and grows gradually; one city at a time, one gym at a time, one bodybuilder at a time.