What Made You Serious?

I got a job dealing blackjack and I like doing it but at 262 lbs the standing all night was killing my back.Doctor gave me a choice,lose or quit and go back to my old job.I hate my old job.
So i started to diet,than I figured I was losing muscle with my fat,soI started to lift.Today I am 188 lbs and still a dealer.

The threat of death from being an overweight, out of shape, high blood pressure having, walking time bomb.

I started with just wanting to lose the weight so I could live to see my daughter grow up. After weight loss came the addiction of weight training. I now strive to be a bigger, badder, leaner version of my former fat ass self.

That’s about it.

I started when I was 16. I despereately wanted to be a Fireman and knew I was far too small and weak. The hook was set and I never looked back…until…I was at the top of my game when I was 33, 235lbs, lean and strong as hell. That all changed when I tore my bicep doing db preacher curls. I had surgery and the recovery process was lengthy. I never really regained my love for the gym. I went back with regular frequency but the desire was gone.

This summer my g/f turned 40. She has worked out on and off throught the years and decided that she wanted to be in the best shape of her life for 40. So, I came back here to T-Mag, got us signed up with Joel Marion and his diet plan…fast forward a few months…We are both now in great shape and have reained our love for the ‘lifestyle’.

Check out my profile for pics of her…she looks great for 40.

At 35 I’ve always been in pretty good condition (especially compared to most of my couch potato, beer guzzling buddies)and have maintained a fairly lean 185. I’ve lifted consistently over the years but have never made the gains I wanted. Since discovering this site a few months back, I’ve become much more educated on the principles of lifting and the importance of diet and am now more focused and committed than I’ve ever been. In 2 months, I’ve gained 10 pounds of lean mass and my goal of cracking 200 lbs for the first time is now in reach. I can’t believe I’m actually deadlifting, front squatting and performing other lifts I used to think were “stupid”. I’ve also been seperated for several months with and impending divorce so I’m thinking when I’m ready to get back in the dating game some added muscle will hopefully help my cause.

When I was a young I was involved in a fairly serious accident which left my face severly scarred (nose and lip). The next few years were not much fun.

In high school I started playing with weights on a crappy weight set in my basement. I worked myself up to 315 lb bench press and wowed them in the football tryouts. The bench test was a machine with a 255 lb max - I still can remember the look on the coaches face when I did 10 reps (no one had done 255 once) and asked if I could stop or if they wanted to see more.

Once I started to get some size I figured out that instead of getting hazed based on my face (scareface, lipper) I was now being hazed based on my size (horse, load). After that there was no looking back.

25+ years later I realize that serious training has been the foundation that has kept me sane through all the bs life throws at you. Anytime I have quit training some other problem enters my life. I drink to much, eat like sh#t, strain my relationships etc. etc. When I train seriously I don’t have these same problems as I am focused and have an outlet for my aggression.

Sure life still throws the same bs at me but I can handle it much better. Now I train because I have to.

About 3 years ago, I got dizzy just standing at the toilet taking a whiz (after jumping out of bed). I have a concerned wife who sent me to the doctor later that week, and after a thorough physical, the Doc found, not to her surprise, that since I sit at a computer all day and had 0 days of exercise, and consume about 3 beers a night, after eating Italian sausages for dinner and salami sandwiches for lunch?I had a nice fatty liver. Cholesterol levels were quite high. So, she (the doc) recommended that I exercise, drastically change my eating habits and lay off the booze for at least 6 months until the next check-up?.oh, and I had to get a nice liver biopsy. Not recommended.
The wife and I joined the local ?Y?, and I started to hit the Stairmasters and treadmills. Didn?t touch weights. Altered my diet, took out all red meat and pork, and stuck to chicken, fish and tofu.
6 months past, and my numbers dropped dramatically. By this time, I had really started to notice my mood change (for the better). I decided to buy an inexpensive set of dumbbells from Target, and attempt to muscle-up my sorry ass. Well, that led to the purchase of another inexpensive weight set from Target. Several months later, that led to a new weight bench purchase and scrounging at local garage sales for weights. It should be easy to see where this is leading. I started reading a lot more about gaining muscle, and reading (lurking) on sites like T-Nation, and others. Purchased books by Arnold, memorized the training philosophies (mental attitude towards life and the Iron) of H. Rollins. Changed my eating habits, tossed the tofu, consume more egg whites than my wife cares for, whey, steaks, chicken, oats, broc. milk, Etc.
So, at 34, I feel that I?m in the best shape of my life, learning more everyday, (esp. from T-Nation), counting the hours till my next training session, feeling guilty as hell for missing a training session, and saving every cent to buy more iron. I am at one of the happiest places in my life now, and I wish that I had discovered the advantages of Iron years ago. The lurking is over?time to be active. You all have given so much over the past several months. Thanks-

Fear of death.

Well let’s see, what made me serious? Well I can tell you it wasn’t the heart attack @ 39, it wasnt’ being diagnosed at 40 with diabeties, it wasn’t having the right corodid sliced open and all the blockage removed @ 42, it wasn’t the heart attack at 46.

4 stents later, having both legs amputated above the knees from a combination of 35 years worth of cigarette smoking, diabeties and a genetic predisposition to blood clots. Yes I finally answered the phone.

Not even close to achieving what I want, but I have started on the journey. MY GOAL…what the hell, having sex with a 21 yr old hottie at the ripe young age of 90. May not get there, but it is a vision that keeps me motivated. Hell I am only 50…got 40 years to perfect and make the journey

Oh yeah, almost forgot, I am getting my prosthetics soon, I figure the way the Phoenix Cardnals offensive front line had been playing, I have a good shot at making the team !

life should be enjoyed, never endured or suffered through.

[quote]salbecker56 wrote:
…life should be enjoyed, never endured or suffered through. [/quote]

Well said.

And I have to say…I enjoy it!

  • I enjoy feeling the pump.
  • I enjoy the personal bests when I hit a new max or set on an exercise.
  • I enjoy the “approval” nod of someone training for a competition that knows what intensity really is.
  • I enjoy the way my wife looks at me, with the eyes that say “lookin good stud”.
  • I enjoy all the fatties criticizing me for spending time here and learning more about diet and nutrition.
  • I enjoy knowing that I am setting an example for younger people around me.

Everyone has their reason but the main thing is…all of us are in the gym and making the change.

Keep it up my iron brothers and sisters.

I was this ridiculously scrawny kid, so skinny I looked sick. Wearing a long ponytail and geekin’ out on a computer all day long didn’t help either. I probably wasted a pretty good potential, since my parents were first-league athletes, and back in high-school I could run almost as fast as the local champion at 100m (he was my friend and we used to play together).

I did some martial arts in college but that didn’t change many things. Anyway, it was the only form of exercise that managed to grab my attention at that time. Better than nothing I guess.

Sometime after the age of 30 I started to exercise, but made all the mistakes typical for a newbie. Made very slow progress for a few years.

Then someone gave me a link to the T-Nation website. I started reading pretty much at random, swallowing information raw - it started to get “digested” later, slowly. I gradually fixed my mistakes, as I was becoming aware of them.

Finally, everything “clicked” together and I started to make visible, rapid progress - e.g. people who didn’t see me in a few months were asking to feel my pecs, were questioning me whether I do steroids, etc.

To accomplish this change, T-Nation has been instrumental. I am deeply grateful for everything!

There’s still a lot of work to do. The road ahead is pretty long. But I enjoy walking it.

When I was a teen and in my 20s, I was one of those skinny guys who couldn’t gain weight no matter what I did, watching many of the women I was interested in pass me by for the buff, athletic guys. Into my 30s and 40s I added weight, but had a gut that bulged out my shirts a lot.

From 2003-2004 I weight 190-200 pounds with a big gut. In 2005 I got tired of it, and drastically cut back on my food and increased my bicycle riding. Into the summer are started doing push ups & pull ups as well several times a week.

So I lost a lot of fat, but at less than 165 pounds I saw in the mirror the same scrawny guy I knew in my 20s. At the same time my wife and her her friend kept watching TV shows fawning all over the buff guys on them, making me feelin adequite like I did in my 20s.

Lats winter I found the book Scrawny to Brawny, which is aimed at guys like me (or at least the 20-something skinny guy I used to be). I invested in some weights and I’m working toward the body I always wanted to have.

I’m at the age now where my shape can really deteriorate if I let it, so I’m guessing I’ll keep this up.

Back in '89 I responded to a domestic disturbance in the HUD project I was working at in K.C. KS, and some hopped up s.o.b. decided to jump on my duty weapon. He didn’t get my gun but I realized really fast that I wasn’t where I needed to be for the job.

About that same time I was reading a book by Joseph Wambaugh called The New Centurians. One part of the book tells of a recruit class in the acadamy getting the dog crap PT’d out of them and the instructor keeps telling the recruits, “You have to outlast them!”

I had a long talk with my brother after that incident (he was a prison guard at that time). He told me the inmates were always working out with one thought on their mind, “they won’t take me next time…”

Squeezing in my work outs can be tough with family obligations, etc. But failing to be job ready could mean I don’t come home one day…

Plus looking good nekkid has its rewards also!

Fred

[quote]Irish Grip wrote:
Back in '89 I responded to a domestic disturbance in the HUD project I was working at in K.C. KS, and some hopped up s.o.b. decided to jump on my duty weapon. He didn’t get my gun but I realized really fast that I wasn’t where I needed to be for the job.[/quote]
BTDT! (LOL!)[quote]
About that same time I was reading a book by Joseph Wambaugh called The New Centurians.[/quote]Great book, lousy movie}:slight_smile: [quote]
One part of the book tells of a recruit class in the acadamy getting the dog crap PT’d out of them and the instructor keeps telling the recruits, “You have to outlast them!”

I had a long talk with my brother after that incident (he was a prison guard at that time). He told me the inmates were always working out with one thought on their mind, “they won’t take me next time…”[/quote]
Training with shanks to stab you in the neck, nothing better to do than plan how to kill Cops and do pushups & chins all day…Not too many NPC champs out there workin’ the streets in high crime areas or SWAT for 12 Hour shifts 6+ days a week (must be nice to be able to train under maximal conditions for growth, eh?)…

[quote]
Squeezing in my work outs can be tough with family obligations, etc. But failing to be job ready could mean I don’t come home one day…

Plus looking good nekkid has its rewards also!

Fred[/quote]
The combination of training for self defense (and around injuries=chronic back & rotators), age, plus long hours, bad sleep/diet and stress(cortisol overload) is what had me carryin’ excess flab despite
weight training (semi-regularly halfhearted due to lack of visible gains in my eyes) I had concluded that I’d never “look good nekkid” and just told myself survival muscle was enough…It is likely the fact that I look somewhat trained actually increased the “horror” when I had my “wake up call”, she assumed I was in better shape than I was…Even as a young MA/black belt centuries ago, I never “looked” that “good”(by bodybuilding standards, no Steve Reeves, but no problem with the ladies however/:wink: although I could fight pretty well…Even though it’s way overdue/late, I’m working on redressing the balance, hopefully before I’m confined to a walker!}:^)

good post.

Eye opener 4 years ago, “luckily” a minor heart attack (again luckily no damage or adverse flow changes)

And most of all LIVING.

At 47 years old now and just 16 pounds to go to be at my 20 year old weight, and with mature muscle to grow on :slight_smile:

Weight trained off and on most of my life actually, but never really serious to keep with it, but things change, time changes and keeps charging forward, to damn fast these days it seems, so time to get off my fat ass and take care of business, want to be a lean mean 50 year old :wink:

my family history of diabetes and hypertension… plus i lost 60 pounds and gained an extra 2 inches on the old meat plow… isn’t that reason enough?

knowing my school is full of weak kids and that I could have all the gym records

when i was in junior high school i was at the wrong place at the wrong time and i ended up getting jumped afterschool the next day by 6 guys, 5 of which had never met me in their lives. i had my jaw broken by one of the mentioned 5, and decided that i needed to learn how to defend myself.

i had always been an athletic kid. i swam for 6 years, played little league baseball for 5, went to taekwondo for 2, but when i got to high school i said fuck all that other bullshit and just lifted. started off at the end of my freshman year at 135, i will never forget that weight because the wrestling team didnt have anybody light enough to compete at 135, so they wanted me to go out for that weight class, but i didnt want to have to cut weight to stay in the 135 range.

my sophomore year i started playing football and i was about 150 at my playing weight for that season at runningback, the next season i was 165, dislocated my left shoulder at training camp right when i was getting better from “shitty” to “decent” my senior season i was at 175 as a quarterback, third strongest kid on the team.

right before we began the seaon poised for our first playoff run in like 20 years, i had a partial tear in the meniscus of my right knee, and i was out for the season.

now that im done with organized football, im 100% into bodybuilding to keep me sane. i need something to do, something to make me feel like ive done something with myself and my body. something to be proud of. barring any serious injuries, i wont be stopping anytime soon.

[quote]buffwithin wrote:
my family history of diabetes and hypertension… plus i lost 60 pounds and gained an extra 2 inches on the old meat plow… isn’t that reason enough?[/quote]

Only when you realize it and take action…Look around you at how many don’t…You have chosen to master your fate, not be a passive victim…

Lots of reasons.

When I was little, I was the unwanted shadow of my six years older brother, who was into martial arts and lifting, and he had his own weight set. I wanted to be a boy like him and tried to emulate a lot of what he did. I tried his weights, those plastic ones filled with sand or cement or powdered rhinoscerous testicles or whatever. You should have seen me with his nanchucks and cracking myself in the head with them. My mom eventually got me my own gym membership and I was the only 14 year old allowed in the gym at that time.

Today, I realize that I need to be physicially strong because I work with dangerous people. I have to be able to withstand being pushed around without breaking a bone. I’m a thin-boned (my ring size is 3.25), fair skinned asian woman, and I know this predisposes me to Osteoporosis, so I lift heavy and keep up my nutrition to keep my bones and mustlces strong. I can stand face to face with a 6’0", 280 pound homocidal schizophrenic who’s been using methamphetamines for two years, without fear.

I have had my hand broken by a patient who was in a psychotic crisis…if I wasn’t in the condition that I am, I would have had much greater injuries, and that gives me more motivation to stay as physically strong as possible.

Sure, I will always be 5’3" tall and under 120 pounds, that will never change. Training makes me as a caregiver, a bigger person, in a sense, that I can lift, help, etc…people much larger than me without worrying about being injured or hurt. You know what Nurses call a back injury? A career ender. That will never be me.