Ok, so I was in the gym tonight with Avery and I was thinking about lifting and muscle tone and where I used to be and where I am now. Weightlifting used to be my cycling. I was hell bent on being an amateur all-natural bodybuilder, kind of like how I had recently set my sights on being a semi-pro cross country racer. It took me years of pure hard work in the Navy to put on the mass and then years of trial and error to learn my body, different stimulus and how to gain and how to cut. Eventually I almost got there. I was about 6 months out from a Jacksonville competition and was a cool 215 pounds and 5% body fat at 5 foot 9. My weight had topped out at about 220 and I was cutting down to about 205-210. I was reaching new heights in strength, such as a 365 lb max bench press and a 505 lb squat. Life was good. Then one day on the bench my shoulder popped and I went though pain and hell until surgery became the only option besides walking away from heavy lifting. I couldn't bear another shot in my shoulder and I couldn't afford all the time off from the surgery. Luckily the decision was easy as I found the trails at Hanna Park and riding mtn bikes became my lifting. I found a new discipline that required the same effort, the same trial and error in gains and the same concept of structured training to take a passion to a high level. I was getting there- getting fast on the bike and building big endurance. Then one day on the bike I passed out and I proceeded to go through test after test on my heart. So here I am again in a position where surgery is an only option to go on safely. But this time it is different- the surgery is needed to go on, period. Not just to continue sports, but to provide an insurance policy if my heart decides to stop.
Did it take endurance sports to find what bodybuilding possibly had done to my heart? Or is this disease truly hereditary? Why did I not have any issues in all of the sports I've played my whole life? I guess what I had planned to get into was wondering how in depth I'll ever get to participate in athetic stuff again. I was also thinking about the parallel stories of my days as a bodybuilder and my days as a cyclist. So when I was in the gym today resting between sets, I was looking in the mirror at a guy who loved being a solid 220, then loved being a super-lean 170 and who now isn't so thrilled with his current situation. It feels good to lift, to jog, to ride the bike. But I know I will not stay satisfied with that- not considering the levels that I have been to. I feel the urge to go heavy, I feel like running faster and I feel like getting out of the saddle and hammering. But I just need to stay patient, get the defib in and see where I can go from there. But being fit is my DNA so I gotta keep moving, even if it is a little slower for a while. One thing that I have learned for sure is that when you slow down you start to notice a lot of things that you had missed out on... Enjoy life. Enjoy balance. Pursue fitness.
Anyhow, I have this picture of when I was hulk-huge, which I'll have to scan and post later, but here is the difference between 210...
...and 170...
