On January 16th of this year, I took the plunge. I went over to Dr. Ellington Darden's homegym, and began to transform myself. As you can see, I had some decent muscle mass already built over these past couple of years back in the gym, but there was a pesky, pervasive layer of fat covering it.
Yeah, as it so happened, a full 25% of my bodyweight, to be exact!!!! At 196 lbs., I was astonished I had this much fat. Dr. Darden, having worked with thousands of clients over the past thirty years, has an incredible amount of knowledge. He was able to tell me in a matter of seconds my weak points (my calves and gut), my strong points (chest and arms), and my potential. We talked about muscle lengths, and fat storage patterns (blue eyed people like myself carry fat around their abdomens, so getting a six pack is gonna be tough).Possibly most interesting to me, though, was that he confirmed that I had indeed NOT wasted the last twenty plus years of my life! Let me explain...
A lifetime ago (or so it seems), I thought I wanted to be a professional bodybuilder. Mr. Olympia, to be exact. But in college I started modeling (had to lose whatever size I'd built), which led me to meeting my wife, and moving to Florida. Where I became a cartoonist, a husband, and a father. And bodybuilding became a distant memory. I still retained some muscle thickness from a good foundation laid early in life, but that was it. In the back of my mind, though, I always wondered " Could I have?", "Should I have?" about bodybuilding.
Dr. Darden was blunt... twenty years ago, I maybe could have won some arm or chest awards had I went pro (and took steroids). Those, remember, were my strong points. However, I have high calves (chicken legs) and the fat around the midsection would have given me a problem. So, genetically, I was not destined to be Mr. Olympia. Steroids can only do so much. SO...... I made the RIGHT decision! Thank God! Some people might have been crestfallen at his analysis of them, but to me, it was AWESOME. It's great to be able to find out that I didn't "miss my calling".
So, now, at 42, it's time to see how good I can become. What's the best ME I can be?
