Where Did It ALL Start?
Where did your passion (or obsession ?) of getting bigger/stronger/better start?
Did it start in your teens?
Did it start in your twenties… or later?
But can you pinpoint when your mass journey started?
I can…
It started in 1982.
I was 9-years-old and my grandparents were watching me as my parents went out to some function…
And I somehow was able to talk them into letting me watch a movie on HBO called: Conan The Barbarian - starring some guy with a funny name and heavy accent.
It was in this movie that my passion to build a warrior’s physique started…
And where I learned what is good in life.
But, there was a problem…
I was 9.
How was a 4th grader going to start lifting so he could look like his 3rd hero behind Evel Knievel and Indiana Jones.
So, I waited…
But never lost the idea of wanting to look like Conan - not the dude with the funny last name.
I REALLY got into Conan though…
Comics, books and the magazine-style black and white graphic novels called the Savage Sword of Conan - which had a bit more violence and a LOT more nudity than the colored comic version put out by Marvel.
If you saw 11 or 12-year-old Shawn walking or skateboarding around back then…
Odds are - he was carrying around a Robert E. Howard Conan paperback in his back pocket.
I couldn’t then - and still can’t tell you what the appeal of the Cimmerian is…
Maybe it was the fact that I had an abusive step-father and wished I was a mighty warrior who could stand up to him - or… maybe I liked how truly free Conan was…
Regardless, this hugely muscled barbarian became my desired aesthetic.
As I moved into middle-school - I started messing with a 40 pound barbell my step dad had since he was in his twenties…
It was better than nothing.
I also started buying bodybuilding magazines like Muscle and Fitness, FLEX and Muscular Development…
And while these guys were huge and shredded - I just KNEW they didn’t have the real warrior-look I was idealized.
So, I started lifting in high school at 14-years-old…
Not for any aesthetic - but because I wanted to get bigger and stronger for my new passion: football.
I found I was pretty strong for a kid that never really lifted weights before…
First time on the bench I hit 225 for a double - and for the next 6 years - that’s the ONLY reason I lifted.
It was football, football, football - and nothing else.
First, high school - then for the Golden Knights of UCF - once I started playing football…
Power, speed and strength were all I cared about - well… not speed so much as an interior D lineman, but quickness for sure.
But then…
It all went away.
I got kicked off the team at UCF (another story for another day) - and floundered for a bit…
But the gym was always there.
After floundering for a few years - I stumbled into pro wrestling.
Now, THAT is an article all on its own - but for the 12 years in that whacky business - my lifting goals shifted from “go” muscles - to “show” muscles…
And never really making a lot of headway.
Looking back - I didn’t really change the way I lifted or ate - so, I really just ended up looking like a BIGGER football player as I ballooned up to 336 pounds…
But after spending a good chunk of my life chasing that brass ring - I would discover my TRUE passion.
Even though I knew about Brazilian jiu jitsu - it never entered my mind to start training in it…
I was wrestling all over Florida and Puerto Rico - I just didn’t have time for another hobby.
However, a buddy of mine was training with these two brothers - and talked me into going with him for a lesson - and from that day forward there hasn’t been a day where I haven’t trained, trained FOR or even thought about this beautiful sport.
It changed my life in more ways that I can count…
The biggest of which was that it helped me slim down over 50 pounds at one point (now about 40 ?… don’t judge me) by adopting a healthier lifestyle.
Gone were the weekends stuck at home watching sports…
I was out DOING something.
I no longer eat whatever I wanted - as I found that unlike football or pro wrestling - in bjj… fat gets in the way.
Of course…
Even through all of these iterations in my life - from football, to wrestling, to bjj - the one constant has always been the gym.
Lifting to get stronger and faster was always the goal…
But now that I’m getting a bit older - I’ve added a new bullet point to that agenda:
Longevity.
Even though you try to train as safe and as controlled as possible - accidents DO happen…
And if you’re not lifting to keep your muscles strong and flexible - you’ll find yourself on the sidelines.
So, in order for me to keep training - I need to lift (and stretch) if I’m going to stay in the game.
What’s funny about all this is…
I’m finally the warrior that I always wanted to be.
I may not look like Conan…
In fact, I look more like a bald viking just getting back from a raid of England - but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost that dream.
I’ll be 50 this year - and I’ve made myself a promise that this is the year that I’m finally going to get the physique that caught my imagination 41 years ago.
I’ve started the journey…
I just have to have the discipline to finish it.
Where did it start for you?
Let me know…
Drop me a line a editor@nutrex.com - would love to hear your story.
And don’t forget, Nutrex Fam…
Crom is WATCHING!
“I never saw a man fight as Conan fought. He put his back to the courtyard wall, and before they overpowered him the dead men were strewn in heaps thigh-deep about him. But at last they dragged him down, a hundred against one.” - Robert E. Howard
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