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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