Remember when we started training with weights, what a thrill it was to push it to the limit?

If you live long enough, your certain to witness that the “Limit” may not be the Final Destination so much as it is a Warning Track! In the past year we have seen things we would rather forget. However, if we don't take a closer look at what is happening around us and in our sport, we are bound to repeat it. A few examples of success gone array to illustrate my point of setting Limits which is not always a bad thing when it is Life and Death!


Flex Wheeler ~ Dialysis then Kidney Transplant, forced to retire.

Tom Prince ~ Dialysis, Kidney problems and Liver malfunction, forced to Retire.



Sonny Schmidt ~ Passes away from Cancer after a lump in his shoulder is found and ignored.

 

Derrik Wittsett ~ Dead. Heart Failure and Brain Contusions after an attack on his life.

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Victor Martinez ~ Arrested , Drug Charges.
 

Dennis James ~ Arrested, Drug Charges.


The days of training to failure take on a new meaning when we see what is going on around us. Failure is no longer limited to a Burn out set! In bodybuilding you learn real fast that there are two ways you can take your career:
A) The fast life, leading nowhere good.
B) Slow and Steady, working and laboring your way through your goals without losing yourself in all the madness.
The Days of Innocence is gone, where you could walk into most hard core gyms and find a top pro handling the business of bodybuilding. Where have all our hero's gone in the new millennium?
Is where we are today, the best we have to offer regarding Role Models and great Athletes?
Do we have more Questions than Answers regarding the road to success?
It seems that if you want to get from point A to point Z you either Ride or Die!
I personally long for the days where the bodybuilders become educated on “Life 101”
regarding general health and fitness as priority over everything else, Money, Drugs, Parties, Etc.
I don't know of any real athletes that want to come into the sport of Bodybuilding and start dealing drugs, wind up on dialysis or better yet, dead? Is there an answer to all this madness or is this something that has always been there and will always be with us?
I say, let's get back to the basics. Get grounded in what it is we're trying to accomplish. Surround ourselves with family and close friends.


Arm ourselves with the Passion of Christ!


Somehow, somewhere a “Self Examination” has got to occur with those of us who feel we are invincible! Life is short and precious.
I list but a few examples of what has happened in 2003/04 and the year isn't even over yet.
Find Glory in driving the Iron like there is no tomorrow, dealing drugs is for PUNKS!
Life is for the Living, so let' live it Bigger and Better than the guys who are trying to tear us down one rep at a time.
Next time you go into the gym remember, the road your on is paving the way for the youth of tomorrow. What we do now will reflect on what the others will do later.
The only party worth looking into takes place under the Squat Rack, Bench Press and Dumbbell Rack!
Get back on your horse if you have fallen off and let's Ride this thing until the wheels fall off!
The genie has got to be put back in the bottle by hard work and dedication toward improvement, one Set, one Rep and One Exercise at a time.

 

Stay Hungry!