JUST A FEW OF THE MANY
SUCCESS STORIES

Almost all of us strive or fantasize about “getting in shape” fairly regularly. However, the daily demands of relationships, family, career, and recreation take their toll on our health goals. Not that being fit and healthy isn’t important; it’s just that it can be hard to make it a high priority in the grand scheme of things.

 

My individual fitness journey started in earnest in late 2006. Working as a general manager for a large aerospace company and attempting to juggle the rest of my life was getting the best of me. Without going into all the details, I ended up checking into alcohol rehab at a pathetic 5’10” and 155 lbs. Besides my drinking problem, I had acute pancreatitis and was nearly anorexic.

 

At this point, I knew if I didn’t fix the problem, I wouldn’t be around much longer. I wanted to be better and do better. So I made a personal commitment to my sobriety. I also committed to getting healthy and “in shape”. This meant a great dedication to exercise, nutrition, and healthy recreation.

 

Since I’ve been athletic all my life, I started with weight training and running. I joined a local fitness gym and dove right in. I was training 4-5 days a week. With help from a nutritionist at Kaiser Permanente, I also improved my nutrition. I read and listened to everything I could about fitness and tried a lot of it.

 

After about a year and a half, I gained about 20 lbs. of muscle, and my strength and endurance improved greatly. My general health was much better, and I really felt good. However, I was on the dreaded plateau. I amped up my workouts to 6 days a week for about two hours per session, but still no further improvement. I was getting discouraged but wouldn’t dare give up.

 

At the time, my secretary was training at a facility in Upland, California, and I wanted to get her a Christmas gift certificate there. I went in, bought the certificate, and started to talk with Lance McCullough, the owner of Fitness Results. He mentioned that it looked like I was into weight training. I said yes, but that I was currently completely stalled. He offered to perform an assessment for me at a convenient time in the future. I was somewhat wary but did schedule an appointment with Lance."

 

During the assessment several weeks later, he weighed and measured me and checked my body fat. But mainly we chatted about what I had been doing and what kinds of goals I had. Lance quickly opined that I was most likely overtraining for the type of muscle growth I was trying to achieve. That is, I was lifting too often, with too many reps, and not enough weight. To progress, I needed to lift less often, with heavier weights, and on a progressive regimen."

 

Given Lance’s world records and significant accomplishments in fitness and weightlifting, I decided to sign up with Lance to train me. Lance put me on a structured regimen of fundamental weight training exercises. Nothing fancy, just heavy weights with strict form, 3-4 times a week, hitting a different body part each day of the week. After about three months, I was definitely noticing the difference. I gained about 8 lbs. of muscle, and my bench press increased by 25 lbs. to 250 lbs. In addition, my body fat had dropped from 18% down to 12%.

 

Lance and I began developing some rather lofty goals for the future which included, most notably, doing a 315 lb. bench press by my 55th birthday – about a year and a half away. That would be six full 45 lb. plates on an Olympic bar. We worked hard in the gym, and he also helped me focus my nutrition to support the goals. The other trainers and clients at Fitness Results started tracking my progress and offering encouragement and support. I pledged to take the whole staff and all the clients to lunch when I made the 315 lb. goal.

 

One morning about 6 months before my 55th birthday, Lance and I were training chest, and I had just confidently accomplished a 305 lb. bench press. We both looked at each other and knew that would be the day. Lance loaded another 10 lbs. on the bar, and with my training partners chanting, "Just do it," I did!

 

So the celebration luncheon at a local Italian ristorante the next week with all the Fitness Results staff and my training partners was sweet indeed. I knew without a doubt they deserved as much credit as I did.

 

Unfortunately, the next year I had to move to the East Coast and could no longer train at Fitness Results. I have maintained my training using the structure and knowledge Lance taught me. I stick with the fundamentals, and I still lift heavy. I also do recreational fitness endeavors like bicycling, rock climbing, and golfing.