Friday, October 10, 2014

I Beat My Genetics: Benedict's Story

Hey Fit Fam ...

I'm continuing today with a series that I hope will motivate folks to not use genetics as their excuse! They don't make you or break you! They do not define you! They are not what gives someone their body or what keeps someone from having the body that they want!!! Read more about why I believe this and why I wanted to do this series HERE. You can see last weeks "I Beat My Genetics" story HERE.

Please keep these stories coming! It's the only way I can keep this series goinf!! If you or someone you know has a story - send it as you want it to read and pics too please - stacy@headlinecountry.net

Please note all stories are individual and the opinions and words of the person that submitted them -- not mine :) :)

Eat Clean. Train Dirty
Stacy


Benedict's Story

Overcoming Skinny… As a kid I was always underweight.  Like REALLY underweight.  I weighed in at around 126 lbs my freshman year in High School.  The curse of the ectomorphic body type was clearly laid upon me, and no matter how much I ate, I could never really break out of the borderline emaciated physique that had always plagued me.  In my mid twenties, I started lifting weights, and was able to fight my way all the way up to 160, but being dumb in the gym led to a fairly profound back injury that involved compression fractures across 4 vertebrae, 2 herniated discs, and a completely severed annular ligament.

Fast forward a few years that include lifestyle change, marriage, being hit by a car on my bike multiple times, caring for loved ones through their bouts of cancer, kidney failure, perforated colon, and then through their end of life, and then divorce, I found myself at 150 lbs soaking wet, a smoker of 25+ years, alone, and depressed.

2 years ago, I resolved to commit myself to myself, and began to seriously workout.  Strength training 4x a week, and HIIT Cardio that includes M100s and Pushup Cycles.  I am at a strong and healthy 180 lbs and was callipered at between 8 and 9% body fat.  With a max bench of 335, I am at the strongest that I have ever been in my entire life.  I’m eating clean and on a pretty good schedule that involves precooking meals for the week.  I don’t really count calories yet, nor am I extremely strict on cheating (but I haven’t really felt the urge to, to be honest about it).  I’m looking forward to what the next level looks like, and for the first time in my entire life, I actually feel comfortable in my own skin.  I know that My body doesn't like to bulk so I've had to really focus on protein intake as well as how I train/lift.  Drop sets and pause reps have realy been key to encouraging my muscles to grow while HIIT cardio training has helped to make sure that the weight that I've gained is only the weight that I want.

Here I am at 40 years old.  I'm not done yet, and I'm excitedto see what's in store.  I'm pretty happy to overcome genetics, injury, depression, and age. Bring on the next level!



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