In my next post I will be detailing my recovery from triceps distal reattachment surgery. For context, I wanted to give you some background on the road traveled thus far. Some of you may be able to relate.

I have been lifting since I was 14. When I was 11 my left eye was poked out with a stick. Yes, it is true we were all having fun until someone had their eye poked out. I did not see the stick coming. I reached over with my right arm and pulled it out. The eye was profusely squirting blood! After they removed all of the splinters I was blind in the left eye. I had to have a glass eye. You can imagine the bullies teasing the crap out me! At 14 I had enough. I began lifting, letting anger drive me. Soon the bullies had more than they bargained for. About a year later I was benching 160lbs and squatting almost 180lbs. By the time I was 16 I had been in dozens of fights but NO MORE bullies teased me! Drove my dad crazy. Calls from the school, coming home with blood all over my shirt, busted lips, black eyes. You get the idea. At this point I weighed about 150lbs with a 28" waist.

I always had excellent gains as far as I was concerned. I have never had a maximum HUGE goal. However, I always wanted to be in the top 5% of my age group in everything! Physically, mentally and financially for as long as I live. To be in the top 5% in all three meant that I had to spread my time between all three. At 35 my top bench was at 325lbs x 5 reps and squats were at 475lbs x 10 reps. Genetics had been helpful. Over the years I have sported 8% body fat to 32% body fat. I am comfortable at about 15%. It is REALLY difficult to arrive at and maintain 8% for any length of time. And 32% was simply too much for me. I mean I looked like a freekin BEAST but that meant little to me.

A 32% body fat story for you. I am 5' 10" and weighed 215lbs at the time. From time to time me and the buds would visit a bar. During one visit we were walking out, I was in front. I noticed a guys beer, grabbed it, drank it, put the mug down and continued to walk out the door. A friend behind me heard the guy's buddy ask him if he was going to let me do that. The guy simply said, 'Look at him!'. I thought I was over that kind of behavior! Guess I felt like a trouble maker that night. I DO NOT recommend that but then hey a little fighting on a Saturday used to be a weekly occurrence. You would not know that about me because I have not filled out my profile yet.

I started with gear in 2003, at 43, because I could see that age was going to be something to deal with. I had a trustworthy source however that source
became sketchy in 2011. I found a couple of online sources that were OK but I was not 100% positive about the source or the juice. In 2011 I discovered
GBN. After checking them out I became a customer and have been since 2012. They introduced me to Kalpa. At 52 I was cycling with excellent results. The integrity of GBN and the quality of Kalpa are the BEST I have experienced!

At my age I am not looking for a bench at 325x5 and squats at 475x10. There is logic in maintaining a level that the body can reasonably deliver in order to stay in the game. More on that in a future post. Wherever I go people treat me different because I am in shape. I do not flaunt it or act like an arrogant pig. Most men could never get to this level especially at 58. It's not just the juice. It is a deliberate, dedicated effort - pounding the stack!

THEN in June of 2017 - it happened. Sure there have been some joint issues, tendinitis from time to time, shoulder bursa shaving operation, cortisone shots
and blah blah blah. Nothing serious. Always easily overcame with some attention and at times a hell-of-a-lot-of-ice!

On June 3rd, 2017 I was lifting. Chest was the muscle group of the day. Flat benching using my Iron Master going to 280lbs x 10 for 3-4 sets. At 180lbs I
felt something tear in my right elbow. Kind of like a band aid or tape ripped off your skin only this was on the inside. There was no pain to speak of and
after 40+ years of serious lifting I know - just like you - what serious pain is like! I took all of the weights off of the Olympic bar. Benching with only the bar it was obvious this was an injury that was new to me. I had very little strength in the right arm. No pain to speak of, just a dangling hunk of meat compared to my usual 160lb triceps pull down!

75% of my right triceps had torn from the elbow according to the MRI!

More to come. Including full recovery protocol and the numbers. Maybe a pic of my motorcycle vest that I sport these days. Reworked from my younger
days of mayhem.