Reese Reynolds stood gasping for breath between his fifth and sixth squat rep. He had 455 pounds on his back and it felt like a house. “C’mon Reese! Three more reps!” Big Bo Bennington hissed as he stood directly behind Reese. Bo had his beefy arms underneath Reese’s armpits; in case Reese collapsed he’d catch him. Reese ground out squat rep number six, all the while listening to and obeying Bo’s commands: “Down, down, down, down – UP!”

Reese immediately began rep seven upon locking out rep six. He barely made seven. Utterly and completely spent, Reese needed to take in no less than ten giant breaths of air before he broke his knees to begin rep eight. While huffing breaths, Reese gathered his mental psyche and summoned up every ounce of power he had left. “C’MON REESE! PUSH!” Bo screamed as Reese ground out rep eight. It was a slow motion exercise in torture; Reese teetering on the brink of collapse throughout. “That eighth and final rep,” Bo would later remark, “expanded and redefined Reese’s ideas about limits and pain and pain tolerance.” Being a terrific coach, Bo Bennington threatened, cajoled, pled, and screamed – whatever it took to get Reese to make his reps. Eight reps in the squat with 455 was a new personal record for the 269 pound, 38 year old high school football coach.

As Reese locked his legs to complete rep eight, Bo grabbed Reese from behind, under Reese’s armpits and with tattooed 20 inch arms, dragged Reese back into the squat rack. Reese collapsed onto a nearby exercise bench and seemed in danger of having a heart attack. Bo ignored Reese’s labored breathing and beet red face. “Pull yourself together tomato man. You ain’t got no dramatic lead in no movie…no cameras or audience here, so let’s jus’ skip the post-set histrionics and get to moving. We still need to do leg presses and hack squats. Get your breathing normalized and let’s get cracking – I got clients stacked up like an air traffic controller has jets on a busy day at Dulles.” Reese looked up and raised a finger (not the one he wanted to) to acknowledge his coach. Bo proceeded to drive Reese through three quick sets of eight reps in the leg press: starting with 500 and working up to a final, high rep/forced rep set with 700+ pounds. This was followed by three, even quicker sets of hack squats, pyramiding ever upward in poundage on each successive set. The workout was concluded with endless alternate sets of calf and hamstring exercises. A set of calf raises then a set of hamstrings…back and forth, back and forth, for what seemed to Reese like an eternity. In reality the entire body-shattering, leg-decimating training session took slightly less than 90 minutes. Or, as Reese would later call them, “90 minutes of pure hell on earth.” It was gut-busting work from start to finish. This approach to weight training had, along with hard cardio and disciplined eating, miraculously transformed Reese Reynolds dramatically and in slightly less than a year.

Reese knew the smartest thing he could do after completing this type of super hard workout was to drink a triple serving of chocolate flavored Parrillo 50/50 Plus^™. As he sat sipping, sweating and recovering, he thought back over the past year. The year of his transformation…Reese Reynolds started training under Bo Bennington on January 3rd 2009 weighing 368 pounds, most of it excess body blubber. Coach Reynolds was on the fast track to a heart attack or becoming a diabetic. He knew this for a fact; his doctor had told him so. To his eternal credit, Reese actually carried through on last year’s annual “I’m going to get-in-shape this year” New Year’s Resolution. Reese had recognized that he had a fitness “problem” and needed some professional help. He had the good fortune to live in a neighborhood where a Parrillo Certified Personal Trainer plied his trade: Bo Bennington was a Parrillo Certified PT and had been for the past ten years. Parrillo personal trainers are a breed apart from other personal trainers in that PCPTs are all about results: period, end of story. Bo Bennington was quite happy to get paid lots to kick Coach Reese’s ass, when and as hard as needed. Bo appealed to Reese’s manhood and to his sense of pride. He alerted Reese to an indisputable fact: if Reese did exactly as Bo told him, Reese would be able to transform his physique. And that is exactly what Reese did. He followed every nuanced instruction of Bo’s complex teachings; he followed all instructions to a proverbial Tee; he never missed a workout or a meal and he morphed magnificently, from fat and flaccid into lean and fit and all in eleven short months.

Reese had regained an amazing physical condition he had once achieved back in the mid-nineties as an All Conference defensive end. Reese was a star defensive player on a very good Division II college football team. After a short career as a professional football player, Coach Reynolds had let himself go. Fifteen years of garbage eating, combined with zero exercise, and Reese found himself weighing a few pork chops (with gravy) shy of 400 pounds. His doctor shook his head as he told Reese “straight up” that if he stayed this heavy, or got any heavier, he could expect to die by age 60. That conversation scared coach straight. That’s when Reese got religion and contracted Bo’s professional services. In the interceding year, and through a determined and sustained extended effort, Reese had completely renovated his body – and his life. Reese had blown the collective minds of his family, friends and coworkers. Best of all, Coach Reynolds had blown the minds of his high school football players. In a year’s time, Reese had gone from the butt of bathroom stall fat jokes to being a genuine inspiration to every overweight, under-confident young man that played for him. Reese stopped daydreaming when Bo plopped down on the bench across from him. Bo’s all-business, gruff coach persona had morphed into a kinder, gentler version. “Excellent effort, excellent leg session; four more sessions like that one and you’ll be handling 505 for reps. Your legs will explode with growth – assuming you ‘up’ your clean calorie intake.”

“I have a bottle and half of CapTri^® left. I love that stuff. I even cook with it. I am eating a ton of calories and I am still losing body fat. It’s amazing stuff. Getting my metabolism squared up made all the difference.”

Bo told Reese in a hushed way reserved for serious stuff, “You’ll need to increase your CapTri^® intake to compensate for how hard we are pounding you in the gym.”

Reese nodded. “I’m way ahead of you…I’ll up my daily intake of CapTri^® from four to six tablespoons; I’ll be taking in almost 700 CapTri^® calories per day,” Reese related. He was feeling slightly woozy and knew he needed to get home and eat a ‘real food’ meal before he passed out. “I hate to part good company Coach, but I have two pounds of giant shrimp thawing in the sink. I’d invite you by – but then I’d have to share the delicious steamed spiced shrimp with you – and then there wouldn’t be enough for me!” Both men laughed. Despite eating 4,000 calories of real food per day and another 700 CapTri^® calories, Reese was getting much harder and more muscular. This seemed impossible. How could a man eat so much and get leaner at the same time? Bo had ‘built Reese’s metabolism’ using a sophisticated Parrillo strategy designed to elevate a person’s Basal Metabolic Rate by combining intense sustained exercise with perfect eating. John Parrillo first proposed this specific approach thirty + years ago and ever since has added even more layers of refinement and nuance. Bo taught Reese how to eat his meals and how to time his supplement meals. It was critical that Reese ‘refuel’ at equal intervals throughout the day. Each succeeding week Bo had Reese eat slightly larger amounts, more wholesome, natural, highly potent foods…a continual increase in CapTri^® consumption. Reese started consuming the right foods in the right amount at the right time of day; Reese stopped eating processed foods. Reese began supplementing on a regular basis. Reese began melting off body fat and adding muscle.

Bo had Reese hitting cardio twice a day: once immediately after waking up in the morning and another less formal session sometime later in the day. Both sessions lasted for 45 minutes. Reese rode his fancy exercise bike stationed in his bedroom as soon as awoke and drank a coffee. He’d watch the early morning news show while pedaling and afterwards he’d eat the first of six meals. Reese made an egg white omelet using red onion, spinach, bell peppers, carrots, a dozen whites with two yolks. This provided him with 40+ grams of protein and a boatload of fiber. Reese sautéed his egg-and-vegetable omelet in CapTri^®; and mixed in some hot Italian pepper flakes to amplify the taste. He savored every delicious bite. Reese packed his various Tupperware containers, stuffing them full with the day’s food meals: chicken, turkey breast, tuna, salad makings, four Parrillo bars of various types, his prepackaged Parrillo Pills.  Into four sandwich bags Reese had allotted specific amounts of Parrillo pills and powders….

• Liver Amino Formula^™ – four

• Muscle Amino Formula^™ – four

• Bio-C^™ – two

• Natural E-Plus^™ – two

• Ultimate Amino Formula^™ – two

• Mineral Electrolyte Formula^™ – two

• Essential Vitamin Formula^™ – two

• Creatine Monohydrate^™ – three servings

Reese would squeeze in a second cardio session at school; being a coach at a high school made it easy for him to jump on an exercise bike or jog laps around the high school track at the end of the school day. Reese was pushing his body hard: a dozen cardio sessions each week, five weekly weight sessions – each one a crushing, devastating event. Reese had to eat 4,000+ calories per day just to survive the physical trauma. Reese would chow down at lunchtime on a mountain of lean protein, lots of fiber vegetables and a goodly amount of starch in the form of rice or potatoes. Mid-morning and mid-afternoon he would consume a “supplement meal.” The first consisted of a Hi-Protein^™ shake and a Parrillo cupcake^™; mid-afternoon Reese would drink an Optimized Whey^™ shake and eat a chocolate almond coconut Parrillo Energy Bar^™. Reese’s training split was consistent: Bo called it ‘Power Training.’

• Saturday      legs

• Sunday         chest, triceps

• Monday       off

• Tuesday        back, biceps

• Wednesday   shoulders, light chest

• Thursday      light legs, arms again

• Friday           off

Lately, at Bo’s suggestion, Reese had been downing a big handful of Muscle Amino Formula^™ capsules after every weight training session. Bo was big on the benefits. “I am convinced that taking a massive amount of branched-chain amino acid, in the form of Muscle Amino^™ capsules, ‘spares’ muscle wasting associated with hard and intense weight training. The most effective strategy is to wash down a handful of Muscle Aminos^™ with a 50/50 Plus^™ shake.” On the drive home Reese stopped off at the vegetable market and picked up a variety of fresh produce, along with some exotic rice. Arriving home, Reese unloaded the groceries. He steamed the shrimp and japonica rice; he made a monster vegetable salad and created a triple serving of chocolate Parrillo Pudding^™ for dessert. Before bed Reese drank a final Hi-Protein^™ shake and downed a handful of Enhanced GH^™ capsules along with a half dozen Liver Amino^™ tablets. After his delicious dinner, he couldn’t resist stepping on the scale before he climbed in bed. Even at night, after a full day of food and fluids, Reese only registered 270 pounds; he was within five pounds of his defensive end playing weight back in college.

In a year, Reese had lost 100 pounds and added a considerable amount of muscle: he was squatting over 500, benching 400 and deadlifting 550. He could strict front press 245 and power clean 295. He was strong and getting stronger. He was suddenly popular with the opposite sex. A year ago, Reese had given up on the dating scene: the women that were interested in him, he wasn’t interested in. The women he was interested in weren’t interested in him. What a difference it makes to lose 100 pounds of fat, add 20 pounds of muscle and discover that under all that facial fat, laid the sculpted face of a Norse God. Reese went from a zero to a movie star hero. Suddenly the hottest women were attracted to him as if by magic. His dating card went from empty to overflowing in a matter of months. It would have spun a lesser man’s head in a circle and made him into an egotist. Reese had been ignored for so long that he took in all this newfound attention with an amused air of detachment and quiet disbelief. Reese was smart: he stayed true to his fitness lifestyle and didn’t fall into the party scene trap.

His new goal for the coming year was to whittle his bodyweight down to 240 pounds and maybe even enter a bodybuilding show. Reese was determined to stay locked into his monk-like fitness lifestyle. That was easy for nowadays; no longer did he crave the manmade sweet treats and the endless cans of soda and beer that ruined his body; no longer did he lead a sedentary lifestyle; Reese now embraced “The bodybuilding lifestyle,”  and it suited him. Bo pushed Reese a little longer and a little harder each succeeding session each week in the gym. Reese ate with ever-improving discipline. He could run ten miles maintaining an eight minute pace and each week Reese seemed to grow a little stronger in one or another of his weight training exercises. Each succeeding week Reese was able to go a little further and do so at a little faster pace in his numerous aerobic activities. Each succeeding week saw Reese upping his caloric intake, just enough to accommodate his ever-increasing exercise frequencies, durations and intensities. After one savage back workout Bo clapped Reese on the back of his sweat-drenched tee-shirt. “It is truly unbelievable how far and how fast you have progressed. I have a suggestion and I think you ought to give it some serious consideration.”

“And what might that be?” Reese replied, exhausted yet elated. He sat on a lawn chair gathering his lifting gear and placing it back into his oversized Nike gym bag.

“You should consider becoming a Parrillo Certified Personal Trainer.” Bo said. “You know the whole Parrillo System inside and out – that’s what I’ve had you do from day one. You have been groomed in the Parrillo approach to training and to nutrition; that’s all you’ve ever done – you have been immersed in the Parrillo System. Getting certified for you would be like a casual walk in the park – for a normal human, going through the Parrillo certification process is the equivalent of being forced to walk at bayonet point in the Bataan Death March. You could yawn your way through it; it would be like a dull day at the office for you.”

Reese’s first inclination was to dismiss it out of hand. He was self-depreciating and would cut himself down in a heartbeat; it was an old and bad habit he was working hard on overcoming. This time he caught himself. “You know what Bo…that might be one hell of a good idea!”

The order of exercises in your routine should vary from workout to workout. Every third or fourth workout, start by training a minor muscle group, such as biceps, triceps, calves or abs. Small muscle groups often get shortchanged on intensity when continually worked last in a training session. Giving them priority every several workouts leads to fuller, more proportional development.

In selecting exercises for your routine, it is important to choose at least one basic exercise for each body part—squats, belt squat, bench press, pull-ups, behind the neck press, and so forth. These should be the foundation of your workout. If you’re a beginning bodybuilder, these basic exercises should form the core of your routine.

Nutrition Tip of the month:

Bodybuilders and endurance athletes need more protein because they burn more protein for fuel during exercise. If you don’t supply enough protein in the diet to make up for this increased demand then the body will actually break down muscle tissue to supply the amino acids to use as fuel. This is your worst nightmare. Since the biggest demand for amino acid fuel is during aerobic exercise, it turns out that endurance athletes actually have even higher protein requirements than bodybuilders. If endurance athletes would simply increase their protein intake, they would become more muscular and stronger, and probably become better, faster athletes as well.

Question of the month:

Fight Osteoporosis: Bone Up on B12

Question: I can’t get through my workouts, because halfway through I feel like I have no energy. I think it’s keeping me from making progress. Why do I feel like this and what can I do about it?

Answer: It sounds to me like you might not be taking in enough calories throughout the day. Make sure you’re fueling your body properly by eating five, six or more meals per day with ample calories to fulfill your energy requirements. Your meals should consist of lean proteins, starchy, complex carbs and fibrous carbs. This combination will give you a slow release of glucose for sustained energy levels throughout the day. Also, practice pre-and post-workout supplementation, in addition to regular supplementation of vitamins, minerals, aminos, lipotropics and others. About 30 minutes before training take a supplement such as Max Endurance Formula™. Also, drink a carbohydrate supplement such as Pro-Carb™ while working out. This should help delay the onset of fatigue.

Breaking News Fitness & Nutrition

Women are about four times more likely than men to develop osteoporosis, or weak, porous bones. But a new study links vitamin B12 deficiency with low bone mineral density in men, and confirms similar, previously reported findings in women. While vitamin B12 deficiency has been linked with low levels of markers of bone formation, the mechanism behind the relationship is not known.

The scientists examined the relationship between vitamin B12 blood levels and indicators of bone health measured in 2,576 men and women, aged 30 to 87, participating in the Framingham Osteoporosis Study. They found that those with vitamin B12 levels lower than 148 picomoles per liter (pM/L) were at greater risk of osteoporosis than those with higher levels. The range of symptoms of B-12 deficiency includes anemia, balance disturbances and cognitive decline. Osteoporosis usually progresses with no outward effect until a fracture occurs. The recommended dietary allowance for vitamin B12 is 2.4 micrograms per day for both men and women. Low stomach acid and aging can lower the ability to absorb the vitamin. Those over age 50 are encouraged to consume fortified foods or supplements containing B12. This study suggests adequate vitamin B12 intake is important for maintaining bone mineral density. Animal protein foods, such as fish, liver, beef, pork, milk and cheese are good sources of vitamin B12.

- Rosalie Marion Bliss, March 2005, Agricultural Research Service, USDA

Quick Tip of the month:

Make yourself a protein ice cream sandwich, it’s easy and delicious! Just take two baked and cooled Parrillo Contest Cookies™ and place a scoop of Parrillo Protein Ice Kreem™ in between them and you’ve got dessert!

Dominique’s Time Cruncher

ÚTo save time, go to the grocery store on your lunch break. Even if you only have a half hour for your lunch break, you still have time to make a quick power trip around the grocery store. Bring a cooler to work with you to store your groceries in, and you’ll be ahead of the game!

Dave has renovated more physiques than you can shake the proverbial stick at. The hip and simultaneous knee surgery presented David with a seemingly insurmountable dilemma, one that could and probably should have ended his long and distinguished career. Going into the surgery, the odds were not stacked in his favor: his age was working against him and beneath all that muscle, Dave is actually a thin man with a smallish bone structure. He was also genetically predisposed to disintegration due to his spinal scoliosis. “I was born with a curved spine. My spinal column curves like a snake: to the right in the upper back region and then to the left in my lower back. All my joints have had extra wear and tear. My body continually attempts to correct my curved spine condition and over the years this self-corrective action has gotten worse and worse and worse.” Dave’s body fights against its curvature and over time this wears out body parts. “Because of the curved spine, I have had two right knee surgeries and a right shoulder surgery. I had left knee surgery and my left hip replaced in June of 2008. The actual surgery consisted of opening me up, cutting out the degenerated ball socket and hammering in an artificial hip joint made of titanium.” Dave indicates that in the not too distant future he will have to have his right hip replaced. “My left shoulder is bothering me and I suspect I’ll have to have some sort of corrective work done within a year or two.”

He will also have to have his right hip replaced in “three to five years, depending upon how long I can put up with the pain.” Asked how a left shoulder or knee can be affected by spinal curvature to the point that corrective surgery is required, he explained, “My left shoulder will require surgery for the same reason my right shoulder needed surgery: the spinal column is trying to continually ‘right itself.’ It wants to compensate and make my body move along in a normal, level fashion. It can’t do this and as a direct result the body constantly jacks up my naturally low left shoulder. My right shoulder has five screws in it. I have had one operation on my right shoulder, an artificial hip joint in my left side, a left elbow surgery, two right knee surgeries and a left knee surgery – all of which has happened starting in the fall of 2004.” Prior to 2004 David had never had a single surgery for any reason; now he has had more corrective surgeries than an X-game motorcycle jumper. Ten short months after having his hip replacement/knee surgery, Dave entered the Emerald Cup Bodybuilding Championships. “I was unable to engage in serious training until about eight weeks before the Emerald Cup. I was grateful to be back onstage so quickly: my doctors told me, ‘normal people need two years to recover to the degree you have in six months.’” In a very real way, Parrillo Performance Products played a major part in Dave’s incredible recovery. “A lot of the reason why I recovered so quickly was the intense nutrition and training effort I put in leading up to the surgeries. In the time before the surgery, I directed all my efforts towards building as much muscle as possible, particularly in the legs and hips. I ate as clean as possible in the weeks and months leading up to the surgery: I consumed a ton of Parrillo Products and this strategy really paid off.”

“In my pre-and-post surgery period, I consumed Enhanced GH Formula™, Ultimate Amino™ and Muscle Amino Formula™, plus ample amounts of Mineral Electrolyte™, Essential Vitamins™, Liver Amino Formula™ – I ate a ton of Parrillo Energy Bars™ and Sport Nutrition Bars™. I consumed Natural E-Plus™ and every day took Parrillo Joint Formula™ and Evening Primrose Oil™ capsules. I had two Parrillo Hi-Protein™ shakes each and every day. This nutritional super-compensation strategy worked out great.” After the surgery Dave dropped a ton of bodyweight. “I spent ten days in the hospital and had to use a walker and crutches for awhile. It was about three weeks before I could bend my knee or flex the hip. I was able to head to the gym and start doing cardio and upper body work one month after the surgery. I have a personal training facility out back of my house and started going out to the gym and doing some light arm work to get the comeback ball rolling. Four months post-surgery, I felt so good that I decided to commit to compete in the Emerald Cup in April of 2009.” Dave was having one hell of a time getting into and out of the various exercise machines; he couldn’t move the lightest weight on his leg extension machine and he couldn’t wrestle dumbbells from the rack and over to a bench in order to use them. He had ‘lost everything’ and weighed 145 pounds standing 5-10. “Each day in the post-surgery period I would challenge myself to exceed what I had done in a previous session in some way or another.” The mental challenge was extreme. “The pain was very real. I was hurting. I was unable to get into and out of the leg press machine. I was unable to do chins or anything that could result in my tearing the hip joint; a single jar would send me back to the hospital. I couldn’t do any leg pressing until six months after the surgery.” Dave’s training partner, Steve Large, performed the invaluable service of helping Dave maneuver into and out of exercise machines. Steve would hand Dave dumbbells and spot him. “Steve would help me and at times it must have appeared comical.”

“My real contest preparation began on December 1^st of 2008. The competition was on April 18^th of 2009 and I went on an eating binge: my weight had dropped like a rock after the surgery. I decided I needed to gain back some size. Normally I never let my bodyweight drift upward more than seven to eight pounds above my 162-pound contest bodyweight. In this instance I actually got up to 180 pounds.” Dave consumed his Parrillo products and strayed outside his normal, super-strict, bodybuilder-only food selections. “I have been eating the right foods in the right amounts at the right times for so long that other food, high fat food, refined foods or foods containing sugar, do not taste good. If I eat these foods they create a ‘food hangover’ effect. I stay hung-over until these foods clear my system. Because I was so emaciated after the surgery, I made a conscious choice to consume some of the foods and nutrients I would never eat under normal circumstances.” Dave’s purified body eventually rebelled on him and when his post operative bodyweight hit 180 on December 30^th of 2008, he had enough and got back on the bodybuilder-food only bandwagon. “I hated the way I felt weighing 180. I hated the sluggish bloated feeling I got from eating ‘out-of-bounds foods.’ Let me tell you, it was no problem at all to get back on a strict Parrillo-style nutritional program.” Patterson reverted to full-on Parrillo pre-competition eating. “I still wasn’t able to train in the way that I was used to because I was still healing – but in that first month in every session I made measurable progress. The rate of progress seemed to amplify with each passing week.” Dave was unable to perform certain classical exercises and his poundage handling ability was dramatically reduced; he adhered to his tried-and-proven weekly body part split that had served him so well for so long…

Each session I would work the body part scheduled as hard as I could for as long as possible. The exercises used would often vary. Steve Large, my training partner, was critical and instrumental in helping me maneuver into position, hand­ing me dumbbells and spotting me as I pushed and pulled from awkward angles and positions. Seven days a week I performed some form of cardio. I found that I could use the Elliptical Machine for my cardio. It was a sort of one-legged aerobic activity that must have been hilarious to observe. It proved to be quite taxing yet quite effective.

David Patterson eventually stepped onstage at the Emerald Cup on April 18^th 2009 weighing 162 pounds. “Obviously my shape and condition was significantly off compared to years gone by – however I was gratified to be there at all and gratified that I had actually ‘pulled it off.’ I had to pat myself on the back, a little bit anyway, considering how bad a shape I was in leading up to the surgery and how emaciated I became afterwards. I took third place in my class (out of 11 competitors) and Janet Guenther and I took first place in the Mixed Pairs competition.  I won the ‘Best Poser’ award. I posed to the theme music from the movie “300” and felt really good about this particular award. It was a bit of slight-of-hand: there were certain bends and twists, dips and turns that I either could not do, or if I was able to do them there was a certain amount of visible awkwardness. This was a result of the hip and knee surgery. As a poser, my challenge was to design a seamless, flawless routine; one that allowed me to disguise the fact that I could not perform certain movements. They did not award me the ‘best poser for a guy coming off a hip replacement’ or ‘best poser for a guy who is unable to perform a lot of taken-for-granted moves’ – they awarded me ‘the best poser in the entire show’ award. In some ways, though I have won over thirty best poser awards, this was the most significant best poser award I have ever won, given the challenges I was presented with. Plus it was great to win straight up with Janet in the mixed pair competition. I really felt I needed to ‘bring it’ so as to not let her down. She is a fabulous bodybuilder. I was determined that I was going to carry my share of our joint effort.”

So what goals does Dave “The Bionic Bodybuilder” have for the future? “Well I am certainly not going to retire or quit; on the contrary, I feel that I have a lot of room for future physical improvement. My left side still has a lot of healing and ‘hardening up’ to do. In a way I think this entire episode has left me fired up and wanting more. As the old saying goes, ‘you don’t miss your water ‘till the well runs dry.’ During those tough days immediately after the operation, I have to tell you I thought to myself that I might have made a career-ending mistake. There was a brief period where I really felt, ‘you know – you might not be bouncing back or coming back from this.’ When it became apparent that I could actually resume serious training, I breathed a real sigh of relief. In my heart I was not ready or willing to give up competitive bodybuilding – but ‘ready and willing’ mentally does not automatically imply that you are physically ‘able.’ I cannot tell you how relieved and elated I was when it became self-evident that, yes indeed, this old warrior had not fought his last fight and yes indeed, I would be competing at the Emerald Cup; this just ten short months after a hip replacement and a knee surgery. I am now ready, willing and able! My next competitive outing will be late in 2009. My goal is to be back in tip-top form for the Washington Ironman Bodybuilding Championships on October 3^rd 2009.” For you over 40 year olds out there: the next time some minor muscle pull or dinky strain gets you thinking, ‘Hey maybe I’m too old for this. Maybe it’s time I hang up these childish visions of improving my body. Maybe it’s time I start acting my age.’ Be aware that acting your age is a self-fulfilling prophecy that is bound to come true. Instead, when you get that urge to quit, reflect a minute on the adversity Dave Patterson overcame and gain some sense of perspective.

David Patterson’s Post-Operative Training Split

• Monday legs
• Tuesday chest
• Wednesday back
• Thursday shoulders
• Friday arms
• Saturday off
• Sunday off