So You Think You Train Hard?

School was out for the summer. This meant that my nine-year-old son’s first question each morning was no longer, “Why do I have to go to school today?” but instead “What am I going to do today?” When I was his age, that question was only an interior thought. I never expected my put-upon parental units to worry about my daily activity schedule or making sure I was constantly entertained and amused. Each morning I would set off on my bike and often didn’t return until dusk. I probably put a couple hundred miles on that Huffy between June and September every year.

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A Bodybuilder Is Born: Generations

The town I live in isn’t exactly a ‘small town’ in the classic sense. When I think of a small town, my mind conjures up a place with one stop light, a single general store complete with crusty old guys holding court in rocking chairs on the porch out front, and the same guy serving as town sheriff, minister, and small-appliance repairman. Also, there are only three different last names for a couple hundred people and they all share some dark, horrible secret that involves ritual human sacrifice, or worse – multilevel marketing.

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A Bodybuilder Is Born: Generations

Jared was going to hurt himself badly soon if he didn’t stop his slow but steady descent into the Land of Crappy Form. It’s true that he was young enough to bounce right back from all but the most serious catastrophes like full muscle tears or a herniated disk, but tempting fate is never a bright idea. Fate has a sick sense of humor. If you don’t believe that, turn on your TV or check today’s news online. You’ll see that a church roof caved in during Easter service killing 300 parishioners who had just finished raising the money to fix it, or that a whole school full of kids contracted meningitis from sharing the same drinking fountain during Dehydration Awareness Week.

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Episode 26: Quitters never win, winners never quit

 

Not long after my young client Jared had hurt his shoulder, my own shoulders (yes, both of them) became a source of agony. While his injury could be pinpointed to a specific incident on a football field, the path to my own wrecked shoulders went back many years, long before that kid was even a gleam in his father’s eye – reflected from the 5-carat flawless diamond on his wife’s finger.  

My twenties in particular had been chock full of what I now look back at as ‘stunt lifting.’ How much weight could I possibly lift? Who was watching? And how much could I inflate my starving ego if I pulled off a successful stunt?

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A Bodybuilder is Born > Ron Harris

 

Episode 20: Never turn your back on – your back!

 

A Bodybuilder is Born: Generations

Episode 20: Never turn your back on – your back!

Just as there had been no joy in Mudville one summer day long ago, spirits were down in New England in our final days of summer. Football fans had grown accustomed to winning lately, since the Patriots had nabbed the Superbowl three times in the past few years. Much of this was due to having one of the greatest quarterbacks the NFL had ever seen, a handsome All-American chap named Tom Brady. What no one

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Staying in Shape for the Long Term

My guest-posing exhibition had gone quite well, all things considered. I refrained from the common practice

of jumping off stage into the crowd to pose up close and personal for four or five minutes. I figured a little Ron goes a long way, plus I didn’t want anyone to snap some unflattering paparazzi picture and post it all over the web. Not that I was going to be flashing my privates, shaving my head, or attacking any cars with an umbrella, but if my stomach happened to be protruding at all from any angle, rumors would be flying that I had a ‘baby bump.’ Nothing against that ‘man’ that gave birth, but I didn’t need that kind of notoriety.

 

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