MUSCLES!!!

I have always been impressed by guys with HUGE muscles. You know the type...the guys from the ads in the comic books promising you a new body in "just seven days"...or maybe the pro wrestler you used to watch on Saturday mornings...or maybe the big guy on the football team, the one everyone liked.

I remember watching the movie "Pumping Iron" and being totally impressed with those guys...Arnold, Franco, Lou, Mike...and wanting to be like them. However, I was far from athletic. I've been through so many bodily somatypes that it's hard to pin down. For example, when I was really young, I used to suffer from all sorts of allergies, and I was skinny as a rail. Then all through late elementary and middle school, after I got the allergies under control, I was FAT (try being 180 pounds with a 38" waist in the 6th grade). Then the summer before I entered high school, I dieted down to 165 and a 32" waist. That's where I stayed (plus or minus 5 pounds) until grad school 10 years later.

I looked very average, or so I thought. Lots of my buddies in college asked me to go lift with them, and I did, but it was very hit or miss. I was fairly strong and had a few genetically advanced body parts, mostly my arms and quads. My friends kept telling me I had pretty good genes, but I had trouble sticking to anything. It wasn't until grad school that I really started to keep to a serious training program. I guess that's what comes from going to a school in a town in the middle of nowhere...I had two choices for fun...going to the gym or hitting the bars. I chose both...but found I had more of a talent for bodybuilding than for playing "Quarters."

Anyhow, after grad school, I moved to Phoenix to start a job at Arizona State University. I decided to take my training to a new level. I hired Jackie Paisley to do my nutritional counseling and give me training advice. I think she is a goddess! My body fat dropped from 26% to around 12%. I never considered myself fat at that point in my life, and I carried the weight well. After I saw what my body looked like with the lower body fat, I couldn't believe it! I realized that I was on my way...maybe not Arnold yet, but working on it!

These days I am working on adding size. I feel more comfortable with a bulky look...kind of the off-season bodybuilder/powerlifter look. Here are some recent pics of me. They are only a couple of years old (as of the beginning of May 1996) and were taken at World Gym in San Francisco, where I plan on training. It was a good arm workout that day!

	This is the Hammer Strength biceps curl machine. It's one of the few biceps machines I can use that feels like it's doing anything! I get a great pump from it.
	Of course, simple barbell biceps curls can't be beat for adding mass!
	Here I am doing dumbbell hammer curls. This works the "bracs" or the little muscle under your biceps. It helps make your biceps fuller and higher.
	Here I am on a pieced-type machine. I like using this sort, instead of the ones with the pads.

Soon you can look for some training programs I've used. In the meantime, here are a few links to some other bodybuilding pages that I recommend:

	Cyberiron Eric has a great page...besides he's HUGE!
	MuscleNet Great info here and a great personals section.
	Arnold's Bodybuilding Connection Look here to find out when you can see American Muscle Magazine on ESPN! Besides, this Eric is also HUGE!
	Bodybuilders, Weightlifters, et al on the Web Richard has a great site that lets you find others on the WWW with an interest in the iron. I'm listed...are you?

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E-mail Charlie at hulkn@aol.com
E-mail John at sfmusclguy@aol.com