As a teenager in high school (photo unavailable as I think I burned them all), I would hit more home runs than anyone else playing intramural baseball and softball. Mike Bertuzzi usually kept pace with me, but he was a very buff 185 lbs. and I was a skinny kid, carrying all of 135 lbs on my bones. (I had ballooned to 138 lbs the following year when I married in July of '77.) Bertuzzi (we were great friends) was always humorously offended that he couldn't out hit me, even though he had an extra 50 lbs of muscle that I didn't have!
Intramural sports was the only sports that I played in High School other than a year on the basketball team; and I was always one of the first ones 'picked' to be on the intramural teams if it was track, basketball, baseball, or softball. I didn't play on the organized sports teams in high school because work was more important to me than sports, as I began working full time as a sophomore in high school (and it truly was full time hours). Yes, it was probably one of my very bad decisions in life . . .
Shortly after high school graduation, I started playing on apartment complex teams, and then church league teams. As a young man playing on some very-rough apartment league softball teams (2 years) and then church league softball (most years in the city competitive leagues), I lost count of how many championships our teams won over the 25+ years that I played.
Other than winning most games, I also remember always cranking, crushing, clobbering (words from guys on the team) 1-2 home runs per game; and if I was not pitching; to be playing left field and gunning down runners at home plate with my throws from deep left field. Those were fun and memorable times. My size was growing larger too, now at 190-210 lbs, and I was called a few (non-printable) slang names on the playing fields; probably out of jealously.
At prime adulthood in my 30's and 40's, I was playing softball 2 nights a week, but had also taken up racquetball and was playing it 4x a week, and playing Sunday evening basketball with the local teenagers brought to our home by our oldest daughter Jackie. My weight now was at 225, and I was in my prime, though I really did not know it, as I was neither toned, nor bulky; I was just.... 'a big guy'.
It was during this time of my life when I was given several new monikers: Tank, Gorilla, Kong, Crusher, Tree Stump, and Pierre. (Tank and Tree Stump were the most common. Pam calls them Tree Trunks). People playing against me in basketball would run into me and bounce off; like a Tank or Tree Stump. An immovable object.
People would play me in racquetball and call me Gorilla from my 100+ mph serves, plus the fact that I would break an average of 2 balls per match. People would play me in softball and call me Kong and Crusher because of how far I could hit the balls past the 300' fences.
John "Doc" Stecklow told me that the softballs I hit were crying for mercy from 'blunt force trauma'; and then he revised his statement to say "Brute Force Trauma", and I have liked that term ever since.
I had always considered myself naturally strong, and never thought much about it. I just knew that it was natural for me to be able to hit things hard. It did not take much effort; it just was natural.
The above picture is of my last 2 bats; now retired. They are stationed around the house for me to crush an intruder's skull or rib cage in one swing; if my gun bullets don't stop them first. These are Demarini double-wall bats, with the latest and greatest engineering incorporated for aficionado's like myself that are smart enough to buy them; though they are on the pricey side (and worth every dollar).
At the ripe young age of 51, I took up a new 'sport'. I began lifting weights for the 1st time in my life, and I realized within a few months how naturally strong I was; and obviously had been for my entire life, though I never knew it, or had never connected the weight plates.
I worked out for a year with a Charles Atlas that lived next door to me. He had a really nice gym in his home, and was super buff, and after several of his invitations; I took him up on his offer to train me. After 1 year of his home gym mentoring, I then joined Gold's Gym for 2 years. That is when things in my body really started to change.
God gave me great calves. The weight I can lift with them is amazing. God gave me great glutes maximus, and the weight I can push with them is even more astonishing. My workout partner wouldn't hold the heavy sand bag anymore when I would kickbox it, as he grew weary of the reverberations from my 'tree stumps'.
On the seated leg press, the weight max on the machine bars is 900 lbs., and I had to creatively add another 300 lbs to get to my 1,200 lbs by stacking weight plates on the back, and using homemade Velcro straps to double hang additional weight plates. One of the 200 lb trainers offered to set on the rack for me so that I wouldn't have to take so much time adding the extra weight plates, but I never took him up on his offer, as that would have looked pretty stupid (as I saw him doing it for other guys that were far bigger than me).
I always thought maxing out at 1,200 lbs was good until I read Apollo Anton Ohno's biography, (the Gold medal speed skater), and saw that his work out included pushing 1,800 lbs on the seated leg press. This brought me back to reality in a hurry, as this little shrimp of a man weights 145 lbs.!!! Think about that ratio for a moment. Someone weighing 145 lbs able to push 1,800 lbs?! Wow, talk about a gift from God! No wonder he won all those gold medals!
And now, I come full circle to Ava Corinne Franco, and to Owen Michael Kueny; two of the world's greatest grandchildren that just happen to have 25% of my DNA flowing in their veins.
Ava is inspiring on the gym floor. This girl's strength is amazing. The way at age 9 that she can jump and tumble is so fun to watch. She loves gymnastics and cheerleading, and I can see this little girl being the world's strongest 'base' at cheerleader camp. Wow. I love to watch her tumble. She is so incredibly strong, and she can hold a plank longer than 98% of adults. She has serious core strength. My mouth is agape when I see her holding plank, followed by a few dozen push ups!
And then there is Owen. Oh my. This 'little' boy of 6 is Mr. Brute Force Trauma reborn. He has no clue how strong he is. But, wow, is he ever strong; and natural. Watching him connect the ball to the bat, watching him naturally clobber a ball, and seeing how effortlessly he can rocket a perfect left handed throw ~ his young strength is easy to see. I hope he puts it to good use. (And tonight's starting pitcher, from the University of Oklahoma, standing 6'5", with a 98 mph left-handed fastball is Owen "Romeo" Kueny!)
For me, now at age 57 and 3/4's, I know I am still strong, but I am battling 'desire', as it gets harder and harder to 'want' to work out. Plus, my work schedule is nothing short of insane, and unless I can force my body to work out at 0400; it hasn't been receiving the work outs that it deserves and needs for well over a year now.
Monday though, good intentions be banned, I start something new. I will be attending Megan's barbell group exercise class at Lifetime Fitness. That ought to be interesting ~
I'll keep you posted :-)
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