Episode 12: Gary Bye (Fitness is The Way)

(MP3)

In the Beginning 

I originally started bodybuilding when I was fifteen (1983), inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger and his book, “The Education of a Bodybuilder”. I was passionate about bodybuilding all through high school…hoping to be a great bodybuilder someday. But things changed quickly after high school. College, work and friends became my new commitments. I started smoking when I was eighteen and started drinking on the weekends. My healthy lifestyle slowly faded away, although I continued to train hard into my mid twenties.

Lost The Way

By the time I was thirty, I had completely stopped exercising. I was self-employed as a stock trader in the late 90’s. I chained smoked, drank tons of coffee and was very stressed out. In 2003, I filed bankruptcy and struggled financially for several years afterwards. By the time I was in my late thirties, my overall health was very poor. My lungs burned when I smoked and I was constantly coughing, spitting and out of breath. After twenty two years of smoking, I successfully quit on my son’s 12th birthday.

I remained somewhat active until I took a desk job in 2008. By 2010, I started to develop severe lower back pain. I tried chiropractic support belts which helped, but the issue was getting worse. I was in constant pain and considered seeing a chiropractor. One day on a whim I decided to workout. 

Inspired

My wife had bought me a weight set and it was sitting unused for two years. That workout was amazing! It was the first time I felt a pump in a decade! It felt so good to train, I was hooked from that moment on. After only thirty days of training, ALL of my lower back pain disappeared! Within two years, I had regained all my prior strength from my twenties. 

Leading The Way

I have now been training for four years and have entered my third bodybuilding contest. My goal is to continue eating healthy, training hard and seeing how far I can develop my physique and strength. I’m passionate about training again. This has been a fantastic time in my life. I hope I can inspire others.

References:

Resveratrol

Longecity

Jack LaLanne

ANBF