Like many people, my tipping point to enter the world of fitness wasn’t the most flattering occurrence that happened in my life. If you know me, I like to let my mouth run and sometimes karma catches up.
Entering freshmen year of high school, I was 13 years old and just about 5’8”, and tipping the scale at about 300 pounds. I was tough as nails, or at least that’s what I thought. A couple of my friends had already been lifting and seeing some great progress. At the time I really wasn’t interested in any of it and shrugged it off. Who the hell would want to go to the gym and lift? I’m born with size I knew I was strong enough and didn’t need to work out to prove anything.
And then…I got in over my head and learned a valuable lesson. As many “tough kids” do, I started running my mouth and saying outlandish remarks like “I can bench 205 lbs!” to my friends and teammates James and JK. Little did I know, judgement day was right around the corner.
One day, I was in gym class and was taking part of the requirement for strength training. As I walked into the weight room for the first time, I turned around to see James and JK, who were anticipating the proof for my bragging.
As I stood there waiting for my name to be called out, all I kept thinking was “how do I get out of this current situation I am in?” Before I could even think of how to get out of that class, James touched my shoulder, looks me dead in the eye and says “let’s see what you got. It’s time to hit that bench press.”
Now, because of the person I was, I just made the whole situation worse by saying “I’ll let you boys finish up before the grown men get on this.” To this day, I still look back and think what was I thinking?! I stood there and watched James and JK go through their lifts. James finished off with 205 lbs bench press for 3 reps and JK 165lb bench press for 3 reps.
And then the moment of truth came…it was my turn. I turned around, looked at the boys and couldn’t help, but think I am twice their size, lifting this weight should be easy. So I threw 225lb on the rack and was ready to let them watch me work.
As James helped me up with the bar as my spotter, I was ready. And then the very second he let go and I mean the second he let go, the bar immediately crashed on my chest. Here it is folks, I literally got caught with my foot in my mouth. The bar was just sitting on my chest and there was nothing I could do. After the boys and I somehow managed to muscle up and rack the bar, they couldn’t stop laughing hysterically.
At the moment, the only thing I could think of was how nice it would be to knock both their teeth in. So I looked at them and said “I just need to warm up. Take off a plate.” So now with 135lb on the bench press, I laid underneath the bar, thinking it was going to be easy. Boy was I wrong. As I un-racked the weight, my arms immediately began to shake. As I lowered the bar, I got to the midway point and immediately, the bar dropped to my chest. And yet again, I had no luck budging this weight. The same weight that my friends had just used to warm up with - I couldn’t believe it.
I felt like my life was literally going to come to an end and didn’t know how I would face these kids. But instead of laughing or making fun of me, both James and JK started encouraging me to start with the bar. They knew I had never done this and where now here to help.
I began with the bar and managed to work my way up to 95lb on the bench press and managed to press it up one time. Me, a 300 pound big kid and I could only manage to lift 95lb. From that day on I decided to make a change.
I began showing up after school every day 5 days a week to join James and JK on our lifts for football. These lift where always supervised by Jimmy Clark, our high school football coach. As I improved, I started getting attention from the upper classmen who would then ask me to join them on their lifts.
And then came Michael Fienberg. Mike was the guru when it came to this kind of stuff. He knew everything you needed to know about lifting and dieting and how to get your body bigger, stronger, and faster. Boy did it help me out. I started to lose some weight and managed to get much stronger.
After my first year of lifting I was able to bench press 225lb for 10 reps at the age of 14 years old. There was the strength I knew I had!. From that moment on, I was hooked. The gains that I made in the offseason directly translated onto the football field. By my senior year, I was named all section twice and signed a full ride to Pace University. In college, I started all 4 years and physically destroyed my competition. I was named Defensive Rookie of the Year and a three-time all conference player.
As I sit here and reminisce over this story, I can’t help but laugh. If it wasn’t for that humiliating day, I honestly do not think I would not have my monster mentality I have in the gym. Whenever I am in the weight room and that moment in my life crosses my mind - you can bet it encourages me to lift harder. Every Time.
We have all been there where we set ourselves up for disaster, but because of that moment in my life, I have become the person I am today and do what I love.
-Written by Skaz Gecaj (Co-Owner of Apex Fitness)