300

It's a great bowling score. A decent car from Chrysler. A movie about warriors. And now it is officially my maximum bench press.

Some people run, some people lift. I don't run, well. I lift far much better and genetically that's what nature intended. Not that I can't run, about six years ago I was running five miles a day, three times a week. My body and mind hated every step, but I could do it. I'm in awe of people that can run marathons or cross-country. For the record though, I did run the Peachtree 10K when I was 25 and I still have my number.

Three hundred was a particular number of pounds I wanted to bench press by Christmas of this year. I hit it a week early after a very botched attempt last week. A shout out to my workout partner Vern who kept my chest from being sliced in two. I deviated from my usual warm up and I paid for it. Today he spotted me as I benched 300 pounds three times with no assistance. It may sound somewhat of a meathead thing to do, but I'm going with what I'm good at. And for the record, my blood test will pass Congressional scrutiny.

Back in 2004 I was not sure when my future held for upper body weightlifting. I had torn my rotator cuff and split a tendon during a rugby tournament in 2003. My surgeon, Dr. Christine Ekstrand at UCLA Medical Center said the best I could ever hope for was 90 percent recovery for my shoulder. That was the best, the most likely was 70 to 80 percent. She must have been a better surgeon then analyst as today there is no difference between the left and the right shoulder. ADI Physical Therapy in Hollywood deserves credit as well. I never missed an appointment.

Now that I've met this goal, I'm not heading any higher. I will stay at 300 and get more reps. Increasing weight is a slippery slope and every joint and muscle on my body works fine and I'd like to keep it that way. In case your wondering, the only supplement I take is amino acids. Any nutritionist would probably label my diet as "somewhat crappy", and with the donut intake I'm not going to argue. I tip the scales at 220 pounds.

This month marks one year in Texas. And everything is bigger here, including me. Must be something in the water...