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Marc Bell

This is my second Lean & Mean Challenge at BBIII, and my second year of training with Gregg Avedon.  Last year, my wife, Suzanne, and I won the Challenge as a couple.  I was in the best shape of my adult life, and thought that I had probably achieved as much as I could at 49 years old.  So, what next?  I continued my training and healthy eating habits throughout the year with my sights set on my next goal:  keep my body stable and avoid putting on 10 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years, as I have done in so many years past!

In the months following the competition, my weight gradually increased by about 7 pounds overall, but much of that was “part of the plan” as my workouts were adjusted to build muscle.  As the New Year rolled around, I achieved my goal: my weight and body fat had remained stable. I realized that I had achieved this without too much extra effort – thanks to Gregg, my training and eating habits had officially become a new way of life. 

To complete the picture, I should mention that some things did change for me this past year.  On the positive side, I stopped taking the cholesterol medication that I had been taking for 15 years and was able to maintain healthy cholesterol levels through my exercise and dietary habits alone.  I sleep better than ever, and have had far more energy during the day. 

On the negative side, my doctor recommended surgery on both of my shoulders to repair damage from my days of collegiate tennis. Having already experienced shoulder surgery once and knee surgery twice, in my mind, surgery was not an option.  However, my shoulder problems were significant, and I wondered whether I could continue at the gym.  Gregg and Billy worked together to develop a routine to work all of my body parts in ways that worked around the pain in my shoulders. We rested the shoulders for about 4 months, yet never missed a day in gym.  With their help as well as alternative therapies, I can now do pull ups, military press and most shoulder exercises that I hadn’t been able to do for 10 years! 

Now it is January and BBIII announces the 2010 Challenge.  What do I have to prove?  What do I have to improve upon?  Why do this again?  It would have been easy to decline to enter, but I took the other path.  Accepting the challenge another time put pressure on me, and Gregg, possibly setting us both up to fail - but I knew that we wouldn’t!  For me, the challenge is about challenging myself, yet the pressure of competition is a big motivator.  So, as I approach 50 years old, and following my success in last year’s challenge, Gregg and I set out to do it again.   We approached the challenge full force, as if it was for the first time.   Midway through the competition, I tore my left calf and ended up in a boot and on crutches – not what we had planned!  But despite this, I didn’t miss a day in the gym.  The doctor and physical therapists were amazed at how quickly I recovered and attributed that recovery entirely to my excellent physical conditioning! 

In two short years at BBIII, I have learned many important lessons.  I know that most challenges can be overcome with the right attitude and work ethic and that the only limitation on physical success is in your mind. I now know how to work out, how to eat clean and how to supplement correctly. I understand the value of a professional trainer, like Gregg, and an environment like BBIII. As I said at the end of last year’s challenge: check your excuses at the door, no one at BBIII wants to hear them.  If you want to go to a gym, there are plenty of those – look them up in the phone book.   If you want to change your attitude, habits and way of life, go to BBIII.  

--MARC BELL

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