Thoughts on 20 Years of Lifting

The day of my high school reunion...Been twenty years. Pretty amazing. I write this from my parent's house in Western Mass. My parents are not athletic. They go for walks and that's about it. My dad was a champion wrestler and for the past 50 years has been a yo yo dieter. His days of cutting weight influenced him greatly- and he's cut weight for various functions- Bar Mitzvahs and weddings, but overall, he's spent his adulthood overweight and w high blood presure. My mother has negative associations w exercise that she's carried for a lifetime. She was picked last in gym class. She gets winded easily. As a kid, they rarely came to soccer and baseball games- and growing up in my family.  arts were encouraged. We were naturals at moviemaking, cartooning, acting, painting, and music. I played basketball until 8th grade- as a center and a forward, but started guitar in 9th- following in my brother's footsteps. This decision more than any has affected my adult life. The kids I hung out with in middle school became the football players and jocks- and I identified myself as an artist. I ate in the art room at lunch, hung out in Boston, and grew to love jazz and the clubs and record stores of Boston and Cambridge. But by senior year I felt I'd missed out on the social life of my school- parties and girls, and I began lifting the summer after in prep for college. Vassar College was not anything like Wellesley High School. I think I came in looking for a do-over of high school, but quickly found it was completely different. Lifting and running became a mainstay for me through college- and afterwards. I never wanted to be out of shape. It's only recently that I've loosened up a bit. But traveling is tough- and late night pizza in NY and thanksgiving yesterday are challenging. Nevertheless- I was excited when a distant cousin asked me last night what I did to be so muscular and athletic looking. I was like surfing- and some lifting. Pull ups, bench, and squats along w sprinting is the real answer, as well as largely Paleo eating. I've been lucky- sand despite the hassle of getting to the gym- the rewards have been much greater than the effort expended. I am grateful for finding exercise as an outlet and a pursuit, and though I'm not in the ridiculous shape I would've liked for this reunion, I'm still feeling pretty good about the strides I've made athletically in the past 20 years. Major accomplishments include a mini triathlon in 2005, surfing Waimea in 2014, and being Paleo for 4 years.

Happy Thanksgiving-
Gabe