The Long Game

[Montego]

Don’t know if this was brought up yet or not, apologies if it was. Was there a family history of heart problems that you know of ?

None that was ever discussed

 

[CompoundLifts31]

So, many of you saw the posts about one of our brothers passing recently with what was called heart complications.

Every time we've lost someone, it's obviously hard and unexpected but, this one hit home pretty hard given my relationship with that individual.

I worked with this individual for over 5 years so I know exactly what he was doing the entire time. (The best a coach knows what any client is going)

When we started, he was already in his 40s, just a regular guy who wanted to get into good shape and that transformed into him wanting to compete for the fun and competition aspect of it. No thoughts of being a pro, or a high level national competitor, just to do something hard that actually has a reward you could see and feel.

Health wise, everything was good for the most part. No issues with blood pressure, no blood sugar concerns, liver, kidneys, all in good working order and, regular bloodwork showed this was all consistent the entire time. The one "red flag" he usually had was elevated hematocrit. He lived at elevation, and this is very common for people who live at elevation which, his primary Dr, also said, given the circumstance wasn't uncommon and wasn't concerned about the issue especially since blood pressure was always in good range.

The doses this individual used, duration of cycles, and compounds, were what most would consider low to moderate. Even during a prep, this didn't change. Test doses that never got over 600mg, Deca doses no more then 300mg, ran tren twice at 300mg, orals at no more then 50mg a day for most compounds, less for stronger orals. These examples were never run together, if a test dose was "higher" for the individual, everything else was lower then I listed and vice versa.

The time off was the VAST majority of the year... I'm not talking 27 out of 52 weeks, I mean 34 weeks a year some years. Some a bit shorter but he was off way more then on.

Diet was a struggle for him. He had a CRAZY metabolism so there were huge amounts of food needed to get him to grow or not lose too quickly. Sometimes the food choices were not "clean" , bread mainly, or cereal post training, but 90% was basic rice, chicken, beef, potato, egg, fruit, healthy fats ECT, it was just A LOT. He would have a weekly free meal that his wife would make at home at first, then this turned into a daily dinner they would have at home, not only for the added calories but, for the bonding time they would have in the kitchen and table together.

He didn't do cardio. He had a labor intensive job that peeled weight off of him and kept him so active it didn't seem necessary. Also, given never having any concerns with blood pressure, it seemed fine. We had multiple conversations about how I needed him to sit the fuck down at work and let his helpers work more so he wasn't burning through the calories but, this guy just couldn't do it, a sign of how hard he worked and how dedicated he was with his work.

This individual did everything correct. Of course, now, I go back and nitpick about something here and there. The cardio or the hct despite knowing we did it all right and had his health best interest at heart as I always try to do.

The only thing I would do, if I could go back in time, would be to tell this guy to never touch AAS..... That seems like it's the correct answer but then you think, what if he hadn't chose this journey and ate like a normal American, didn't train with weights, didn't dedicate himself to becoming a better physical version of himself? Would things have turned out differently? I dunno.

This is a very real consequence we all face, even though we will all justify why it won't be us because "I do my cardio", "I get bloodwork done", "I eat healthy", "I run low doses", "I take time off", "I'm still young", "I take this and this for this side effect"... Got anything else? Any other bright ideas? I'm sure some dumb cunt will have something or, the inevitable "I'm ok with whatever happens".....

This isn't a post to demonize anabolics, or to say you shouldn't do what you want with your life. It's not to justify our choices and, at the end of the day, you can do it all right and still have something terrible happen so why care?

This post is intended to simply give some insight, as someone who was as close to this person as you can be from a "coaches" view and, explain just how little control we have over outcome of our life choices then we expect we do.

RIP ASF brother! Sorry for your loss Monte.

5 years is a long time. I'm sure you'd call him a friend before you'd call him a paying client.

Thank you for sharing this with us bro...

My belief is this: if something happens, it's fate and was meant to happen. How you got there is just background noise imo.

The guy could've died the day after you started training him from an infinite amount of things.

You improved his quality of life and were a great coach to him too, I'm sure.

Sent from my moto g 5G (2022) using Tapatalk

 

[J.S.]

None that was ever discussed

We live in a time where young people are dieing of heart related causes unlike anything I’ve ever seen or know of. This is one of those instances I think, I’m sorry that this has happened .

 

[MindlessWork]

Monte, don't beat yourself up over this and what happened was beyond your control. I know you have to vent a bit and that's understandable.

 

[GhostReaper]

Mont...
Sadly, in our lives..people Fall..
It's common for many of us to think perhaps we could have done something..change something..!!
No one can predict and many times, there's No signs of anything Wrong..
Of course it hits harder, the Closer we were to the One's that Pass..good friends and Family go without warning..
Natural for Us to look for Answers, and Why..??

Coping with the losses ...that can be difficult..because we want to Understand..!!

At times it leaves holes in Us..Guilt and Blame is normal..and it may take days, weeks or months to finally sink in..
Everyone is different and grieve differently..

People can do everything Right or Everything Wrong..we see people living a long time doing stupid stuff..While other's try to stay healthy, yet they have a short Life..
There's No Ryme or Reason..!!

I always try to focus on the Time I spent with the One's I miss..remembering the Best of Times..
AND..
That..it was an Honor..!!

The impact they had on Us..the Laughs..The Tears..but knowing that You're a Better Person because of Them..!!

I'm Truly Sorry for your Loss,my old Friend..
I Really Am..
Z