It was late in 2002 and Alexander hadn't touched a weight in almost three years, losing 70-something pounds in the process. Nikeshin, a local politician and bodybuilding enthusiast, talked him into training once more. In addition to encouragement, he offered financial support, allowing Alex the opportunity to get out from under his father-in-law's tyrannical thumb and reconnect with his own father in the gym. Things seemed to be looking up. Then the unthinkable happened.
"I still remember it like it was yesterday," Alexander begins. "It was a great day, my first day of serious training for my first competition since leaving. I wanted to bench press as much as possible, just for myself. Surprisingly, that day everything was very easy. I did 200 kilos [480 pounds] eight times and felt like I could do more. Before that, my highest was 245 kilos, but today I wanted to do 250 [550 pounds]. I'm not a powerlifter, but I wanted to try it. I got it down on my chest; then, as I pushed up, somewhere in the middle of the movement I heard a sound like a rubber band snapping, and the barbell fell. My father tried to catch it and injured his arms."
When they got to the hospital, doctors couldn't see through Alex's massive chest with an X-ray, but since he still had full range of motion, they assumed the injury wasn't that serious. It wasn't until they opened him up that the damage was revealed: Alexander had torn his right pectoral muscle in four different places. All would need to be reconnected in a delicate operation so intricate that personnel from a Moscow medical journal flew in to document the affair.
"It's a major injury that's not uncommon in bodybuilders," says Nicholas DiNubile, MD, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. "It's a big surgery and very debilitating for anyone who needs their upper body for power activities. You typically wouldn't be allowed to do any kind of significant weight training, other than simple rehab exercises, for three or four months." But instead of taking it easy, in the interim between the injury and the operation, Alexander continued to train his chest, continued to go onstage in his posing trunks and continued to win. He took first place at five amateur competitions and third at the Russian Grand Prix, behind Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler.
The difference between the two sides of his body -- the forearms, the pecs and the massive scar protruding from his armpit -- are hard not to notice, even to this day. Only recently has he been able to work his chest out again without screaming. And he still must visit a doctor every few weeks for the go-ahead to continue lifting. It's a harrowing process that scares Alexander and leaves him agitated as he awaits the results, like he is today.
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