Craig's Story, motivated me to start deadlifting again. Awesome read.

[aesthleticz]

He was a quiet guy. The type of guy you pictured one day taking a gun out and going on a shooting rampage. He never spoke, just came to the gym in his dull, dingy attire and quietly lifted. From what I saw he was a forty something year old guy, who was overweight and worked out somewhat to keep in shape. Although he never bothered anyone I noticed that he was the butt of many insults and jokes in the gym, most the members had given him the name ‘Pigpen’ since no one seemed to know his real name and he never conversed with the members of the gym.

He was quite simply an enigma in the gym.

I was young, had been lifting for about 4 years or so, thought I knew everything, thought steroids were evil, but I was enthusiastic and trained harder than the average gym goer. Our gym, although well equipped, was at the heart a fitness club. Most the members were more concerned with their hair, and clothing, being coordinated for the gym social scene. Pigpen simply stuck out like sore thumb, I thought many times that he may know the things people said about him, it was obvious to me so I figured he must pick up on it. The members were cruel, a snicker here, a pinched nose there, all in jest of the quiet guy in his drab, baggy clothing. I didn’t see it as funny, more like insecure bullying, but Pigpen simply ignored it and kept on.

The owner was a friend of mine named Chris. He and I had worked together at another gym, he had been a competitive bodybuilder, but had since gone into the gym business and had a side business refurbishing homes. I usually spoke to Chris a couple times a week when I saw him, usually on the way out after I had finished my workout.

One such evening I was at the front desk talking with Chris and some of the front desk staff. Pigpen was walking by us to leave the gym, as he grasped the handle for the door, one of the staff made a coughing gesture and under his breath said “PIGPEN!”.

Pigpen didn’t ever flinch but I saw his eyes cut to his right, and I knew he definitely heard it, he walked out the door without even a hitch.

As the door shut, the girl at the front desk said to Chris “I don’t understand why you even let him workout here.” Chris looked at her with a glare and said calmly “As long as I am owner he will always be welcome here…do you understand?” she replied sheepishly “yes”. Chris wasn’t finished, and I could tell he was pissed, but he kept his cool and looked at the two of them and said “That guy has been through hell and back, you need to show some ****ing respect. Just because your mommy and daddy pay your bills doesn’t give you the right to judge someone you cannot understand!”. They looked completely astonished, and embarrassed, and they should have been.

I asked Chris what Pigpens deal was. Chris told us that Pigpen had been a successful guy at one time in his life, good career, was a competitive bodybuilder and had pro-potential. So I asked “what happened?” Chris replied “Life.”. As Chris went on to explain he had been raised by his father, he had no other family, his mother had died when he was only a toddler. His father had developed a rare type of cancer, he had spent every penny he could trying to get medical care for his dad and keep him comfortable, in the end his father passed and he lost a good bit of money, his wife left him, and he had to quit competition. He went through a struggle financially after that, and never really recovered, and then about five years ago he was in a car accident and he was nearly killed, he was in a coma for several months. The insurance settlement was enormous enough to help pay for his rehab and get him financially set for life, but not to the point where he was living on the high hog, just enough to live off.

We were all floored, I was speechless, I didn’t even know what to say. Chris looked at me and said “if you ever want to know something about bodybuilding…that’s the guy to ask”.

For several weeks after that, when I saw Pigpen at the gym, I really felt bad, I didn’t even know how to look at him anymore. People still poked fun at him, and it made me upset, but I just kept my head down and trained. Then one day, I was doing chest, and Pigpen was right there doing some seated dumbbell curls, he was only using 30’s, never made sense to me how the guy looked like he was big, overweight, but big shoulders and chest, he must have weight near 280-290.

So I saw Pigpen pull up his long sleeve to scratch his arm, guess the big fella had an itch, but what I saw was one of the biggest ****ing forearms I have ever seen on a man, it was lumped with a system of hose veins. I was simply captivated by it.

So I walked up to Pigpen after his next set and said “Scuse me”. He turned slowly too look at me, almost as if there was something wrong with his neck, I felt nervous so I extended my hand and said “My name is Jay”.

He just looked at me, his face was almost expressionless. Chris had said he had gone through all that hard time, but he didn’t mention if he was still mentally all there.

Then he spoke. A gravely voice said “Craig…my name is Craig”. It was as if, he hadn’t been asked his name in so long that he had almost forgotten what it was-then he shook my hand with the most callous of hand I think I can ever remember shaking, he had a strong grip and his hands were as muscular as his forearm.

I asked him “How did you get your forearms so developed?” Craig told me he went to another gym to train heavy, that it was an old powerlifting gym and most of his forearm development had come from heavy deadlifts, rows, and shrugs. He asked me if I had ever done deadlifts, and I had but not on regularly, he looked at me and said “Gotta do deads kid”.

So you can understand as I was young and impressionable that the next back workout I hit deadlifts right away. I was weak at them, I thought 315 was going to break my back but I hung in there and pushed, or should I say, pulled.

I noticed Craig had been watching me while I was doing them.

After many months of practicing I got very good at them, I was up to 475 on deadlifts and my shoulders and traps were growing and people kept mentioning my forearms. I was so impressed by the results from one simple thing that I went to Craig frequently to get advice to him. His advice was always so simple, seemed like it was always too easy of an answer, but it was always solid advice. People in the gym still treated him like ****, but I was always cool to him, he had helped me out with great advice on many occasions and in the last year and a half I had gotten not only bigger but much stronger too, I was beginning to have the look of an actual bodybuilder. And it was mostly due to the enigmatic man who no one spoke to, except me.

Then one day as I was walking into the gym, Chris got my attention from his office, waiving his hand for me too come over.

So I came in, and Chris informed me that the powerlifting gym Craig went to closed. He asked me if I had spoken to Craig, I said I hadn’t seen him that day. He said “ok” and I went back into the gym to lift. I thought that Craig must be disappointed his other gym would be closed. I looked back to the front and I saw Craig talking with Chris, I couldn’t hear what they were saying but Chris kept nodding his head, they both walked to a locked set of double doors where old broken gym equipment was kept, after about 30 seconds they both came out and Craig had a chrome 50 lb bar for powerlifting. Craig walked up to me and said “Kid, you want to do some deads with me?” I responded “Hell Yeah!”.

We warmed up with 135 each, Craig had the chrome bar and I used a standard gym bar.

I didn’t know how long I would last with deads, the most I had done was 475 and that was one time, hadn’t touched it since, as of late 455 was about as much as I could do.

As we warmed up with 2 plates, I looked at Craig and the weights looked like toys he was picking up, for me they were already feeling somewhat heavier.

As I finished 405 I was feeling good, I had nailed 9 reps, which at the time was a good set for me, Craig was still just warming up.

As I finished 405 I was feeling good, I had nailed 9 reps, which at the time was a good set for me, Craig was still just warming up.

Then Craig looks at me and says “C’mon, I need your help for a minute”. We walk back to the other side of the gym to the double doors, he goes in and I follow, in the storage room was a myriad of old stationary bikes, rusted bars, broken plates, and snapped cables.

[aesthleticz]

I see Craig crouch down and pick up a large object, it looks like a 45 lb plate but it says 100lbs on it, he motions his head down to the place he picked it up and says “Get the other one.” I grab the rusty plate and its thick and heavy, difficult to carry but Ill be damned if I let Craig see me struggle with it, I carry it back to where our bars were and he puts one on each side of his bar.

He squats down in front of the bar, rolls it back and forth in his grip, then with a sudden surge peels the bar from the floor, I can hear the plates rattling and he bangs out 15 reps. I don’t know how much weight he had on the bar, but it had to be in excess of 600 lbs. I cant let him see me not go heavier so I grab a 25 and start to put it on the bar, but before I can bend down to slide it on Craig looks at me and says shaking his head from side to side “Kid” and he’s holding his hand up with 5 fingers showing. I look at him with a doubtful look and say “Five plates? seriously?” he simply nods in affirmation.

So I returned the 25 to the tree and grab a 45lb plate, the whole time thinking ‘no ****ing way!’. So I get ready to do my set, I shake my head with doubt and I hear Craig say ‘Kid, don’t let that bar punk you”. Now, I don’t know what it was about the way he said it but I thought ‘hell no, I’m not going to let this ****er beat me down’ I grabbed the bar, I took a deep breath and cleared my mind, I pulled up and back and the bar came up and slowly ascended, it scraped my shins and I could feel it hit my knee caps but the **** was moving and I thought I might **** my pants. I stood straight up with the bar in hand, and then let the weight down with a crash. I was psyched, 495 was a new personal best, I looked at Craig and he was actually smiling, he nodded and said “very nice”.

Some people had taken notice of what we were doing, the fitness gym crowd wasn’t used to seeing big weights getting lifted like that. I saw Chris walking to us and he had a yellow rubber coated 100 lb powerlifting plate in his hands. He looked at Craig and said “look what I found”. Craig nodded and put the plate on the end of the bar, Chris looked at me and said “Jay there’s another one in my office, can you grab it?”. I nodded and went to his office and grabbed the bulky plate returning to them both and putting it on for Craig.

Chris looked at the bar, then turned to Craig and said “810”. Craig simply nodded. I couldn’t believe my eyes, I had never seen a bar with that much weight on it.

Craig stared at the bar, it was a cold stare, he was breathing deeply, and exhaling slowly, it was like some meditation, he was going somewhere else, somewhere deep in his mind that he had to draw upon for strength.

Onlookers had gathered, there must have been a dozen men and women looking on as Craig squatted down to grab hold of the bar.

I could feel my own heart beating in anticipation, then he methodically exploded up, his face turning a shade of red like I had never seen on him. His neck veins bulged out so far I thought they may burst. It was an awesome spectacle of raw power but the even more impressive feat was that he didn’t do it only one time, no, he repped it six times, with the finally coming with an explosive crash that must have registered on a Richter scale.

Craig remained prone for a moment his breathing more like panting, he slowly recovered and stood nodding his head. The he looked over to me and said “Your turn” pointing to my bar with 495 still loaded. I looked at him in disbelief and said “Again??”, he looked at me blankly and said “No, with more”.

I really didn’t think I could do any better than 495, that was a personal best for gods sake! So I grabbed a 25 lb plate and looked at Craig with my eyebrows raised as if to make sure it was enough weight to satisfy him, he nodded, and I put on two 25 lb plates, one per side.

At this point I was ****ting my pants, no way I could do this, I would try it, but when I failed I would just have to fail.

Craig said something to me that I will never forget, he said to me with a calm like a parent to a child “Kid, that weight isn’t ****, there’s a lot worse things than that” I stood there for a moment contemplating his words, then it hit me. He was right, a weight is a simple small thing, life is an unfair, mother****er and it will beat you down again and again, its unpredictable and unyielding, this bar full of iron is just a thing, its nothing compared to the difficulties of life.

I grabbed the bar, I could feel a lump in my throat, and my adrenaline was pumping hard. I took hold of the weight and tightened my grip and straps around the bar, becoming one with it. The onlookers watched but it was like that moment I was by myself, just me and that bar. Like a jolt of electricity I yanked the bar up, it started to move but stalled on my shins, Craig yelled “UUPPP!!!” I pulled I could feel my heels digging in and my traps stinging, it slowly started to move, centimeter by centimeter I pulled the bar up, it was as if it took 20 minutes and then I had it all the way there. I could see my face was blood red, and my veins in my neck were also pushing out. I dropped the weight and collapsed to my knee with it.

I could hear people talking but my ears were ringing, I recovered and stood up, as I looked around Craig was smiling again and looked at me saying “See?”.

Chris came up and patted me on the back. I was amazed I couldn’t believe I actually did that.

Now Craig got up, he walked over to the tree and grabbed two more 45’s. He slid one on each end of his bar, I looked at him like I was watching a man be led to the gas chamber. Chris looked at Craig calmly saying “900 pounds, just like the old days brother.” Craig grinned and nodded in acknowledgement.

[aesthleticz]

Now there must have been thirty people back there watching, there were odd whispers, people asking others how much it is, and others simply astonished that this silent giant possessed such strength.

Craig kneeled down in front of that bar, it was like someone bowing down to an executioner.

Then he stood up. Was something wrong? He reached down and pulled up the bottom of his sweatshirt and pulled it up and off. What I saw was unbelievable. The man was a mass of slabs of muscle and covered in tattoos. Down the backs of his arms were words. On the right arm it read “I am nothing” and down the left “I feel nothing.” His traps were like two huge camel humps side by side on the back of his neck and he wasn’t ‘fat’ or ‘overweight’ no, he was just ****ing huge. His body was like his hand, lumps of callous muscles from the years of pain and toil in his life and in the gym, it was simply unbelievable.

Craig adjusted his belt, and strapped back onto his bar. It was very quiet, and then I head Chris say “You got this **** Craig!” People started cheering him on, I could hear people saying “C’mon Craig”, “You got it bro!” It was amazing, all the while Craig was breathing very deep, very methodically, rolling the bar back and forth in his hands.

He stared into the mirror, I don’t know what he saw but his nostrils started to flare, and he looked like he was getting pissed, his eyes started to well up, almost like he may cry, and he stared blankly at a spot on the floor just in front of the bar. Wherever he was, he wasn’t with us, I imagine he was in that very dark place that his life had taken him drawing upon a well of emotions full of hate, anguish and pain. It was as if he was channeling all of that into the bar, he was breathing harder, and he hadn’t even lifted the bar yet, he was shaking all over. I looked to his reflection in the mirror and said “this is nothing for you brother” he nodded and then growled “I GOT THIS ****!!”, then it was as if his entire body uncoiled driven by the hydraulics of his emotion, the bar bent, his traps were spotted with purple spots through the hew of red he cried out “FUUUCCKKKK YYOOUU!” and the weight stalled, I thought he may drop it, but his eyes closed and his face winced in anguish and the bar moved upwards, I don’t know it was the sweat from his face but I could have sworn tears came out of his eyes, and bar traveled further up until he had it midriff. He stood there and he opened his eyes back up, they were bloodshot and tear filled and his pupils were so dilated that the blue of his eyes was gone and it was pure black, it reminded me of one of those videos of a great white shark taking a bite.

Then he and the bar dropped. At first I thought he may have passed out but he didn’t, he put his hand up to let us know he was ok. People started to ****ing clap, I looked around at them and couldn’t believe what I was witnessing.

As he kneel down catching his breath, I walked up and crouched next to him, and said “That was the most spectacular thing I have ever seen in my life, nice lift bro.” He was still panting but he nodded, so I know he heard me.

Then one of the gym tards yelled out “DAMN PIGPEN GET OFF THE JUICE DUDE!!!” I swung around, I didn’t even think about what I was doing, some 30 some year old yuppie **** with an underarmour tank top and a ****ed up stick physique. I grabbed him by his arm as he tried to walk away, he swung around looking at me in surprise and I looked him in the eyes and I said “HIS ****ING NAME IS CRAIG…C-R-A-I-G…CAN YOU SPELL *******?!!”.

The idiot looked at me embarrassed and replied in a low tone “I’m sorry man, his name is Craig” then he looked at my hand still grasping into his flesh and I quickly let him go. I turned to look back at Craig and he was sitting on a bench and staring at me, he just looked at me and nodded, I nodded back.

Craig still went to the gym for about another year, I talked to him frequently there about training and bodybuilding, I often reminisced about the day we did deadlifts, at this point I was lifting 585 on deads, and all because of Craig’s tutelage.

After that year Craig disappeared, Chris told me he hadn’t seen him, but heard he moved to another state. Craig and I only spoke at the gym, he had no cell phone, I had never seen his place and I had never even had any clue where he lived.

But though I barely knew the guy, I considered him one of my closest friends.

The years went by and I trained hard entered my first show, even managed to make it to Nationals. I always wondered what happened to Craig, I wanted to talk to my old friend and get his advice like I had when I was just starting out, he always had the simple answers, so many of the training gurus tried to make things complicated, and Craig just had a sentence or two to say and was spot on with his advice.

Then one day after a workout I went home, there was a police car in front of my house. I walked up and there were two officers walking towards me, they asked me if I was Jay, I told them I was, they informed me Craig had passed. I asked how, they told me he died in his sleep. So I asked them why they were telling me this, and the one officer replied that Craig had no known family members still living and that his only will and testament stated that I was his next of kin.

I didn’t know what to say, they told me they were sorry for my loss, but I didn’t even really hear them. They got in their car and pulled away, I stood motionless in my yard, then I snapped out of the shock I was in and went inside, I called Chris to tell him and he was saddened by the news.

I sat down and reflected on my mentor of young, the guy that no one understood, the person who people made fun of and taunted and he had been one of the biggest impacts on my life. He was a man of very few words but his words had such a great impression on me. I felt very saddened like the world had just lost something very good, and didn’t even realize it.

The next day I was in a fog, I really had no clue how to act, my co-workers asked me if everything was ok I told them “My good friend passed away yesterday”.

Later that week as I came to grips with my friends death, I came home from work to find an mail envelope package on my doorstep.

I opened it up and it was a letter and several photos. I read the letter and it was handwritten in pencil on notebook paper.

“Dear Jay,

If you are reading this, I have died. My life was hard, very hard. For a long time I felt empty and the gym was the only thing I had to remind me that I was still alive. The pain of working out and pushing myself reminded me every day that I was still alive. I have been keeping my eye on your competitive career, and have seen some of your shows. I’m proud of you kid.

I always wanted to thank you, but I’m not very good at conversation as you know. I wanted to thank you for the day we did deadlifts. That one day I felt like I was a human being again, I felt the best I have felt in my entire life. You were a great inspiration to me, at a time when I was losing hope.

Thanks for being my friend.

Your good bro.

Craig”

By the time I finished reading the letter I was crying badly, I hadn’t cried in years, but I was weeping like a baby.

I looked at the photos from my shows, they were taken from the audience, Craig had been at my shows, and I hadn’t even known it. I guess he was keeping his eye on me making sure I was progressing not sitting back being lazy…I don’t know why exactly he was there, but he was there, and I’m glad that he got to see that.

Under the photos was a legal document, it was Craig’s will, I read through the legal jargon and towards the end it started to itemize all the belongings that Craig had left behind, and that since I was his only kin that I would be getting these possessions.

He left a sizeable amount of cash, a truck, his house, and his personal belongings in the house, but the last item on the list was the most priceless of all…one chrome fifty pound powerlifting bar.

[Discipline27]

Now there must have been thirty people back there watching, there were odd whispers, people asking others how much it is, and others simply astonished that this silent giant possessed such strength.

Craig kneeled down in front of that bar, it was like someone bowing down to an executioner.

Then he stood up. Was something wrong? He reached down and pulled up the bottom of his sweatshirt and pulled it up and off. What I saw was unbelievable. The man was a mass of slabs of muscle and covered in tattoos. Down the backs of his arms were words. On the right arm it read “I am nothing” and down the left “I feel nothing.” His traps were like two huge camel humps side by side on the back of his neck and he wasn’t ‘fat’ or ‘overweight’ no, he was just ****ing huge. His body was like his hand, lumps of callous muscles from the years of pain and toil in his life and in the gym, it was simply unbelievable.

Craig adjusted his belt, and strapped back onto his bar. It was very quiet, and then I head Chris say “You got this **** Craig!” People started cheering him on, I could hear people saying “C’mon Craig”, “You got it bro!” It was amazing, all the while Craig was breathing very deep, very methodically, rolling the bar back and forth in his hands.

He stared into the mirror, I don’t know what he saw but his nostrils started to flare, and he looked like he was getting pissed, his eyes started to well up, almost like he may cry, and he stared blankly at a spot on the floor just in front of the bar. Wherever he was, he wasn’t with us, I imagine he was in that very dark place that his life had taken him drawing upon a well of emotions full of hate, anguish and pain. It was as if he was channeling all of that into the bar, he was breathing harder, and he hadn’t even lifted the bar yet, he was shaking all over. I looked to his reflection in the mirror and said “this is nothing for you brother” he nodded and then growled “I GOT THIS ****!!”, then it was as if his entire body uncoiled driven by the hydraulics of his emotion, the bar bent, his traps were spotted with purple spots through the hew of red he cried out “FUUUCCKKKK YYOOUU!” and the weight stalled, I thought he may drop it, but his eyes closed and his face winced in anguish and the bar moved upwards, I don’t know it was the sweat from his face but I could have sworn tears came out of his eyes, and bar traveled further up until he had it midriff. He stood there and he opened his eyes back up, they were bloodshot and tear filled and his pupils were so dilated that the blue of his eyes was gone and it was pure black, it reminded me of one of those videos of a great white shark taking a bite.

Then he and the bar dropped. At first I thought he may have passed out but he didn’t, he put his hand up to let us know he was ok. People started to ****ing clap, I looked around at them and couldn’t believe what I was witnessing.

As he kneel down catching his breath, I walked up and crouched next to him, and said “That was the most spectacular thing I have ever seen in my life, nice lift bro.” He was still panting but he nodded, so I know he heard me.

Then one of the gym tards yelled out “DAMN PIGPEN GET OFF THE JUICE DUDE!!!” I swung around, I didn’t even think about what I was doing, some 30 some year old yuppie **** with an underarmour tank top and a ****ed up stick physique. I grabbed him by his arm as he tried to walk away, he swung around looking at me in surprise and I looked him in the eyes and I said “HIS ****ING NAME IS CRAIG…C-R-A-I-G…CAN YOU SPELL *******?!!”.

The idiot looked at me embarrassed and replied in a low tone “I’m sorry man, his name is Craig” then he looked at my hand still grasping into his flesh and I quickly let him go. I turned to look back at Craig and he was sitting on a bench and staring at me, he just looked at me and nodded, I nodded back.

Craig still went to the gym for about another year, I talked to him frequently there about training and bodybuilding, I often reminisced about the day we did deadlifts, at this point I was lifting 585 on deads, and all because of Craig’s tutelage.

After that year Craig disappeared, Chris told me he hadn’t seen him, but heard he moved to another state. Craig and I only spoke at the gym, he had no cell phone, I had never seen his place and I had never even had any clue where he lived.

But though I barely knew the guy, I considered him one of my closest friends.

The years went by and I trained hard entered my first show, even managed to make it to Nationals. I always wondered what happened to Craig, I wanted to talk to my old friend and get his advice like I had when I was just starting out, he always had the simple answers, so many of the training gurus tried to make things complicated, and Craig just had a sentence or two to say and was spot on with his advice.

Then one day after a workout I went home, there was a police car in front of my house. I walked up and there were two officers walking towards me, they asked me if I was Jay, I told them I was, they informed me Craig had passed. I asked how, they told me he died in his sleep. So I asked them why they were telling me this, and the one officer replied that Craig had no known family members still living and that his only will and testament stated that I was his next of kin.

I didn’t know what to say, they told me they were sorry for my loss, but I didn’t even really hear them. They got in their car and pulled away, I stood motionless in my yard, then I snapped out of the shock I was in and went inside, I called Chris to tell him and he was saddened by the news.

I sat down and reflected on my mentor of young, the guy that no one understood, the person who people made fun of and taunted and he had been one of the biggest impacts on my life. He was a man of very few words but his words had such a great impression on me. I felt very saddened like the world had just lost something very good, and didn’t even realize it.

The next day I was in a fog, I really had no clue how to act, my co-workers asked me if everything was ok I told them “My good friend passed away yesterday”.

Later that week as I came to grips with my friends death, I came home from work to find an mail envelope package on my doorstep.

I opened it up and it was a letter and several photos. I read the letter and it was handwritten in pencil on notebook paper.

“Dear Jay,

If you are reading this, I have died. My life was hard, very hard. For a long time I felt empty and the gym was the only thing I had to remind me that I was still alive. The pain of working out and pushing myself reminded me every day that I was still alive. I have been keeping my eye on your competitive career, and have seen some of your shows. I’m proud of you kid.

I always wanted to thank you, but I’m not very good at conversation as you know. I wanted to thank you for the day we did deadlifts. That one day I felt like I was a human being again, I felt the best I have felt in my entire life. You were a great inspiration to me, at a time when I was losing hope.

Thanks for being my friend.

Your good bro.

Craig”

By the time I finished reading the letter I was crying badly, I hadn’t cried in years, but I was weeping like a baby.

I looked at the photos from my shows, they were taken from the audience, Craig had been at my shows, and I hadn’t even known it. I guess he was keeping his eye on me making sure I was progressing not sitting back being lazy…I don’t know why exactly he was there, but he was there, and I’m glad that he got to see that.

Under the photos was a legal document, it was Craig’s will, I read through the legal jargon and towards the end it started to itemize all the belongings that Craig had left behind, and that since I was his only kin that I would be getting these possessions.

He left a sizeable amount of cash, a truck, his house, and his personal belongings in the house, but the last item on the list was the most priceless of all…one chrome fifty pound powerlifting bar.

nice.

[WideFajita]

Maintenant, il doit y avoir une trentaine de personnes de retour là à regarder, il y avait des murmures étranges, des gens qui demandent aux autres combien il est, et d'autres tout simplement étonnés que ce géant silencieux possédait une telle force.

Craig se mit à genoux devant ce bar, c'était comme si quelqu'un se prosterner devant un bourreau.

Puis il se leva. Était quelque chose de mal? Il se pencha et releva le bas de son sweat-shirt et tiré vers le haut et en dehors. Ce que j'ai vu était incroyable. L'homme était une masse de dalles de muscle et couvert de tatouages. Bas le dos de ses bras étaient des mots. Sur le bras droit de le lire "je ne suis rien" en bas à gauche: «Je ne ressens rien." Ses pièges étaient comme deux bosses de chameau côte à côte énorme sur le dos de son cou et il n'était pas «gras» ou «excès de poids» non, il était juste **** tion énorme. Son corps était comme sa main, des morceaux de muscles endurcis des années de douleur et de fatigue dans sa vie et dans le gymnase, il était tout simplement incroyable.

Craig ajusté sa ceinture, et attaché en arrière sur sa barre. Il était très calme, et puis je me dirige Chris dire «Tu as cette Craig ****!" Les gens ont commencé l'encourager, je pouvais entendre les gens dire: «Allez Craig", "You Got It bro!" C'était incroyable , tout en respirant Craig a été très profond, très méthodiquement, en roulant la barre d'avant en arrière dans ses mains.

Il regarda dans le miroir, je ne sais pas ce qu'il a vu, mais ses narines commencé à flamber, et il a regardé comme il se marre, ses yeux ont commencé à sourdre, presque comme il peut pleurer, et il regardait fixement à un endroit sur le plancher juste en avant de la barre. Où qu'il fût, il n'était pas avec nous, je pense qu'il était dans un endroit très sombre que sa vie lui avait fallu se fondant sur un puits d'émotions pleines de haine, d'angoisse et de douleur. C'était comme si il était canaliser tout cela dans le bar, il respirait fort, et il n'avait même pas levé la barre encore, il tremblait de partout. J'ai regardé son reflet dans le miroir et dit: «ce n'est rien pour toi frère» il hocha la tête, puis grogna "I Got This ****!", Puis c'était comme si son corps tout entier déroulé entraîné par l'hydraulique de sa l'émotion, la pente bar, ses pièges ont été repérés avec des taches pourpres à travers le bûcher de rouge, il cria: «FUUUCCKKKK YYOOUU!" et le poids au point mort, j'ai pensé qu'il pourrait le laisser tomber, mais ses yeux fermés et son visage tressaillit dans l'angoisse et la bar déplacé vers le haut, je ne savais pas que c'était la sueur de son visage, mais j'aurais juré les larmes sortirent de ses yeux, et le bar voyagé plus loin jusqu'à ce qu'il l'avait ventre. Il se tenait là, et il ouvrit les yeux en arrière, ils étaient injectés de sang et de larmes rempli et ses pupilles étaient dilatées de sorte que le bleu de ses yeux avait disparu et il était noir pur, il m'a rappelé une de ces vidéos d'un grand requin blanc prendre une bouchée.

Puis il a chuté et le bar. Au début je pensais qu'il aurait perdu connaissance, mais il n'a pas, il a levé la main pour nous faire savoir qu'il allait bien. Les gens ont commencé à applaudir **** ing, j'ai regardé autour d'eux et ne pouvait pas croire ce que j'ai été témoin.

Comme il s'agenouille à reprendre son souffle, je me suis approché et s'accroupit à côté de lui, et dit: «C'est la chose la plus spectaculaire que j'ai jamais vu dans ma vie, mon pote ascenseur agréable." Il haletait encore, mais il hocha la tête, donc je sais il m'a entendu.

Puis l'un des tards gym crié "DAMN porcherie GET OFF THE DUDE JUS!" J'ai balancé autour, je n'ai même pas penser à ce que je faisais, quelque 30 ans, certains yuppie **** avec un réservoir UnderArmour haut et un **** ed up physique bâton. Je l'ai attrapé par le bras alors qu'il tentait de s'éloigner, il se retourna en me regardant avec surprise et je l'ai regardé dans les yeux et j'ai dit: "SON NOM **** ING EST CRAIG CRAIG ... ... Pouvez-vous épeler *** ****!! ".

L'idiot m'a regardé gêné et répondit d'une voix basse: «Je suis l'homme désolé, son nom est Craig", puis il a regardé ma main tenant encore dans sa chair et je me suis vite laissé partir. Je me suis retourné pour regarder en arrière à Craig et il était assis sur un banc et me regarde, il me regarda et hocha la tête, je hochai la tête en arrière.

Craig encore allé à la gym pendant environ un an, je lui ai parlé il ya fréquemment de la formation et de musculation, j'ai souvent évoqua la journée nous avons fait le soulevé, à ce point que je soulevais 585 en morts, et à cause de la tutelle de Craig.

Après cette année Craig disparu, Chris m'a dit qu'il ne l'avait pas vu, mais j'ai entendu il a déménagé dans un autre Etat. Craig et je ne parlais à la salle de gym, il n'avait pas de téléphone portable, je n'avais jamais vu sa place et je n'avais jamais eu la moindre idée où il a vécu.

Mais si je connaissais à peine le gars, je le considérais comme un de mes amis les plus proches.

Les années ont passé et je me suis entraîné dur entré dans mon premier spectacle, a même réussi à le faire aux championnats nationaux. Je m'étais toujours demandé ce qui est arrivé à Craig, je voulais parler à mon vieil ami et d'obtenir ses conseils comme je l'ai eu quand j'ai été à ses débuts, il a toujours eu des réponses simples, tant de gourous de formation essayé de rendre les choses plus compliquées, et Craig juste eu une ou deux phrases à dire et était sur place avec son conseil.

Puis un jour, après une séance d'entraînement je suis rentré, il y avait une voiture de police en face de ma maison. Je me suis approché et il y avait deux officiers marchant vers moi, ils m'ont demandé si j'étais Jay, je leur ai dit que j'étais, ils m'ont informé Craig s'était passé. J'ai demandé comment, ils m'ont dit qu'il est mort dans son sommeil. Alors je leur ai demandé pourquoi ils me disaient cela, et l'officier ne répondit que Craig avait pas de membres de la famille qui vivent encore connus et que sa seule volonté et le testament dit que j'étais son plus proche parent.

Je ne savais pas quoi dire, ils m'ont dit qu'ils étaient désolés pour ma perte, mais je n'ai même pas vraiment les entendre. Ils montent dans leur voiture et se détache, je suis resté immobile dans mon jardin, alors j'ai craqué sur le choc je me trouvais et est allé à l'intérieur, j'ai appelé Chris pour lui dire et il a été attristée par les nouvelles.

Je me suis assis et réfléchi sur mon mentor du jeune, le gars que personne ne comprenait, la personne qui les gens se moquaient de et raillé et il avait été l'un des plus grands impacts sur ma vie. Il était un homme de peu de mots, mais ses paroles avaient une telle impression sur moi. Je me sentais très triste que le monde venait de perdre quelque chose de très bon, et n'a même pas s'en rendre compte.

Le lendemain, j'étais dans un brouillard, je n'avais vraiment aucune idée de comment agir, mes collègues m'ont demandé si tout était ok je leur ai dit «Mon bon ami est décédé hier".

Plus tard dans la semaine, je suis venu à bout de ma mort mes amis, je rentrais du travail, à trouver un paquet enveloppe de courrier à ma porte.

Je l'ai ouvert et c'était une lettre et quelques photos. J'ai lu la lettre et il était écrit à la main au crayon sur du papier bloc-notes.

"Cher Jay,

Si vous lisez ceci, je suis mort. Ma vie était dure, très dure. Pendant longtemps, je me sentais vide et la salle de sport était la seule chose que je devais me rappeler que j'étais encore en vie. La douleur de l'élaboration et de me pousser me rappelle chaque jour que j'étais encore en vie. J'ai gardé mes yeux sur votre carrière en compétition, et j'ai vu certains de vos spectacles. Je suis fier de toi gamin.

J'ai toujours voulu vous remercier, mais je ne suis pas très bon pour la conversation comme vous le savez. Je tenais à vous remercier pour la journée nous avons fait deadlifts. Qu'un jour, je me suis senti comme si j'étais un être humain, encore une fois, je me suis senti meilleur que j'ai ressenti dans ma vie. Vous avez été une grande inspiration pour moi, à un moment où je perdais espoir.

Merci d'être mon ami.

Votre frère bien.

Craig "

Au moment où j'ai fini de lire la lettre que je pleurais mal, je n'avais pas pleuré depuis des années, mais je pleurais comme un bébé.

J'ai regardé les photos de mes spectacles, ils ont été pris dans le public, Craig avait été à mes spectacles, et je n'avais même pas le savoir. Je suppose qu'il gardait ses yeux sur moi en vous assurant que je progresse pas assis paresseux ... Je ne sais pas exactement pourquoi il était là, mais il était là, et je suis heureux qu'il ait pu voir ça.

Sous les photos était un document juridique, c'était la volonté de Craig, j'ai lu à travers le jargon juridique et à la fin il a commencé à répertorier tous les effets que Craig avait laissées derrière lui, et que depuis que je suis son parent que ce que je serais obtenir ces possessions.

Il a laissé une importante quantité d'argent, un camion, sa maison et ses effets personnels dans la maison, mais le dernier élément de la liste est le plus précieux de tous ... un chrome £ 50 powerlifting bar.

[Taktical]

Did not read great wall of chit.

[Frumpy]

I read this before, it was amazing.

[bubbletea9]

Βλέπω Craig σκύψει κάτω και να πάρει ένα μεγάλο αντικείμενο, μοιάζει με μια πλάκα £ 45, αλλά λέει £ 100 σε αυτό, ο ίδιος κινήσεις το κεφάλι του προς τα κάτω στο μέρος που το πήρε και λέει "Αποκτήστε το άλλο." I αρπάξει το σκουριασμένο πλάκα και παχύ και βαρύ, δύσκολο να πραγματοποιηθεί, αλλά άρρωστος να κολασμένων αν άφησα Craig με δει αγωνίζονται με αυτό, εγώ θα φέρει πίσω στο μπαρ, όπου ήταν και μας βάζει ένα σε κάθε πλευρά του μπαρ του.

Ο καταλήψεις κάτω μπροστά από το μπαρ, κυλά εμπρός και πίσω στη λαβή του, στη συνέχεια, με ένα ξαφνικό κύμα ξεφλουδίζει την μπάρα από το πάτωμα, μπορώ να ακούσω το κροτάλισμα πλάκες και αυτός κτυπήματα από 15 επαναλήψεις. Δεν ξέρω πόσο βάρος είχε στη γραμμή, αλλά θα έπρεπε να είναι άνω των £ 600. Λοξοτομώ ας δούμε μου δεν πάω βαρύτερο γι 'αυτό πιάσε ένα 25 και να αρχίσει να το βάλετε στο μπαρ, αλλά πριν μπορώ να λυγίσει κάτω για να σύρετε για Craig κοιτάζει και μου λέει κουνώντας το κεφάλι του από τη μία πλευρά στην άλλη "Παιδί" και που κρατά το χέρι του με 5 δάχτυλα που δείχνουν. Τον κοιτάζω με ένα αμφίβολο ματιά και πείτε "Πέντε πιάτα; σοβαρά; "που κουνά απλά στην επιβεβαίωση.

Γι 'αυτό και επέστρεψε το 25 έως το δέντρο και να αρπάξει ένα πιάτο £ 45, όλη την ώρα σκέφτεται «δεν **** σης τρόπο!». Γι 'αυτό ετοιμαστείτε να κάνετε σετ μου, κουνάω το κεφάλι μου με αμφιβολίες και ακούω Kid Craig λόγο », δεν σας επιτρέπουν να το punk bar". Τώρα, δεν ξέρω τι ήταν για τον τρόπο που το είπε, αλλά σκέφτηκα «κόλαση όχι, δεν είμαι πρόκειται να επιτρέψτε μου να νικήσει αυτό το **** er κάτω» μου άρπαξε το μπαρ, πήρα μια βαθιά ανάσα εκκαθαριστεί και το μυαλό μου, τράβηξα πάνω και πίσω και το μπαρ ήρθε και σιγά-σιγά ανέβηκε, θα ξύνεται κνήμες μου και θα μπορούσα να αισθανθώ χτύπησε καλύμματα γόνατο μου, αλλά το **** κινούταν και σκέφτηκα ότι θα μπορούσε **** μου παντελόνι. Στάθηκα ευθεία με τη γραμμή στο χέρι, και στη συνέχεια αφήστε το βάρος προς τα κάτω με μια συντριβή. Ήμουν έτοιμος, 495 ήταν ένα νέο προσωπικό ρεκόρ, κοίταξα Craig και ήταν πραγματικά χαμογελώντας, κούνησε και είπε "πολύ ωραία".

Μερικοί άνθρωποι είχαν λάβει ειδοποίηση από ό, τι κάναμε, το πλήθος γυμναστήριο δεν συνηθίσει να βλέπουμε μεγάλα βάρη, να πάρει αρθεί έτσι. Είδα Chris πόδια μας και είχε ένα κίτρινο καουτσούκ με επικάλυψη £ 100 powerlifting πλάκα στα χέρια του. Κοίταξε Craig και είπε "κοίτα τι βρήκα". Craig κούνησε το κεφάλι και να θέσει το πιάτο στο τέλος της γραμμής, Chris με κοίταξε και είπε: "Jay είναι εκεί ένα άλλο στο γραφείο μου, μπορείτε να το πάρετε;". Κούνησα και πήγε στο γραφείο του και άρπαξε την ογκώδη πλάκα επέστρεφε σε αυτούς τους δύο και τη θέση της για την Craig.

Chris κοίταξε στο μπαρ, στη συνέχεια, στράφηκε προς Craig και είπε "810". Craig απλά κούνησε το κεφάλι. Δεν μπορούσα να πιστέψω στα μάτια μου, ποτέ δεν είχα δει ένα μπαρ με το πολύ βάρος σε αυτό.

Craig κοίταξε το μπαρ, ήταν ένα κρύο βλέμμα, ήταν βαθιά αναπνοή, και να εκπνέετε αργά, ήταν σαν κάποιο διαλογισμό, πήγαινε κάπου αλλού, κάπου βαθιά στο μυαλό του ότι έπρεπε να βασιστεί για τη δύναμη.

Θεατές είχαν συγκεντρωθεί, πρέπει να υπήρχε μια ντουζίνα άντρες και γυναίκες που αναζητούν την κατάληψη Craig ως κάτω για να αρπάξει τη λαβή του μπαρ.

Θα μπορούσα να αισθανθώ την καρδιά μου χτυπάει σε αναμονή, τότε μεθοδικά εξερράγη επάνω, μετατρέποντας το πρόσωπό του μια απόχρωση του κόκκινου, όπως ποτέ δεν είχα δει σε αυτόν. Φλέβες του λαιμού του διόγκωσαν έχουν πραγματοποιηθεί μέχρι σήμερα νόμιζα ότι μπορεί να σκάσει. Ήταν ένα φοβερό θέαμα των πρώτων δύναμη, αλλά το ακόμα πιο εντυπωσιακό κατόρθωμα ήταν ότι δεν είχε κάνει μόνο μία φορά, όχι, αυτός repped είναι έξι φορές, με το τέλος έρχεται με ένα εκρηκτικό συντριβή που πρέπει να έχουν καταχωρηθεί σε μια κλίμακα Ρίχτερ .

Craig παρέμεινε επιρρεπής για μια στιγμή την αναπνοή του περισσότερο σαν λαχάνιασμα, σιγά-σιγά και σταθεροποιήθηκαν κουνώντας το κεφάλι του. Το κοίταξε προς το μέρος μου και είπε: «Τώρα η σειρά σου" δείχνοντας μου μπαρ με 495 εξακολουθούν να φορτωθεί. Τον κοίταξα με δυσπιστία και είπε: "Πάλι;", με κοίταξε και είπε εν λευκώ "Όχι, με περισσότερα".

Ειλικρινά δεν πίστευα ότι θα μπορούσα να κάνω κάτι καλύτερο από 495, που ήταν μια προσωπική καλύτερο για θεούς χάρη! Γι 'αυτό και άρπαξε ένα 25 lb πλάκα και κοίταξε Craig με τα φρύδια μου έθεσε σαν να βεβαιωθείτε ότι ήταν αρκετό βάρος για να τον ικανοποιήσει, έγνεψε, και έβαλα σε δύο πλάκες 25 λιβρών, ένα για κάθε πλευρά.

Σε αυτό το σημείο ήμουν **** ting παντελόνι μου, δεν υπάρχει τρόπος θα μπορούσα να κάνω αυτό, θα ήθελα να το δοκιμάσω, αλλά όταν απέτυχε θα ήθελα απλώς να αποτύχει.

Craig είπε κάτι για μένα ότι δεν θα ξεχάσω ποτέ, μου είπε με ήρεμη σαν ένα γονέα σε παιδί "Kid, ότι το βάρος δεν είναι ****, υπάρχει ένα πολύ χειρότερα πράγματα από ότι" Στάθηκα εκεί για ένα στιγμή το ενδεχόμενο τα λόγια του, τότε με χτύπησε. Είχε δίκιο, το βάρος είναι ένα απλό, μικρό πράγμα, η ζωή είναι άδικη, μητέρα **** er και θα σας κτυπήσει κάτω ξανά και ξανά, απρόβλεπτη και ανένδοτο, το μπαρ γεμάτο σιδήρου είναι μόνο ένα πράγμα, τίποτα δεν του σε σύγκριση με τις δυσκολίες της ζωής.

Αρπαξα το μπαρ, θα μπορούσα να αισθανθώ ένα κόμπο στο λαιμό μου, και η αδρεναλίνη μου την άντληση σκληρά. Πήρα αναμονή του βάρους και αυστηρότεροι λαβή μου και ιμάντες γύρω από το μπαρ, να γίνει ένα με αυτό. Οι θεατές παρακολουθούσαν, αλλά ήταν σαν εκείνη τη στιγμή ήμουν μόνος μου, μόνο εγώ και η γραμμή. Όπως ένα τράνταγμα της ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας που yanked την μπάρα επάνω, άρχισε να κινείται, αλλά στασιμότητα στις κνήμες μου, Craig φώναξε "UUPPP!" Τράβηξα εγώ μπορούσα να αισθανθώ τα τακούνια μου σκάβουν σε παγίδες και τσούξιμο μου, σιγά-σιγά άρχισε να κινείται, εκατοστών εκατοστά από το τράβηξα το μπαρ μέχρι, ήταν σαν να πήρε 20 λεπτά και στη συνέχεια είχα σε όλη τη διαδρομή εκεί. Θα μπορούσα να δω το πρόσωπό μου ήταν κόκκινο αίμα, και τις φλέβες μου στο λαιμό μου ήταν, επίσης, να παραγκωνίζονται. Μου έπεσε το βάρος και κατέρρευσε στο γόνατο μου με αυτό.

Άκουγα ανθρώπους να μιλούν, αλλά τα αυτιά μου χτυπούσαν, θα ανακτηθεί και σηκώθηκε, καθώς κοίταξα γύρω Craig χαμογελούσε πάλι και κοίταξε λέγοντας «Βλέπεις;».

Κρις ήρθε και χάιδεψε μου στο πίσω μέρος. Έμεινα εγώ δεν μπορούσα να πιστέψω το έκανα πραγματικά αυτό.

Τώρα Craig σηκώθηκε, περπάτησε πάνω στο δέντρο και άρπαξε δύο 45 του. Γλίστρησε ένα σε κάθε άκρο της ράβδου του, τον κοίταξα σαν έβλεπα έναν άνθρωπο να οδηγηθεί στο θάλαμο αερίων. Chris κοίταξε ήρεμα Craig λέει "900 λίρες, σαν το παλιό καλό αδελφό ημέρες." Craig χαμογέλασε και κούνησε το κεφάλι στην αναγνώριση.

[sk1nnyboy]

Он је био миран момак. Тип момка да осликава један дан снимања пиштољ и иде на снимања дивљање. Он никада није говорио, само је дошао у теретану у свом досадна, прљавом руху и тихо укинута. Из онога што сам видео је био четрдесет нешто година момак, који је био вишак килограма и испало нешто да остану у форми. Иако никада није сметало никоме сам приметио да је опушак од многих увреда и шале у теретани, већина чланова су му "свињцу" је назив јер нико није знао његово право име, а он никада није разговарао са члановима теретана.

Он је једноставно енигма у теретани.

Био сам млад, био је подизање око 4 године или тако, мислио сам да знам све, мислио стероиди су били зло, али сам био одушевљен и обучени теже него просечан теретани пешак. Наша теретана, иако добро опремљене, био је у срцу фитнес клуб. Већина су чланови били више забринути са својом косом, и одеће, који координира за теретану друштвеној сцени. Свињац једноставно испружио као бол палца, мислио сам много пута да он може да зна ствари људи рекли о њему, било је очигледно да ми тако да сам схватио да мора подићи на њега. Чланови су били окрутни, кикотање овде, уштинуо нос, све у шали од тихог момка у његовом једнолично, широких одећу. Нисам га види као смешно, више као несигурна малтретирања, али једноставно је игнорисала свињцу и наставио.

Власник је био мој пријатељ по имену Крис. Он и ја смо заједно радили у другој сали, он је био конкурентан бодибилдер, али је у међувремену отишао у теретану пословања и имао споредне пословне реновирање куће. Ја обично говорио Криса пар пута недељно, када сам га видела, обично на излазу након што сам завршио свој тренинг.

Један такав вечери сам био на рецепцији говори са Цхрисом и неким рецепцији особља. Свињац ишла од нас да напусте салу, јер је схватио ручку за врата, један од запослених направио гест кашљања и под његовом даху рекао "свињцу!".

Свињац није никад устукнути, али сам видео његове очи исећи на његове десне стране, а ја сам знао да дефинитивно чуо, он је изашао на врата чак и без проблема.

Као врата затворена, девојка на рецепцији рекао Криса "Ја не разумем зашто сте још нека вежба овде." Крис погледао у њу са сјајем и рекао мирно: "Док год сам ја власник ће увек бити добродошао овде ... да ли разумеш? "она Снебивљиво одговорила" да ". Крис није завршен, а ја могу да кажем да је љут, али је задржао његов хладан и погледао на њих двојице и рекао: "Тај момак је прошао кроз пакао и назад, треба да покаже неке **** инг поштовање. Само зато што ваша мама и тата плаћају своје рачуне вам не даје за право да судим некога не разуме ". Изгледали су потпуно запањен, и непријатно, и они би требало да буде.

Питао сам Цхриса шта Пигпенс договор. Крис нам је рекао да свињцу био успешан човек у једном тренутку у свом животу, добра каријера била конкурентна бодибилдер и имао про-потенцијал. Па сам питао "шта се догодило?" Крис одговорио "Лифе".. Као Крис је објаснио да је било покренуто од стране његовог оца, он је имао другу породицу, његова мајка је умрла када је он био само дете. Његов отац је развио ретку врсту рака, он је провео сваки пени могао покушава да добије медицинску негу оцем и задржати га удобно, на крају његов отац прошао и изгубио добар мало новца, његова супруга га је напустила, и он је морао да напусти такмичење. Он је прошао кроз борбу финансијски после тога, и никада није опоравио, а пре него о пет година био је у саобраћајној несрећи, а он је скоро убијен, био је у коми неколико месеци. Осигурање насеље је било огромно довољно да помогне плати за своју рехабилитацију и добити га финансијски постављен за живот, али не и до тачке где је живео на високој свиња, само довољно да живе.

Сви смо били потпуно збуњена, ја сам без текста, нисам ни знао шта да кажем. Крис ме је погледао и рекао "ако сте икада желели да знате нешто о бодибилдингу ... то је момак да питате".

За неколико недеља после тога, када сам видела свињцу у теретани, ја сам стварно осећао лоше, нисам ни знао како да га погледам више. Људи још увек покед забава на њега, и он ме је узнемирен, али сам задржао своју главу и обучени. Онда једног дана, сам радио груди, и свињац је био у праву тамо неке Сеатед Думббелл локне, само је користио 30-их, никада није имао смисла за мене како човек изгледа као да је велика, гојазност, али је велики рамена и груди, он мора имају тежину близу 280-290.

Видела сам свињцу повући своју дугу рукав огребете руку, претпостављам велики момак имао свраб, али оно што сам видео је био један од највећих **** инг подлактицама сам икада видео на човека, она је несрећно стављене у систем црева венама. Је једноставно сам очаран њоме.

Тако сам дошао до свињцу након његовог следећег сета и рекао "Опростите". Окренуо се полако превише гледати у мене, као да нешто није у реду са његовом врату, осетила сам нервозна, па сам пружио руку и рекао: "Моје име је Јаи".

Он је само гледао у мене, лице му је било готово безизражајно. Крис је рекао да је прошао кроз све то тешко време, али није поменуо да је он још увек био ментално све што постоји.

Затим је говорио. Озбиљно глас је рекао: "Крејг ... моје име је Крег". То је било као да он није био питао његово име толико дуго да је он готово је заборавио шта је-онда је протресао руку са највише безосећајно руке мислим да сам икада могу да се сетим тресе, он је имао јак стисак и његове руке су биле мишићаве као његов подлактице.

Ја сам га питао: "Како си се ваши подлактице тако развијен?" Крег ми је рекао да је отишао у другу теретану да тренира тешка, да је стари Поверлифтинг теретана и већина његове подлактице развоја дошла од тешких деадлифтс, редова и слеже раменима. Он ме је питао да ли сам икада урадио деадлифтс, а ја сам имао, али не редовно, он ме је погледао и рекао: "Морам чинити деадс дете".

Тако да могу да разумем јер сам била млада и упечатљив да следећи тренинг леђа ударио деадлифтс одмах. Био сам слаб на њих, мислио сам да 315 пробије леђа, али сам висио тамо и гурају, или да кажем, извукао.

Приметио сам Крејг су ме гледао док сам их радио.

После много месеци сам добио вежбање веома добро на њих, био сам до 475 на деадлифтс и рамена и замке су расли и људи стално помињу моје подлактице. Толико сам био импресиониран резултатима из једног простог ствар коју сам отишао у Крејг често да добију савете за њега. Његов савет је увек тако једноставно, изгледало је као да је увек била сувише лако за одговор, али је увек био солидан савет. Људи у теретани га још увек третира као ****, али сам увек био кул са њим, он ме је помогао са великом савете о многим приликама, а последњих годину и по дана сам стечен не само већи, али много јачи превише , почео сам да има изглед стварног бодибилдера. И то углавном било због загонетног човека који нико говорио да, осим мене.

Онда једног дана док сам шетао у теретани, Крис је добио моју пажњу од његовог кабинета, одричући му руку и ја дођем.

Тако сам дошао, и Крис ме је обавестио да Поверлифтинг теретана Крег отишао затворен. Он ме је питао да ли сам разговарао са Крег, ја сам рекао да нисам видио тог дана. Он је рекао "ок", а вратио сам се у теретани да подигне. Мислио сам да је Крејг мора бити разочаран његова друга теретана ће бити затворен. Ја Осврнуо се на фронту и видео сам Крег разговор са Цхрисом, нисам могао да чујем шта су говорили, али Крис задржао климање главом, обојица ишли на закључаној сет дуплих врата, где је задржан стари сломљена теретана опрема, после око 30 секунди обојица изашли и Крег је имао хромирану 50 лб траку за поверлифтинг. Крејг дошао до мене и рекао да сам одговорила "Хелл Иеах!" "Дечко, желите да урадите неке деадс са мном?".

Ми загрејали са 135 сваки, Крејг имао хромирану траку и ја користио стандардну теретану бар.

Нисам знао колико сам дуго ће трајати са деадс, највише сам урадио био је 475, а то је било једно време, није га дотакао, јер, од краја била око 455 колико сам могао.

[OCaml]

I want to believe.

[TehHoneyBadger]

manly tears have been shed

gotta get back to doing them deadlifts now

[scarboro]

I can confirm, I was the 100lb plate.

[aesthleticz]

Did not read great wall of chit.

Come on give it a chance, at least bookmark it for later.

I want to believe.

Pretty sure it's fiction but an awesome story anyways.

[Negbro]

Good **** bro, shed a tear.

[Indivdude]

Goddamn. This is real? I gotta admit.. good read.

[aesthleticz]

manly tears have been shed

gotta get back to doing them deadlifts now

Good **** bro, shed a tear.

Same here brethren
[QUOTE=Indivdude;983291013]Goddamn. This is real? I gotta admit.. good read.[/QUOTE
I'm not entirely sure man.

[COBBER]

That honestly is the best piece of writing I have ever read, reps for life srs

HIS NAME WAS CRAIG

[SethBJJ]

pretty sure this has been posted over 9000 times but its a good story

[Dr_Dolan]

Seen this before; it is awesome.

[bubbletea9]

actually just read this and it was awesome

[aesthleticz]

That honestly is the best piece of writing I have ever read, reps for life srs

HIS NAME WAS CRAIG

Thanks bro, read it a week ago and I think of it every time I think of lifting now.

[brianr76]

Fuuuuarrrrrrk........ A tear was shed on this night..... I would rep if I was green.

[RealAesthetic]

did a bell-air check, no sign..

[Skinnygeorge]

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire or its prototypical states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by various warlike peoples or forces. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC;[3] these, later joined together and made bigger, stronger, and unified are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall.[4] Especially famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; the majority of the existing wall was reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty.
Other purposes of the Great Wall have included border controls, allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road, regulation or encouragement of trade and the control of immigration and emigration. Furthermore, the defensive characteristics of the Great Wall were enhanced by the construction of watch towers, troop barracks, garrison stations, signaling capabilities through the means of smoke or fire, and the fact that the path of the Great Wall also served as a transportation corridor.
The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. A comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the Ming walls measure 8,850 km (5,500 mi).[5] This is made up of 6,259 km (3,889 mi) sections of actual wall, 359 km (223 mi) of trenches and 2,232 km (1,387 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.[5] Another archaeological survey found that the entire wall with all of its branches measure out to be 21,196 km (13,171 mi).[6]
Early Western reports of the wall
The North African traveler Ibn Battuta, who was in Guangzhou ca. 1346, inquired among the local Muslims about the wall that, according to the Qur'an, Dhul-Qarnayn had built to contain Gog and Magog. Ibn Battuta reported that the wall was "sixty days' travel" from the city of Zeitun (Quanzhou);[23] Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen Gibb noted Ibn Battuta has confused the Great Wall of China with that built by Dhul-Qarnayn.[23] This indicated that Arabs may have heard about China's Great Wall during earlier periods of China's history, and associated it with the Gog and Magog wall of the Qur'an.[16] But, in any event, no one of Ibn Battuta's Guangzhou interlocutors had seen the wall or knew anyone who had seen it, which implies that by the late Yuan the existence of the Great Wall was not in the people's living memory, at least not in the Muslim communities in Guangzhou.[16]
Soon after Europeans reached the Ming China in the early 16th century, accounts of the Great Wall started to circulate in Europe, even though no European was to see it with his own eyes for another century. Possibly one of the earliest descriptions of the wall, and its significance for the defense of the country against the "Tartars" (i.e. Mongols), may be the one contained in the Third Década of João de Barros' Asia (published 1563).[24] Interestingly, Barros himself did not travel to Asia, but was able to use Chinese books brought to Lisbon by Portuguese traders.[25] Other early accounts in Western sources include those of Gaspar da Cruz, Bento de Goes, Matteo Ricci, and Bishop Juan González de Mendoza.[26] In 1559, in his work "A Treatise of China and the Adjoyning Regions," Gaspar da Cruz offers an early discussion of the Great Wall in which he notes, “a Wall of an hundred leagues in length. And some will affirme to bee more than a hundred leagues.”[26] Another early account written by Bishop Juan González de Mendoza (translated into English in 1588) reported a wall five hundred leagues long, but suggested that only one hundred leagues were manmade with the rest natural rock formations.[26] In another early Western account, Louis J. Gallagher’s translations (published in 1953) of the journals of the famous Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) show that Ricci mentioned the Great Wall once in his diary, noting the existence of “a tremendous wall four hundred and five miles long” that formed part of the northern defenses of the Ming Empire.[26] In yet another case, Ivan Petlin’s 1619 deposition for his Russian embassy mission offers an early account based on a firsthand encounter with the Great Wall, and mentions that in the course of his journey his embassy travelled alongside the Great Wall for ten days.[26] One of the earliest records of a Western traveler entering China via a Great Wall pass (Jiayuguan, in this case) may be that of the Portuguese Jesuit brother Bento de Góis, who had reached China's north-western gate from India in 1605.[27]
Visibility from the moon
One of the earliest known references to this myth appears in a letter written in 1754 by the English antiquary William Stukeley. Stukeley wrote that, "This mighty wall of four score miles in length (Hadrian's Wall) is only exceeded by the Chinese Wall, which makes a considerable figure upon the terrestrial globe, and may be discerned at the moon."[33] The claim was also mentioned by Henry Norman in 1895 where he states "besides its age it enjoys the reputation of being the only work of human hands on the globe visible from the moon."[34] The issue of "canals" on Mars was prominent in the late 19th century and may have led to the belief that long, thin objects were visible from space.[35] The claim that the Great Wall is visible also appears in 1932's Ripley's Believe it or Not strip[36] and in Richard Halliburton's 1938 book Second Book of Marvels.
The claim the Great Wall is visible has been debunked many times,[37] but is still ingrained in popular culture.[38] The wall is a maximum 9.1 m (30 ft) wide, and is about the same color as the soil surrounding it. Based on the optics of resolving power (distance versus the width of the iris: a few millimeters for the human eye, meters for large telescopes) only an object of reasonable contrast to its surroundings which is 70 mi (110 km) or more in diameter (1 arc-minute) would be visible to the unaided eye from the moon, whose average distance from Earth is 384,393 km (238,851 mi). The apparent width of the Great Wall from the moon is the same as that of a human hair viewed from 2 miles (3.2 km) away. To see the wall from the moon would require spatial resolution 17,000 times better than normal (20/20) vision.[39] Unsurprisingly, no lunar astronaut has ever claimed to have seen the Great Wall from the moon.
Visibility from low earth orbit
A more controversial question is whether the Wall is visible from low earth orbit (an altitude of as little as 100 miles (160 km)). NASA claims that it is barely visible, and only under nearly perfect conditions; it is no more conspicuous than many other man-made objects.[40] Other authors have argued that due to limitations of the optics of the eye and the spacing of photoreceptors on the retina, it is impossible to see the wall with the naked eye, even from low orbit, and would require visual acuity of 20/3 (7.7 times better than normal).[39]
Astronaut William Pogue thought he had seen it from Skylab but discovered he was actually looking at the Grand Canal of China near Beijing. He spotted the Great Wall with binoculars, but said that "it wasn't visible to the unaided eye." U.S. Senator Jake Garn claimed to be able to see the Great Wall with the naked eye from a space shuttle orbit in the early 1980s, but his claim has been disputed by several U.S. astronauts. Veteran U.S. astronaut Gene Cernan has stated: "At Earth orbit of 100 miles (160 km) to 200 miles (320 km) high, the Great Wall of China is, indeed, visible to the naked eye." Ed Lu, Expedition 7 Science Officer aboard the International Space Station, adds that, "it's less visible than a lot of other objects. And you have to know where to look."
In 2001, Neil Armstrong stated about the view from Apollo 11: "I do not believe that, at least with my eyes, there would be any man-made object that I could see. I have not yet found somebody who has told me they've seen the Wall of China from Earth orbit. ...I've asked various people, particularly Shuttle guys, that have been many orbits around China in the daytime, and the ones I've talked to didn't see it."[41]
In October 2003, Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei stated that he had not been able to see the Great Wall of China. In response, the European Space Agency (ESA) issued a press release reporting that from an orbit between 160 and 320 km, the Great Wall is visible to the naked eye. In an attempt to further clarify things, the ESA published a picture of a part of the “Great Wall” photographed from Space. However, in a press release a week later (no longer available in the ESA’s website), they acknowledged that the "Great Wall" in the picture was actually a river.[39]
Leroy Chiao, a Chinese-American astronaut, took a photograph from the International Space Station that shows the wall. It was so indistinct that the photographer was not certain he had actually captured it. Based on the photograph, the China Daily later reported that the Great Wall can be seen from space with the naked eye, under favorable viewing conditions, if one knows exactly where to look.[42] However, the resolution of a camera can be much higher than the human visual system, and the optics much better, rendering photographic evidence irrelevant to the issue of whether it is visible to the naked eye.[39]

[Weader]

That was amazing.

Also I'm so tempted to neg the ******* who quoted it...

[slicksnaps]

When I picture Craig, I see Andy Bolton. What a great read.

[Deezenutz]

Good story was good. Got choked up towards the end (srs)

Brb doing deadlifts every back day now.

[Skythes]

**Craig Crew** checking in

[hardgainersrs]

Epic story would read again to grandchildren (srs)

[Maestro]