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I still remember that moment as if it was 3 minutes ago. I was walking down the hill, next to what was known as the most hard core gym in the country. I heard the music blasting from outside the gym walls. The music and the vibe was literally bleeding through the walls and as I walked down the hill, heard the music, felt the energy…. I forgot that my back was feeling strange.

I opened the door and the loud music, sweat and stench in the air hit my face like a ton of bricks. A good ton of bricks, though, the kind of bricks man wishes he could be hit with. I saw men train balls to the wall everywhere my eyes turned.

I heard weights clanking and loud weights being slammed to the floor. It was “Go Time’� and I saw no other way then to go to war…. it was leg day. I put my jacket away and made my way to the stationary bike to warm up, right by the gym counter. The music was so loud my ears were ringing but I also had goosebumps because I was feeling super human at the moment, I kid you not. I felt like a machine.

One of the big guys walked by me when I was 3 minutes into riding my bike and said, “Yo, Zach, whatchu trainin’ today?’� I answered him with thunder in my voice….. “I’m training legs today and if you wanna train with me you better come correct because I’m CRAZY today!’�

He didn’t train with me. I think I scared him off. When the clock hit 5 minutes I began my warm up before attacking the squat rack. I squatted 455 for 6 reps that day. My adrenaline was so high my back musta been communicating with my brain to let me finish this workout.

The workout continued, set after blistering set. Everything around me was a blur, except for the weights that I had in my hands or on my back. I finished with stiff leg deadlifts at 385 lbs for 5 reps.

The workout had finished and I felt I’d had the best damn workout of my life. I walked outside, up the hill, in the cold air. Steam rose from my face in the cold winter night and I hopped in my truck and made the 25 minute trek home.

An hour later I was getting things ready for work the next day. I always ironed my clothes and packed my lunch the day before. I dropped the hanger from my shirt and bent over to pick it up. When I bent over I felt as if I had just been struck by lightening in my lower back.

I was frozen, literally…… I walked backwards while hunched over and felt onto my bed and didn’t move out of my bed till 1 pm the next day.

That was the first time I injured my back…. but not the last. As the years went on, every year out of the blue that back spasm would come back. Not a big deal though, I rested a few weeks and came back slowly. I was young, lived at home with Mom and Dad and life was EASY.

Year after year, the injury happened again…. and again…. and again. But the pain never resonated with me until I was a Dad.

This time, it WAS a BIG deal. You see, I was a Dad, and this back injury was not something I could shake off and rest. I was in excruciating pain while giving my 3 month old daughter a bath. My back was feeling as though it was on fire the entire time I gave her a bath.

I was sweating from the pain. When I finished giving her a bath, I could barely stand up. I mustered all the energy I could and forced my mind to think about Navy SEALs and the pain they could go through yet still be unstoppable. I was pathetic. I felt pathetic. I planted my hands on the bath tub and grinded my way to my knees. From there, I lifted my baby girl up, all 16 lbs of her.

I’ve deadlifted over 500 lbs and squatted 455 for reps. 16 lbs felt like I was lifting the world. Maybe I was….. my daughter IS my world.

My back was screwed up for what seemed to go on forever, in reality, it was 12 months of pain. I called ALL the experts in the strength & conditioning field and asked about recovery, stretches, back rehab, etc.

I was embarrassed and also angry, not just at my self, but at lifting weights in general. As the years went on, every few months, boom, same damn injury. But the injuries didn’t end with back pain, instead, I started getting other injuries. Shoulder injuries, severe knee pain, strange and painful chest pain and pains in areas I never experienced before.

I remember being in Boston on a business trip. Every morning I woke up, dropped and cranked 50 push ups and 50 squats to get my day going. My chest and shoulders felt tight…. abnormally tight. I thought it was the morning tightness one feels after laying in bed for the night. Not so.

A week later I was cranking a simple workout at my gym. The push ups were feeling painful…… a pain I had NEVER experienced before. By the time I got to 23 push ups I was in agonizing pain and had to stop my workout.

I was Ticked OFF! I said “Screw this….. This SUCKS!’� I quit my workout. I NEVER quit my workouts. This was getting OLD. I was depressed BIG time and kept it bottled inside…..

I tried to train around these injuries. But the injuries kept messing with me physically AND mentally. My metabolism was slowing down and my stress was on the rise… Read more…