When I first started training, I didn't really know what bodybuilding was. One fatefull day, about a year after I picked up my first weight, I walked into a CVS pharmacy and saw a Muscle and Fitness magazine!
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| This is the actual magazine i bought 20 years ago! |
I opened it, and looking back at me was a bodybuilder from Germany named Achim Albrecht. At 300 lbs, lean, he was lifting insane amounts of weight. I couldn't believe this was a human! I flipped through a couple pages, and it only took about five seconds for me to buy it. There was no Internet back then, so the info you got was from books or from the big meathead at the gym. Well, I was training in my basement so the only meathead was me!
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| These are the actual photos of Achim Albrecht from the magazine. |
This is a profile from American Muscle on Achim.
I looked through the routines and tried some of them. All I wanted was to be like Achim! HUUUUUGE and strong as some kind of mutant from the comic books!
Becoming a Bodybuilder
When my older cousin Marty found out I was reading the magazine, he gave me some of his old Muscle and Fitness magazines. I opened those, and studied the routines and the poses the guys were doing. It wasn't long until I started cutting up my sweatshirts, musclehead style. At that time, I had long hair, halfway down my back. Well, none of the big dawgs in the magazines had long hair, so I took the magazine to the barber, showed him Achim, and said "I want my hair like this!"
That summer, there were a lot of big changes for me. I cut my hair, gained a little muscle, and went back to playing sports. I remember the look on Coach Delsanto's face and everyone else's on the team the day I showed up with the cut-off t-shirt and my new hair. All eyes were on me. I was nervous, and had to put up with the minor ball-busting that comes with team sports, but everyone accepted it and I was a whole new person. One with a goal. One with a purpose.
I want to be a bodybuilder. Come hell or high water, with God as my witness, one day I will be one of those guys in the magazines!
Fast forward to now ... look who kicked, clawed, and scratched his way through and accomplished his goal!
Great bio in this piece Jerry. I used to be a big fan of that ESPN show that used to profile bodybuilders. Wondered why they always used that dude for narration though.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to being an accomplished bodybuilder, it's certainly worth mentioning that you've become the Achim for others. For one of the best years of my life, you encouraged me to reach and strive for all I can, guiding me through the ins and outs of bodybuilding and giving me many of the tools I'd need to "kick, claw, and scratch" my way to my own goals. Keep doing what you're doing Jerry, you're one of a kind! And I'm sure Achim would be proud to know you've paid his inspiration forward.
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