by Spencer DeVeau

The gym, or “my second home,” as 19 year old John Selzer called it with an exasperated grunt, reeked of sweat and iron. John had a tired but intense look on his face as he wiped the sweat off of his brow. “Finally wanted to see how the real men lift weights?” he asked, as I sat down to wait for him to finish his next set of flat dumbbell press. The sound of grunting echoed in the weight room of the Tallmadge Recreation Center, while John, looking quite mighty, easily repped out 80 Ib. dumbbells, then threw them on the floor with a loud “clank!” Looking at John, it is fairly easy to tell he spends a good amount of time in this bleak, cold room full of benches, free weights, and exercise machines. To be honest, I was curious to find out how the real men lift weights, and all about John’s lifting lifestyle.

John began lifting weights almost a year ago when one of his friends persuaded him into going to the gym. “I thought that I would try it out and I ended up really liking it.” Once he started seeing results he couldn’t stop going. “I got what you call “Noob Gains” because anybody who has never lifted before in their life that lifts for a couple months will start to see some muscular gains.” As John makes his way to the cafeteria area of the Tallmadge Recreation Center, he begins to tell me about the diet of a guy just “trying to be huge.” We end up sitting at a small, gray cafeteria table with two chairs. To attain a strong and muscular stature one must put in as much work in their diet as they do in the weight room. To be completely healthy, you have to eat healthily. Since John began working out consistently, his diet has changed drastically. “I eat 3,000-4,000 calories a day now; I’ve changed it to where I eat about 500 grams of carbohydrates a day, 200-300 grams of protein a day, [and] 150-200 grams of good fat. I tend to eat about 6 times a day. Lots of protein shakes. This way all the protein and nutrients I’m putting in my body are absorbing every 2-3 hours.”

A year ago, John was just a scrawny kid who knew nothing about working out or eating properly. Looking at him today is kind of scary, he has managed to build quite an intimidating physique. As John sits in the cafeteria chair, sweat glistening off of his forehead and arms, he starts getting into a more in depth description of his workout regimen. Surprisingly, John works out up to 6 times a week and makes sure he hits every muscular group twice. Sunday is John’s day of rest or “recovery day,” where he does absolutely nothing all day. ” Monday, I do chest and back. I do abs every day. Tuesday is shoulders, biceps, triceps, and forearms. Then Wednesday, I do legs, and repeat for Thursday to Saturday.”

Of course, looking as good as John has its price. Protein supplements, PWO or pre-workout supplements, a gym membership, lifting gloves, a weight belt, and we all know eating healthily isn’t cheap, these can really add up. Bringing up the subject of the cost, John’s face twists into an unpleasant grimace, “It is, and it isn’t expensive I would definitely say. When I first started, I didn’t know what to look for and how to eat right. Now I do simple things like adding heavy whipping cream to my protein shakes. I eat cheap food like oats that are high in carbs. At first, I was eating tons of foods that weren’t packing too much nutritional value. Now, I can kind of cheat my way into getting more nutrients at a cheaper price.” Supplements, of course are a whole different ballgame. “Don’t get me started on supplements, man,” he said with a sad look on his face. ” I buy supplements when I run out. A PWO will last me about a month or two and they are about $30-$40. I’ll buy a 10 LB bag of protein that lasts me quite awhile and that costs about $90. Then my gym membership costs $32 a month. It’s not that much and it’s worth it when you get to look like this,” he says with a chuckle as he kisses his right bicep muscle.

Before John started lifting weights he was kind of shy; ever since he’s been lifting consistently, everyone close to him has noticed him oozing with confidence. ”Lifting has changed not only my body but pretty much my whole mentality. I don’t really have a problem talking to girls, and they notice me a lot more now. Actually, now I tend to look down on people for being unhealthy because I know how much hard work I put into looking this way. But people don’t have to go to the extreme like I do to look better.” The expression on his face has sincerity written all over it, while he wipes some sweat off that dripped onto the cafeteria table.

John begins to make his way to the adjacent basketball courts to meet one of his long time friends for a few games of pick-up basketball. “Basketball is just a way I cool down after an intense workout sesh,” he says stretching in his gray tank-top and navy blue sweatpants. A lot of people who work out find it hard to stick with it, and just like everybody else John goes through lulls where he doesn’t want to lift at all. “Sometimes it’s hard to balance working full time, the girlfriend, and working out 6 times a week. Being sore is the worst thing about lifting. Doing squats and being sore for a few days while standing on my feet for hours at work is tough.” Like anything though working out does have good aspects, it’s not all about being sore and unmotivated. “The best part is seeing how you’ve progressed, and seeing all your hard work pay off. You get an accomplished feeling,” he says with a big grin on his face while lacing up his purple and green Nike Hyperdunks.

John does have some long-term goals when it comes to lifting; as he finishes stretching and looks out to the court to scan his competition he tells me, “I’d like to possibly compete in a bodybuilding competition, but mostly just see how big I can get my body to be. Just be fit and turn heads, yo!” John’s love for working out runs deep; it’s quite inspiring to see what he used to look like and comparing it to what he looks like today. Going from a measly 140 pounds to a solid 185 is astounding. We would all be very lucky if we had that drive and determination John has when it comes to lifting and being healthy.