The Blond Bomber goes under the knife

I have to admit that I don't know a hell of a lot about Muscle Beach and the 'Golden era of Bodybuilding', but I've absorbed the basics - steroids were legal, Golds Gym was cranking out huge physiques, Joe Weider was 'the man' and a pre-Governator Arnie was on the swift ascent to Bodybuilding superstardom. Heck, I've seen 'Pumping Iron', I feel informed.

A few years ago I signed up for a newsletter written by 'The Blond Bomber' of the Golden Era, Mr Dave Draper (training with Arnold in the pic), and immediately figured out that this guy isn't like the rest... oh no, he's different. Reading what he writes, stream of consciousness style, about the ups and downs of the Bodybuilding lifestyle, requires some concentration and lateral thinking and every time you are left thinking either 'genius' or 'completely bonkers'. The brawn and the brains? I'm still not sure what to make of him but I know that I like the guy. When I was first immobilised following kidney surgery and going a bit stir-crazy from inactivity and pining for the gym, he wrote me a very reassuring email, telling me that injuries have a life of their own and that it was all part of the journey of life, or something like that.. anyway it helped put a smile back on my face at a time when I was finding life very unfunny. Much appreciated.

Yesterday I had a little time to catch up on reading a few newsletters and was more than a little surprised to find that my favourite old school bodybuilder has just had heart surgery, a quadruple bypass... that's where they saw the sternum in half and open the ribs up. Recovering from that just has to hurt, but of course he is more interested in getting back to the dumbbells (even if it's at the girly end of the rack) than whinging about the odd annoying bout of agonising pain. Of course, this has reignited a lot of debate on various forums and websites about why fit people sometimes have major health breakdowns. There's a lot of judgement but in the end, there are so many factors at play that there is no point in spending too much time trying to assign the blame. We all work within the confines of our history, genetics and incomplete knowledge of the human body. We all do our best (except for the ones that just don't care, but I doubt they would be reading a health blog.. even my own sister never drops by ;)

I'd encourage you all to jump on over to Davedraper.com and check out the articles there. Sign up for the newsletter if you want a unique experience of muscle and mind.