Body Transformation: Jim Davis

Jim Davis and I have been friends on Facebook for quite some time.  I didn't realize how remarkable his transformation was until I started browsing through some of his old pictures.  He graciously agreed to do an interview for Strongandfit.net and share his inspirational story:

*Jim, first of all I'd like to thank you for taking time to do this interview with me.  Please give my readers a brief introduction of yourself:  your background, career, family, etc.

Brief?  I'm 56!  How can it be brief?  I'm currently divorced since 2005, engaged to be married again by next spring, and a marketing editor for a major online retailer.  I spend my whole day staring at computer screens, editing other peoples' writing,

I'm a long-time lover of the weights, and started training in 1968, when I was 14.  My initial education with the iron happened with Earl Clark, who was the 1958 NABBA Mr. Universe, and who owned a gym in my home town.  He taught me how to train, how to eat, and how to grow.  I had been a wrestler all through high-school,  I entered my one and only previous contest in 1972, and came in second in a field of three teens in a small, local contest down in San Diego County, California.  I was hooked.

Then the Army happened.

I broke both legs three weeks into basic training -- shattered both tibia.  I recovered from that, then suffered a torque-injury to my lower back in advanced training a few months later, which laid me up AGAIN.  I went back to the weights over and above the Army's program after each of these.  Then when stationed in Germany, I was in a jeep accident which screwed up my back even worse.

When I left the Army, I was granted 10% service-connected disability for my back problems, but it was much worse than that.  It was the beginning of a deterioration that went on for the next 30 years.

I kept trying to go back to the gym, but the limitations to the back and the pain kept getting worse and worse.  Chiropractic would help for a time, and even acupuncture, but the slide kept going.  I was involved in medieval martial arts for a long time -- combat in full armor -- but by 2001, I couldn't do that any more at all. I just couldn't keep my conditioning or take the pain of fighting in 80+ pounds of plate armor.

*You have undergone and incredible transformation.  Please tell us a little bit about the former Jim Davis--your condition before you started training. 

By 2000, the Veterans Administration had rated me as 60% disabled for my problems.

In 2002, I had the first of several injuries and slowly ground me down.  I fell in the garage, and in reaching out for support, hyperextended my left arm, and the elbow struck the corner of a chest, separating my biceps tendon from my elbow right at the insertion.  The surgery to repair it, unfortunately, left me with damage to the extensor nerves to the left hand. I was originally told by the VA that I had less than a 30% chance of getting full function of my hand back.  Thanks to my massage therapist and acupuncturist, I was able to do somewhat better.  Six months of therapy mostly solved the problem, but then I had to worry about therapy to the biceps, which had by now developed severe adhesions.

In August of 2003, I had surgery on my left shoulder to reduce arthritic overgrowth to the acromion and glenoid process, beginning another long recovery process.  Originally, the VA Physical Therapist told me I wouldn't get full range of motion back, but five sessions with an Active Release Therapy practitioner proved -that- one wrong.

Just as I recovered from that, I was hiking in March of 2004, and suddenly, both my legs went out from under me, and I slid down a long hillside on my knees, ripping my right quad off at the tendon, and tearing up the left pretty badly, but not off completely.  MORE months of therapy followed.  I was in the gym on crutches, though, trying hard to keep going.  It was in March of 2005, though, when we discovered what actually had happened, due to a nerve conduction study.  I was losing the transmission from my spine to the extensor muscle in my legs, and they were no longer getting any work or any signal TO work, and I was slowly losing all control of my legs.

The VA doctors (the only source I had at the time, told me they couldn't fix it, and it was just going to get worse.  By the end of 2005, I was on a cane constantly, in pain on standing more than even a minute, and couldn't climb stairs or even get up a curb without help.

I landed a full-time job in September of 2006 (I'd been doing freelance and contract work before that, which is why I had no insurance), and once the benefits kicked in started looking for a real neurosurgeon.  Finally in summer, 2007, I found one.  After three different surgeons told me there was nothing that could be done, Dr. Mesiwala, of the California Center for Neuroscience and Spine, looked at the issues and said "Sure, we can fix that".

So, three years ago July 30th, I entered the hospital for the repair.

*What was it that finally made you decide to change?

Well I knew I had to lose weight -- I was 303 when I entered the hospital.  I got really scared when they came in to give me insulin on the morning of the surgery.  I said "I'm not diabetic!"  The nurse said "Yes, you are. Your fasting blood sugar was 237 this morning."  I managed to get down 20 lbs. over the next 11 months before the doctor finally told me I could go back to the gym in late June of 2008.  He said "your low back is now probably stronger than the rest of you!" I was 283 and 34% bodyfat.

So I got back to it.  I'd dropped to 266 and 29% by October, when I met Tom "Ragingmuscle" Fuller and the Animal Barbell Club.  He offered to take care of my training and diet plan.  By Christmas I was 247 and 24%, and by March, when I went to my first Animal Pak "Cage" at the Arnold Fitness Festival, I was 229 and 20%.

In July, I entered Animal's "Iron Contest" and was one of eight guys chosen nationwide to see how much muscle we could add in 14 weeks.  I went from 228 on July 14 to 254 on October 14, and of that, 20 lbs. of it was lean muscle mass, measured by hydrostatic weighins.  I beat 7 other guys, the OLDEST of whom was 14 years younger than me.  

Having done that, I realized I could do almost anything I put my mind to, and asked Tom if I should set my sights on a contest.  He said, "Yes," and suggested the Los Angeles Bodybuilding Championships, on July 24, 2010.  We didn't make any immediate changes, but made a plan to begin the cut and prep in February.

I was 254 at 18%.  By the contest this past Saturday, I was 206 at 8%

Jim hits the stage at 8% body fat.

*How has your life changed since getting in shape?

Well, I get a lot more interest from the ladies . . . and some guys .  I'm getting lots of requests for help with diet and training -- even though I have no certifications or professional credentials.  The first time I saw my regular VA doctor after dropping from 266 to 228, he came into the room, looked up and said "Oh, I'm sorry.  I was looking for Mr. Davis." I spoke up, and his jaw dropped.

Physically, I feel MUCH better.  I've had some other medical issues in recent months, many of which are related to aging and old pre-fitness problems -- kidney stones, diverticulitis and even over-proliferation of blood cells, and finally shingles, just three weeks before the contest, but my health overall is great, and the doctor has told me my overall condition has allowed me to deal with the other issues much better.

Even people at my job have noticed, and the number of people who tell me I'm an inspiration is rather daunting.  I just did this because _I_ wanted to, and had for years.

*Please tell us a little bit about your diet and training (routine, favorite exercises, etc).

I follow a four-day split normally, that changes a little between bulking and cutting.  During mass season, I work an arm day Monday, Legs Tuesday, Delts and Chest on Thursday, and Back and Traps on Friday, with Calves stuck in in various places.  Abs get worked 2-3 days a week, and more as I approach a show, certainly.  If you'd ever told me that my favorite day would be back day BEFORE my surgery, I'd have told you that you were crazy.

I love Rack Deadlifts.  Thanks to a foot of titanium cage in my back, I can't really do floor deads well, but I LOVE rack deads, and have worked up to 455.

I enjoy almost any back exercise, which I find really ironic.

I've even started to enjoy legs again.  I had lost most of the muscle in my legs due to nerve impingement, so that's been a long road back.  I first got under the squat bar again in April of '09, using a huge 95 lbs. counting the bar.  I'd worked up to 315 for 13 before I started cutting, so we'll see how kind of mass I can add in the next few months.  I do have to concentrated on my chest, which is relatively weak -- my best bench press has only been 265, and I need a lot more mass up there to show well on stage, so that's going to be a major concentration in the next months.

I'm going to be determined not to put on too much fat, though -- I never want to get above 15% bodyfat again, and would like to stay at 12% or under.  I -like- having abs again.

 

*Tell us a little more about the recent competition.

I just competed last week, at the Los Angeles Bodybuilding Championships on July 24th, where I came in 4th in the Over 50s, and 5th in the Novice Heavyweights.

The experience was  . . . intense.  (I can expand on that if you want . . . a lot.  I diaried the whole thing on the Animal Forum.)

*What are your plans for the future?

I want to take some time to add some more mass, and then hope to hit the stage again late next year.  I'll be moving to Kentucky this fall, and hope to get into their NPC community.

*Thanks again for your time, Jim--you are an inspiration to all of us.  

What did I say about that "inspiration" thing?

But, you're more than welcome.  I'm happy to share!