  There is a spooky picture making it's way around the internet right now. The pic is of Eddie Van Halen. As most of you may know, Van Halen has reunited with Sammy Hagar and are going to tour this summer. You may also know that Eddie recently battled cancer and to the delight of music fans appears to have won. One of the things that I remember hearing through the gossip columns was that Eddie refused to quit smoking during his treatment. I do not know if the gossip was true or not but it was also put forth that this was one of the reasons for the breakup of his marriage. That of course is just a rumor, we do not know the truth or fiction of the statement. The picture is haunting me a bit.
Eddie does not look very good. Not only has he just battled cancer but he was a serious drinker for most of his career. Why is this any of my business you may ask? It is none of my business. It just got me thinking about my situation. For those of you curious, here is the pic. So, just what is my situation? If you have read my bio on my urlLink website you may know that I love powerlifting and that I also had a personal training business in the 90's.
During that time I also wrote a book on weightlifting and fitness. Looking at Eddie made me realize how we can slip if we do not take care of ourselves. Even if we do take care of ourselves we are not guaranteed health, but we do hedge our bets toward a healthy life. Now even though I have been into weightlifting and fitness for years I have never been slim so to speak.
At some points I actually let myself go a bit too much. My bodyfat used to run between 15 to 18%. Add to the picture that I am a big guy from powerlifting and it is safe to say that nobody would ever mistake me for an underwear model. My thing was health. In addition to lifting I also ran 5k races, enjoyed biking, hiking, and climbing. My best placing in a 5k was a top 25% overall finish in the Houston Marathon 5k in 1999. That was not too bad for a big guy who only ran as a side note to lifting. My situation took a downward turn just over a year ago when I herniated two lumbar disks and received an annular tear. In reading my MRI the doctor also informed me of degeneration in three other disks and the onset of arthritis.
That day sucked! It was a combination of wear and tear and a freak, bad luck accident that caused the damage. For some, surgery would be the answer. I chose to live with the condition and to manage it through exercise and other means. I will only go under the knife for a problem like this as a last resort, there is no going back after surgery. Unfortunately the best laid plans sometimes do stray from course. It was about this time that my wife and I moved from Pacifica to Burlingame, CA. Also, it was around this time that my wife started to get hints that a move to the U.K. might be a possibility. My back pain was getting no better and I was in a funk. As the funk got longer and longer, I got more and more out of shape.
By the time that I finally regained control of my situation I was the fattest that I had ever been. Being too embarrassed to get it checked, I can only estimate that I had reached 25% or more bodyfat. If I were a bit more brave and sure of myself I would give the address to my sister-in-law's website that has pictures of me from a trip to London that are less than flattering. Oh well,If I am going to write this I need to be honest so the pic is below. I was letting myself go and at 35 you just can't do that and get away with it. As you age it does get harder to rebound when it comes to health. Well, I did stop the downward spiral before crashing into the ground.
I figure that I am now around 20-21% bodyfat again and going down. It is evident in my bio pictures that I am not back to my ideal yet. I did not do anything radical, I just started my life again. I got my workouts back on and started moving again. My back is strengthening up well and is feeling better than it has in over a year. All of this happening recently plus seeing the Van Halen picture made me want to write this.
I was going to put advice on taking control of your health here but then rethought that plan. I want this to be more about the decision to do something rather than getting technical about what to do. Step back and take a good inventory of yourself. Not just physical but the whole package. Do things now that will carry you into the later years of your life healthy and strong in mind and body. It could be cancer like Eddie, or destroying your back like in my case. Be prepared for these things by taking care of yourself. I was lucky, even though it is harder to rebound at 35 than 25, it would have been even harder at 45, 55 ,65.
Even though I was doing things that were good for me by lifting and eating well, I was neglecting other things that could have saved me from going through my back problems. We only get one body to go through this one life, Live that life the best that you can! By the way, Eddie, it is nice to have you back. Go out there and show today's youngsters how it is done! For those of you out there looking for cutting edge, no bullshit information on health go to the urlLink Testosterone.net site. This is my favorite site on the web. The guys that run this online mega-library of fitness technology are topnotch and the information on the site is vast, on-target, and free! Be warned, it is a bit irreverent, just how I like it! Be seeing you, Eban urlLink Ebancrawfordstudio.com 
