I felt him drawing closer to my position, his movements a blend of anticipation and uncertainty. It had been more than four months since we first connected, and in that time, I’d slowly come to the conclusion that I could never accept him as merely a “normal” person. Now, let’s be clear: I am simply a devotee of growth. I would never call myself an expert on who has the fortitude to truly push their physical limits. But when you’ve been immersed in this world for a while, you develop an intuition. You can narrow down the endless pool of prospects who are desperate to talk about it, to dissect every nuance of the journey, until you find those with actual spark.
Our paths had crossed years ago, but I hadn’t given him much thought back then. We’d only spoken briefly, and he seemed like another passive observer. But recently, his progress caught my eye. It was consistent, it was real, and it was enough to entice me to start commenting here and there—something I pride myself on doing. See, I’m the kind of person who possesses the energy of at least a white dwarf star; rooting for others and pouring into them is in my DNA. If that encouragement bears fruit, great. I can keep nurturing that potential and see where it goes.
He was easy enough to chat with, though painfully shy. I’d grown used to that reaction, though. Given my background—a combination of good genetic luck (thanks, Mom and Dad) and a relentlessness drive—I had stepped into that uncommon stratosphere of size that demands attention. When I walk into a room, I don't just occupy space; I dominate it, visually. And that kind of physical presence can be intimidating.
I've noticed something, though. Society gives so many men permission to go after their desires—and I’m not talking sexually here, but big, audacious goals, like extreme physical growth. Yet, there’s a paradox. Once you actually obtain that size, once you are in the neighborhood of the pros, the dynamic shifts. You become an exhibit. The questions never stop from young men and teens who are desperate to know how you did it, who want to be you physically in every way. At the same time, you deal with the opposite end of the spectrum. The mothers who worry about their little boys getting stretch marks and getting “too big” as if that size is somehow dangerous or wrong. It’s a mindset that’s drilled into people, and somewhere along the way, you realize you can’t make everyone happy. You have to live for yourself.
There are moments when you have to be assertive with the people in your life who have potential, when you have to stop encouraging from the sidelines and actively push them. This was one of those moments. I was about to drop a significant opportunity in front of him, something that would kill two birds with one stone. See, in all the years I’ve been lifting, I had never taken the time to attend a real Fitness Expo. Not even one. Whether it was other travel plans, finishing graduate school, or navigating a global pandemic, the timing was just never right.
This was going to be my first time, and I wanted to see how he handled the pressure when I wasn’t the only massive presence in the room. I was drawing him into my world, the absolute peak of the culture, to see if he belonged there as much as he wanted to, or if he was content just being a “normal person” watching from a safe distance.
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