I've long admired Joe as a man with credibility and honor, but someone with an equally strong sense of humor. Joe is Rx Muscle's Chem Administrator and has served as Forum Leader before that.
Let's get to know more about Joe d.
How were you introduced to the weights?
When I was a kid, I loved Arnold and Stallone movies. Back then they also put bodybuilding on TV. That’s where it all started.
What is one of your favorite Arnold and Stallone movies?
Predator and Rambo when I was young. I’m enjoying all of the new ones now.
And what is your favorite part of the iron game – strongman, bodybuilding, Men’s Physique, Bikini, etc.?
I don’t know if I have a favorite. I really like bb’ing, strongman, and powerlifting.
Have you
competed in bodybuilding or powerlifting?
Both, at an amateur level.
What weight class in bodybuilding?
Heavyweight.
And what was your best lift?
Squat.
Joe recorded squatting 455 X 14 back in December. And that on "100mg test c 1x per week and an animal/veggie/nut/berry only diet. no other hormones and no ai's."
What's your favorite thing about bodybuilding?
The workout. And that when I got lean, my wife thought it was gross.
Has your wife changed her opinion of a lean bodybuilder or does she still prefer you with some extra meat on your bones?
I’m not nearly as big as I was, so I don’t know how it would be now. I have no desire to get that lean anyway. She was never a fan of big muscles in general.
What's your least favorite thing about bodybuilding?
Dieting, insomnia, and limitations.
What is your goal so far as the weights go?
My goal in the past was always to get the numbers up. It is still very tempting, but 
now I focus on endurance and stability. I struggle with these in my daily life.
When you say you struggle with endurance and stability, can you be more specific?
I have a hard time keeping my oxygen up and staying steady on my feet. Like I said, I’m a 36-year-old man haha.
Would you share your greatest success in the sport so far?
Survival... It didn’t take long for me to lose focus on the many important things in life and become obsessed with gaining more. Maybe the words “losing focus” aren’t right. I always loved my family and continued to strive to make things as good as I can for them, but I somehow convinced myself as time went on that more would be okay. It took a heart attack in my early 30's to wake me up.
A friend’s husband suffered a heart attack and she said he lost almost 40% function? I’m not even sure what that means, but how severe was your heart attack? I guess any heart attack is severe, of course.
It was mild. The real issue now is that even after dropping a lot of weight and living as healthy as possible I’m still having them.
What has been one of your greatest disappointments?
As crazy as it sounds, I don’t really have any.
No great disappointments? Really? To what do you attribute this perspective?
Life has its ups and downs. I’m still happy. My family is happy. What more could I ask for?
You've got a point there.
Do you have any favorite bodybuilders or strength athletes?
No favorites. I like most of them. I do still miss the old days with Arnold and Lou.
How many times ha
ve you watched Pumping Iron? It’s been a ton for me. Arnold and Lou were the perfect vehicles or stars for that film.
Several. Answering this makes me want to watch it again.
Did you emulate anyone when you first became involved in the iron game?
haha No.
Who is someone you look forward to meeting and perhaps picking their brain?
My grandfather. He passed away when I was a baby. He was always sort of a hero figure to me. I feel that I will get to meet him one day.
With that in mind, what's your outlook or position on religion or an afterlife?
I believe that I will go to another place when I die where I will be able to coexist with people who have also died. I believe that there is a god. I don’t care what anyone calls the god. I wouldn’t say I was religious. I don’t go to church or get into sets of beliefs.
How were you introduced to prohormones or anabolics?
I was approached several times before I ever used steroids by people who assumed I did. I trained in groups that all used them. When the time came where I couldn't seem to get anywhere, I started myself.
So, if friends or gym members were approaching you assuming you used chemicals, I assume training naturally worked well for you? Did you gain easily at the beginning and how long would you say it was before you hit that first serious plateau?
I did well for the first couple of years. It was tough for a couple more.
How’s your training going now? Hope your health is 100%, good sir.
Health is okay, I guess. I’m having my issues, but nothing immediately life threatening.
Right now I’m doing a self-made program that I don’t know what I would call haha. I train every other day.
Day 1 Squat: I work up to a heavy single or double, then drop the weight in half and do as many high rep sets as I can handle.
Day 2 Deadlift: Again I work up to a heavy single or double, then I switch off to T-bar and row out as many high rep sets as I can, swapping the grips around.
Day 3 Overhead Press: I work up to a heavy double or triple, then I either cut the weight and rep out as many sets as I can there or I’ll move over to dips and get in a few high rep sets of bodyweight only.
After that I sometimes jump on an elliptical for a half hour or so. If not, I’ll walk uphill on a treadmill for at least an hour on my off day.
What’s the craziest workout program you’ve followed?
At the time where I was most enhanced, I would go for hours pounding muscle groups. Then three days later that group was ready to go again. I wound up in the gym for hours every day; never really followed programs. Until now that I’m not looking for that type of progress anymore. I make my own now, though.
What has been the most effective workout you’ve followed?
All of the above, really. The squat is the most important part of any program, I think.
What supplement company or brand does it right?
I’m a bargain shopper, so I usually find the best priced product on Amazon with good reviews. This method hasn’t gone bad for me yet. I don’t buy into marketing too much.
I’m going to check out your Amazon/reviews strategy. Sounds like a winning approach. Seems like it would work across the board, not just supps.
Favorite TV show?
I’ll probably get laughed at for this, but right now it’s The Voice. I enjoy Americ
a’s Got Talent more, though, once that starts. I watch these shows with my family. That’s what I enjoy the most about them. We make popcorn (for everyone, but me haha) and drink soda and have a good time.
What’s your favorite soda during those popcorn and family shows time? And, come on, can’t you make yourself some unbuttered popcorn? :-)
Diet cola. No popcorn. I have diabetes.
Pick three things you couldn't live without?
My family, my freedom, and food and water, I guess.
Can you share about your family, childhood or teenage years?
They weren’t real good. My father was into drugs and very abusive. I went into state care at 12 and went out on my own at 15. It was a rough ride until my early to mid 20's where I had learned how to take control of my life.
Did having those severe issues as a child make you appreciate having a family all the more or was it your heart attack as a wake-up call that life is fleeting and to cherish your loved ones?
I always valued good relationships and my ability to have a positive impact on someone else’s life. It was probably somehow related to my childhood, I guess.
Were you able to connect with your father at all as an adult?
I talk to him. We are not close. He still has his addictions and all of the problems that go with them.
Do you have brothers and sisters? If so, do any of them hit the weights?
I have one sister. She exercises regularly for health purposes. No weights.
How did you learn about Rx Muscle Forums?
Surfing the web for a new board. I started on another site that was headed in a direction that didn’t really suit me.
What’s your favorite part of Rx Muscle Forums?
The chem section was my favorite. It has suffered quite a bit over the last couple years and has lost a lot of good contributors. I am very happy to have been given the chance recently to take over chem section. I hope that we can get it back to what it once was.
Can you name some of the chem section contributors you’d like to see return?
All of them haha. Even the guys who didn’t do well making friends.
Congratulations on taking over the chem section! I respect your viewpoint and approach to forums and am glad you took the reins.
What's the most important thing about Rx Muscle Forums' Chem subforum?
It’s a good place for education. With this kind of stuff, I think the experience of others is about as good as it gets.
What would you do to improve the site and the forums in particular?
Eliminate as much of the rules and moderation as possible. I feel that a wide range of personalities and free speech is exactly what made Rx as successful as it was. We are all adults here and can participate or ignore any conversations we want. If someone wants to call me an asshole, whore, or moron, go ahead. I don’t care haha. If someone thinks joe blow’s special protein pill is a scam, I want them to say it. If it’s not a scam, plenty of people will step in to say so. Everyone will fall into their place of credibility as time goes by.
You mentioned having as few rules and moderation as possible on the forums. Where do you draw the line? Do you have any fears that negativity would drive members away?
I don’t draw any line. If people are going to let others drive them away it’s on them. I’d hate to see it happen, but it is their choice to let things get to them. Dave has set the current rules. If he didn’t make those there wouldn’t be any. I don’t think bad of Dave’s rules either. I understand that he must have good reason.
I’m not disputing your opinion. In fact, your comments, “If someone wants to call me an asshole, whore, or moron, go ahead. I don’t care haha. If someone thinks joe blow’s special protein pill is a scam, I want them to say it. If it’s not a scam, plenty of people will step in to say so. Everyone will fall into their place of credibility as time goes by” ring especially true for me.
For chem, who are some of the voices of experience you treat as your go-to source of information? s2h, heavyiron, others?
I never really had any go to people. When I had a question, I looked at other people’s experiences and studied the science that would help make a decision. After that, I experimented on myself if I felt it would go well.
I know you’ve had some challenges in the past year or more. How’s life treating you?
Life is full of medical challenges. Although I’m only 36, I’m an old man. Things are shutting down. It is what it is. I live life to its fullest and appreciate and enjoy as much as I can. I am happy.
Concerning your health issues, when you say things are “shutting down,” what’s your longterm prognosis? Things are on the mend?
To put it as short as possible, my doctors feel I’m looking at a lifespan of up to another 10 years if I continue to do all I can for my health.
Man. :-/
...
The battle cry of steroid users has often been heard, “Where are the bodies?” Would you say that chemicals/gear, supps, and script drugs were what has caused your health to suffer or was it partially luck of the draw? What mistakes do you believe you made that others might benefit by knowing what to avoid? Maybe I’m not stating that clearly.
The whole denial thing is exactly that. People don’t want to believe that what they love doing is hurting them. Common sense should tell everyone that putting all of these strains on our bodies will have some sort of negative effects. There are many. Some you won’t know until it’s too late. Healthy bloods – without the use of loads of drugs to keep them that way – is a pretty good indicator that you’re not doing real bad damage, but even that isn’t 100%.
You mentioned being 270 at one time. How tall are you?
Almost 5'4" lol.
Hey, don’t laugh. I’d trade four inches of height for four inches of clavicles, trust me. Width over the giraffe look any day lol.
What is your macro or food breakdown? Do you count calories, do calculations, and weigh your food?
To avoid the need for insulin, I currently eat very low carbs. I am eating 3-4 times per day; a big piece of animal and a big pile of mixed veggies for each meal. It’s not too exciting, but it’s what is working best.
In the past at my biggest, I was consuming 10 meals per day, alternating between shakes and solid food. The shakes were milk, eggs, pp, veggies, berries, and rice or oats. The solid foods were a lot of animal, a little veggie, and a lot of grain. I didn’t really count anything, but I would clear 800g of protein in a day. At that time I was in the 270's and on way too much gear and various other supporting script drugs and sups.
Other than hitting the iron, what do you enjoy doing the most with your free time?
Anything with horse power, sports and play with kids, fishing, guns, etc.
Do you have a favorite movie?
Not really. We watched Frozen last night haha.
Can you say anything about your occupation?
I used to run a landscaping business, but had to give it up due to health issues. I am currently doing an internet sales business that is slow, dog breeding, and I pick up labor type side jobs here and there to make ends meet.
What currently drives you nuts?
Life is too short for that.
What motivates you?
My family… wanting the best for them keeps me going strong.
What frustrates you?
Politics.
Do you have a candidate in mind for the next presidential election or do you wish Obama could have a third term?
I would like to see a big change in our government and the way things are done. I always felt that way. Even as a kid I would get bad marks in school for my views.
What about hobbies or pets?
Outdoor activities… mostly fishing, kids, right now we have shih tzus. We breed them, but they are our pets. The female’s name is really Patches. I call her shit head. I gave her the nickname when she was about eight weeks old. She would steal anything when you weren’t looking and hide it. Then she would only play with it when you were out of sight, so you really had to hunt for stuff. She has never stopped doing this either haha. It’s my own fault. I can’t punish her. She does whatever she wants.
Note: The male shi tzu’s name is Macho!
Joe, what’s your dream fishing spot? I mean, say your won an all expenses paid fishing or hunting adventure.
Fishing in blue ocean on a real nice yacht with my entire family including in-laws.
Nice! Promise to adopt me when you win that trip! I bet it would be great to go fishing with you and your family. You have a remarkable story and offer some truly important topics to consider. Thank you for sharing your time with us, Joe.
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