Note from Jim: I received this email to our store and thought it would be great to share. This is a great story - both inspiring and educational.
Dear Jim,
I am writing to thank you for what you do – your work changed my life.
I was diagnosed with throat cancer in January of 2020, I was 61 years old at the time and faced throat surgery and then radiation treatment. I am a life-long training fanatic and have been using your 5/3/1 program in both my training and training of my boys that both went into the military (USMC and USAFA ’17) in our home gym since I purchased it in 2010. I’ve been a follower of yours ever since, love the work you are doing at London HS, and love your merchandise. I have purchased numerous shirts, hats, books and I love the knee sleeves.
2020 was a brutal year for me – I dropped from a solid 175 pounds pre-surgery to an emaciated 153 pounds at the end of my radiation treatment. It sucked and I felt weak as hell. I was able to walk every day and do some limited body weight movements. Some days I could hardly move I was so fatigued from the radiation, and I could not eat very well since my throat was being treated. I wanted to die. I was declared cancer free at the end of August 2020 and my journey started.
The next four months I just walked, did body weight movements and used a weight vest (very light) to challenge myself physically and mentally. In January 2021, I started a year long 5/3/1 program to rebuild myself. I planned out the entire year of training on paper and started super light, I’m embarrassed to even mention the training maxes I used at the start of the program. I used Boring But Big (BBB) only and trained every other day: dead lifts and bench press, squats and press. I had good days and bad days, but I was consistent and never missed a rep and strived for rep PR’s, which kept me motivated. I stuck to a sound nutrition plan and walked on my off days. I followed the program as written.
Using your principles, I was able to gain 20 pound of solid muscle over the past year. I feel 100% better physically and 1000% mentally. On my 63rd birthday in August I was able to perform 15 dead hang pull ups, 63 strict push-ups, and ran 1 mile in 7:35. Those numbers were remarkable to me. My strength is returning, and I look forward to every day again.
I am finishing up another cycle of BBB and have plotted out my training for 2022. I can’t thank you enough for sharing the 5/3/1 program and principles, your philosophy on training and life. The 5/3/1 program saved my life. Thank you and God bless you and your family.
