Inspirational

Throughout my career I've realized how important it is to evolve and adapt to the changes, not only in the industry, but also in my life. People have often asked me how I've done what I do for so long and my general response is, "I just keep pushing everyday."

It's a never ending cycle of assessing and adapting to the changes that come your way. I've learned the hard way, on too many occasions, that no deal lasts forever: your looks will eventually fade, your body gets harder and harder to get in shape, and that time passes quickly and you are easily forgotten.

I've been at this game for longer than many of you reading that have been alive and I've stood the test of time because I adapt and constantly look for the new deal or next opportunity, and I make things happen.

Does life sometimes get you down? Are you waiting for things to get better, but they never seem to? Do you complain more than you praise? If you can answer yes to any of these questions then I have some advice for you: learn to be grateful for the little things in your life.

Instead of looking at the negative occurrences in your life, begin to catalog all of the wonderful things surrounding you. For example:

1. You can either complain about your physical condition or you can make a step towards becoming healthier. Remember that you have to crawl before you can walk.
2. You can rant and rave about all the good things that happen to everyone but you; or you can genuinely be happy for the success of others, and open up a channel of positive energy that will also flow your way.

Not too long ago I had a photo shoot with Mike O’Hearn and we started talking about what we do to get in shape, so I decided to write it down figuring some people may want to know.

Clark’s Top 5 Do’s

1. Do eat consistently, portionally correct meals.
2. Do supplement with products that work; don’t waste your money on fad products.
3. Do drink plenty of water.
4. Do listen to your body: train heavy, rest when you need to.
5. Do get a great training partner that pushes you.

Mike’s Top 5 Do’s

1. Do take dieting serious—it’s 90% of getting in shape.
2. Do take photos and measurements every couple of weeks to watch your progress.
3. Do get plenty of sleep. You grow while you sleep.
4. Do train heavy relative to you. Train smarter—not harder. Go big or go home.
5. Do train with Clark Bartram if possible—if not, then try to find someone as motivating as Clark

“Someone once told me that the only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is the will to try and the faith to believe it is possible.”

On April 24, 1998, James DeMelo was in a critical accident. A semi-truck hit his car, and the impact literally left him dead at the scene. There was a paramedic on the corner, and when he rushed to the car and checked James’s vitals, he couldn’t feel a pulse. But he began CPR and James’s heart began to beat again. Through the grace of God his life was saved, but he had broken his neck in two places, his back was broken in four places, his shoulder blade and a couple of ribs were broken, and he suffered various other injuries.

“I wore a halo brace on my head for three months so the neck vertebrae could heal,” explains James. “But even after that, I had a long way to go in the recovery process. Significant nerve damage remained, and a large portion of my muscle mass had atrophied. I had so much to overcome, and I wasn’t sure I could do it.

“But I had to try. Someone once told me that the only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is the will to try and the faith to believe it is possible. At first it was difficult, but I forced myself to go to the gym twice a day. Within the first two weeks I had increased my strength and stamina, and my mobility had greatly improved. I began to see that it was possible to regain my quality of life.

Once upon a time, long, long time ago there was a man and a woman sitting by a tree. Suddenly they hear a sound; a crack of a branch,. The ground begins to shake and suddenly a thunderous roar fills the air. The man and the woman take a quick glance at each other and immediately, as if their bodies were machines, they begin to run. Their hearts began to race, their legs took them from rest to full speed in seconds; it was their body’s instinct that carried them to safety. As they reached safe harbor, they sat down on a rock and all was well; they were at peace once again. The man and the woman never saw the creature that loomed behind them; they did not need to see the danger to know how to respond because their instinct kicked in.

This is the story of how our bodies respond to stress, and it happens every day. When we face stressful situations in life, whether running from a predator, dealing with a deadline, or a bumpy time in a relationship our body releases sympathetic hormones (aka the “fight or flight response”) to allow our body to act. However, the problem is that unlike the cave man and woman previously described, we aren’t always able to run away as our body was designed.

The Story of Bill Arnold

“Try your gimmicks if you must, but I promise you the truth is in the basics. Make it fun. Be creative. Challenge yourself, but also cut yourself some slack.”

My buddy Bill is one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met. He’s on the road all the time, but he’s managed to make his health and his faith the two top priorities in his life. Here’s his story and advice in his own words:

“I think Allen Konigsberg said, ‘90 percent of life is just showing up.’ That's pretty simple! Invite discipline in (show up at the gym and actually work out) and watch it act like your best friend. Discipline gets a bad rap, but it’s really our pal! Discipline liberates us. If you have the discipline to train hard, you have the freedom to enjoy a strong body. If you have the discipline toeat well, the energy you get gives you the freedom to live life to the fullest!

I know many people who hate the gym environment and just as many who love it. In all honesty, I understand both points of views. I can recall my first experience in a health club at the age of eighteen. Shortly after high school graduation, I moved in with an aunt and uncle near the L.A. area where I was working full-time in a medical office doing clerical work. I had struggled with my weight since the fifth grade and had decided to finally do something about it, so I hired my first personal trainer.

Socializing in high school came somewhat easy for me. I loved being a cheerleader and for the most part I considered myself outgoing. But because my diet consisted of primarily junk food, my weight reflected that. My self image was basically the “chubby girl with the cute face.” After high school I longed to make some drastic changes in my life - losing weight and getting fit was one of them.

I’ve learned how to get a glimpse into the future! If you look at your daily routine, it is possible to see what the future looks like. Let’s take a look at yesterday for instance. Take a moment and answer these questions for me.

1. Did everything you ate and drank yesterday add to or take away from you reaching your fitness goal?
2. Did you do your resistance training program?
3. Did you perform some type of cardiovascular exercise?

If your answers to these questions were not positive, did you have a good reason?

It’s not too often when I run across someone who really motivates me to push myself harder at what I do. I feel I am a pretty dedicated and determined person and I work hard to be in the condition I’m in. It was when I met Eugene Blakely that I realized that I could use a serious attitude adjustment and that we could all learn a little something from my friend from Canton, Ohio.

Eugene isn’t your average bodybuilder; actually he is above average in my humble opinion. When I go home to visit my family I always make it a priority to train with Eugene. The first reason is because he is a great guy and secondly, he trains harder than anyone I have ever lifted with. Why is this such a big deal you ask, well Eugene was born with a condition called Reyes Syndrome. Reye's syndrome (pronounced rye); a disorder that affects all organs of the body, but most lethally affects the liver and brain. The cause isn’t really known, but many cases have been linked to the use of aspirin, as an infant, during or following viral illness, such as chicken pox and flu.

Children who survive are often left with neurological abnormalities and mental retardation. Some symptoms are irritability, aggressive behavior, delirium, disorientation, slurred speech, convulsions, may not recognize parents and a few other things many of us don’t have to deal with. The condition is rather rare as approximately one per one million individuals are affected. There is no cure; treatment requires intensive hospital care focusing on reducing swelling of the brain.

“You need to learn to be happy by nature, because you’ll seldom have the chance to be happy by circumstance.”
-- Lavetta Sue Wegman

It’s no secret that the reverence of physical beauty is way out of proportion in our culture today. Everywhere you look — in magazines and catalogs, on television, and in the movies — sex sells. Now, I don’t think it’s inherently bad to appreciate human beauty, but in recent years our obsession with the body has made multi-millionaires out of supermodels, created a huge demand for breast implants and other surgical procedures, and otherwise put pressure on people in our society to meet the media’s current idea of the physical ideal.

Even though I’m a paid, professional fitness model, I believe that our society puts too much emphasis on the body as the definition of who we are as people. I’ve heard countless people tell me things like, “If I could only lose ten pounds, then I’d be happy.” Or, “If only my breasts were bigger, I’d be more confident.” Believe me, I’ve met people who appear to have it all, and yet they’re still unhappy. And I’ve seen people continually reach their goals, only to put off their happiness till they reach the next thing they think will make them happy.