This man’s fitness transformation story will make your excuses seem lame!

Read how weight training helped Captain Ahab beat phantom pain.

By: Kris Gethin | | Updated: November 25, 2014 2:47 pm

Celebrity bodybuilding expert Kris Gethin who has trained Bollywood stars such as Hrithik Roshan and John Abraham, shares some truly inspirational stories in The Bodybuilding.com: Guide to Your Best Body . Most of us have excuses for not working out. Once you read Captain Ahab AKA Errol Hannigan’s story, all your excuses will seem like the lamest ones in the world. Here s an excerpt from his book: Also Read - Flexitarian diet: All you need to know about this modified vegetarian diet

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In 2002 Errol Hannigan slipped on some grease on the floor and heard a pop in his knee. The injury was bad but not terrible, and he went in for arthroscopic surgery to have it repaired. ‘Simple day surgery is what the doctors called it,’ recalls Errol, who s known as Captain Ahab on his BodySpace profile. During surgery, the doctors overlooked a nasty infection that was building inside his knee. A month later, his doctors told him the infection was spreading. ‘It was moving up my leg so fast it would take my life if they didn t do anything.’ Also Read - Want to gain muscle mass? Try these vegetarian foods

Errol and his wife realized that there was no alternative but to let doctors amputate his leg. Two more surgeries later bringing him to a total of seventeen operations he was confronted by the most difficult obstacle he had ever known: phantom pain. ‘I had phantom pain 24/7, the worst pain I ever knew in my life,’ he says. ‘It went on for years. I just couldn t deal with it any longer.’

On top of the high doses of morphine, Errol was selfmedicating with large quantities of alcohol and food gaining weight and spending most of his waking hours in a pain-fueled stupor. It was no way to live. ‘I got pretty low; really depressed,’ he says. ‘I couldn t take it any longer, so I lined a room in clear plastic and loaded my pistol and prepared to take my life.

I went upstairs to say good-bye to my wife and ask for her permission to end my life. And she had just recently been diagnosed with lupus after years of testing. She said to me, No, I don t want you to take your life I m going to need you now. So I went downstairs and unloaded my pistol and basically got ready for a life filled with nothing but pain and depression.’

Errol s wife, Judi, researched ways to counter the effects of lupus and decided that she was going to start exercising, which can help relieve symptoms of the painful autoimmune disorder. ‘Somehow she talked me into going to the gym with her and I ll never know how she did that,’ recalls Errol. That trip to the gym changed his life forever. ‘Within five minutes of picking up a weight my phantom pain went away. Lifting weights brought him nearly three painfree hours. ‘It honestly gave me a new lease on life.’

Errol and his wife cleared their kitchen of ice cream, soda, and other junk foods, started eating six small meals a day supplemented by protein shakes, and stuck to a regular fitness regimen. Despite having to deal with an amputated leg, Errol considers his life before fitness just like anyone else s: ‘My before pictures showed my muffin top; I was a donut-eating, self-medicating, wine-drinking, overindulging fat guy I m just like any other person out there.’ He maintains that the path to fitness begins in the kitchen. But while cleaning out the cupboards was a top priority, so too was taking a social inventory.

‘I took a long, hard look at the people around me who called themselves my friends but who actually never supported what I was doing or acknowledged my progress,’ says Errol. ‘The ones who supported me I called Circle A and made time in my day or week to connect with them. The ones who didn t support me I called Circle B, and I all but eliminated those from my life and made a point of not spending time with them. I found that my life became a lot less stressful after doing this.’ He built up his ‘Circle A’ group on BodySpace, where he has connected with and inspired thousands of others. ‘The support I have found online has been invaluable my virtual friends help keep me accountable and motivate me to continue pushing for progress,’ notes Errol.

Now living a life free of depression and with minimized pain, Eroll has taken his passion for fitness and focused it on educating and motivating others. ‘I have a new outlook on life every day is a joy,’ he says. ‘I want to lead the fight against obesity that is knocking down our countries. My wife and I have dedicated the rest of our lives to showing people that you can get fit and how easy it really is.’

The Bodybuilding.com: Guide to Your Best Body is authored by Kris Gethin and published by Simon & Schuster (2013). It can be purchased online on Flipkart.

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Published : June 18, 2014 6:08 pm | Updated:November 25, 2014 2:47 pm

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