These photos show Bill 20 years apart(at the same bodyweight of 150 lbs) - proof that fitness and health can be a way of life. Note: The knife and wardrobe are only props inspired by Sylvester Stallone's great character "Rambo". (Bill was Rambo for a college Halloween party in '85 and followed up with the same wardrobe for these photos for comparison).

BILL ON FITNESS & HEALTH

(IN HIS OWN WORDS)

I wanted to add this page because aside from my art, keeping fit and healthy has always been an important part of my life. The seed was planted when I saw the movie "Rocky" with Sylvester Stallone at the age of 12. It had a VERY strong impact on me. To this day, I have never felt better leaving a movie theatre as I did with "Rocky". When I got home after seeing the movie, I was so pumped up and inspired, I literally did several one handed push-ups on each arm. After that, I started a regimen of doing 100 push-ups every other day pretty regularly up until the age of 15 when I got a weight bench and a set of iron weights for my birthday. Note: At this time in my early teens and younger, I was smaller than my peers and always getting picked on and bullied. Subconsiously, I am sure this really influenced my working out as well. I started reading weight training and bodybuilding books along with "Muscle & Fitness" magazine. I trained regularly with weights along with jogging all through high school although one of the things lacking at this time, was my knowledge of nutrition and the discipline to eat healthy.

The summer after I graduated from high school, I saw "Rocky III" in the theatre. That movie re-ignited the fitness spark that was started from "Rocky". I saw how Sylvester Stallone had transformed his body into unbelievable shape. I wanted to have a body just like that. To me, it was ideal. I like bodybuilding and am a fan, but for me, that kind of build is too much and unrealistic.

At the University of Missouri, I joined a gym and worked out all through college but it wasn't until my senior year that I started getting "quality" muscle(as seen in "Rambo '85" pic). I believe it was a combination of being inspired by "Rambo ll" that summer and just learning more about nutrition and exercise and knowing what works for me.

Today, I work out differently than I did 20 years ago. More recently, I have been very inspired by Clarence Bass cbass.com and his great "RIPPED" books. He too, is a true inspiration and like a fine wine, gets better with age. I go with the motto: "Less is MORE" and only work out for 30 minutes a day, 2 days with weights, one day cardio, 2 days with weights, one day cardio, and so on working every muscle group. For cardio, I do fast powerwalking for about 30 min. with wrist weights and mid-section weights carrying a total of 30 lbs extra when I walk. I concentrate on quality in the workout, not the quantity of sets or time. I believe in the mind/muscle connection focusing entirely on that particular muscle being worked. Not merely just going through the movement but making EACH rep count taking longer on the "negative"(downward) movement. The workouts are short but intense usually doing just one set for each body part(a couple more sets on bigger muscle groups such as legs and chest with as much weight as possible. The exercises continuously change and revolve to "shock" the muscle. I work out at home with modest equipment and keep it simple.

As for nutrition, I basically keep it low fat, high fiber with a balance of protein to carbs. I try to eat food in its natural state as much as possible like with fruits and vegetables. I also eat brown rice and whole wheat pasta for carbs. They are high in fiber, low in fat and the pasta is also high in protein. Never any low carb diet here. Why suffer? Albacore tuna and eggs(only one with yolk out of 4) are staples for protein. I also drink a whey protein shake after workouts. Note: It's important to eat as many times a day as possible. Keep the meals small and frequent. This keeps the metabolism moving right along. It's not really how much you eat that's important but WHAT you eat and how often that's important. My stomach is always satisfied and never ever starved for food.

There it is in a nutshell. Keeping fit can be habit forming like brushing your teeth. The fitness guru, Jack Lalanne said it best: "what is the most important thing you own? your body, so you might as well take care of it first and everything else should follow". That makes a lot of sense to me. Obviously, Sylvester Stallone not only inspires me to paint heroic pictures of him but also to keep in shape. Go for it!

Below are photos of Bill's body of art through the years