January 18, 2010

Back in my high school days, one of my closest friends was a guy named Vic. He was a strange kid, no question. He was a good looking kid of Italian extraction, who had an effete, almost feminine quality, but was tough as nails, was definitely not gay, as he nailed anything with a pulse in skirts (had excellent taste too, as I recall), and carried a ten inch knife down the front of his pants, at all times. It wasn’t uncommon for him to be in a fight with someone and I never saw him lose. The guy could really handle himself. 
 
Yet, he also wrote the most beautiful, sensitive poetry. He DID however, threaten to kill me, if I ever told anyone that he wrote it. He also had a soft spot for pets and kept goldfish. Definitely a boy of complex nature. 
 
But as odd as he was, his father was a real piece of work. Reputed to have worked for the CIA (and I never did find out whether that was pure BS, or if it was true–which it well might have been), he was a big, broad shouldered, barrel-chested, handsome man of Italian lineage, with a massive, leonine head and a thick, but well-trimmed mane of long, wavy, jet black hair, barely touched by gray, though he was 53 at that time.
 
(Funny that we once all thought that anyone over 50 was OLD… time tends to change your perspective, doesn’t it?)
 
He was a apparently a very sophisticated man, who was usually very well dressed in business attire, and he had that urbane manner of the continental European, who was both wealthy and well travelled. All of Vic’s friends were very impressed by him, me included. 
 
He was always relaxed and friendly with us, but he had this underlying air of subtle menace about him, a sense that there was danger there, just below the surface. Vic had told me how his father could suddenly convert from an apparent wealthy cogniscenti to a savage fighter, in an instant, surprising a would-be opponent and putting him down for the count, before that poor bastard even knew he was in a fight.
 
Youthful hyperbole? Who knows? I never saw any of that. I only had Vic’s word for it. But he DID look very capable of it. And I only know that nobody would dare to screw around with him. He was accorded a rare and wary respect, by all of us.
 
I never did find out what happened to Vic’s mother, whether she had died, or if they’d been divorced, but Vic lived with his father in an apartment, a few blocks down from me, on 89th Street, a few doors up from Narrows Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. His dad kept company with a very handsome woman, also very well dressed and of some sophistication, who also had a very cosmopolitan air about her. 
 
I never did figure out exactly if she was his wife, or his girlfriend, but she apparently lived in another house or apartment, not with Vic and his Dad.
 
The truly impressive thing about Vic’s Dad, though, that I DID see, was his great physical strength. It was amazing, especially to my young eyes, at the time. And the moreso, because he WAS 53.
 
He would lie face down, flat on the floor, to eliminate all leverage, and pick up a solid iron 55 pound dumbbell with one hand, palm upward, and a straight arm. He would then curl it above and across his head, pivoting on his elbow, for multiple repetitions, with no discernable effort. Try that some time. It ain’t easy!
 
I remember bringing my then girlfriend, Linda, over with me to visit Vic, when his Dad was there. She was a line-girl for the Copa Cobana, a professional dancer with a really well-toned body and an aura of sheer animal magnetism, that I’ve rarely seen in anyone else. I introduced her to Vic’s Dad and she was really turned on by this “old” guy, at 53 yet! Unbelievable!
 
Whatever he had, I wish I could have bottled it. Woulda made a fortune. That’s for sure. Guy had it all: looks, self-posession, that aura of innate authority and that kind of forever strength, that age couldn’t wither. We all knew he worked out, to maintain it, but still…

I don’t know if he took supplements or not, but I’m betting he did. I’m confident that a guy like him, so obviously concerned with staying fit, virile and young, would be a big proponent of my POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA  http://www.favoriteformulas.com  if, of course, it had existed back then.

I never did find out what happened to him, or if he still lives. Vic and I sort of lost touch after college, when I went off to medical school and, though I’ve tried to find him, so far, no luck.
 
But the other day, I was watching TV when a commercial came on, with the tag line, “Forever Strength.” And for some reason, out of nowhere, I flashed on my memories of Vic and Vic’s Dad. HA! If he were still around, I’d use HIM as a model, for my next fitness program. 
 
As it is, you’ll just have to make do with the fetching blonde personal trainer, who is the model for the knee pain exercises and stretches in my new and expanded PAIN-FREE PROGRAM & DVD: http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html 
 
Well, wherever Vic’s Dad is, I wish him well. He was someone I admired and looked up to, in my formative years and a really good guy. Y’know, I STILL can’t do that trick of his with the dumbbell… and I never could. The power that guy must have had….
 
Well, that’s it for today. Look for my new Podcast show, “The Wellness Warrior” on mypodcastworld.com and on iTunes. First episode is about the many health benefits of Omega 3 fatty acids.  Til next time, my friend, be well. 
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow and your optimal health,
 
Dr. Bill
 
“The Wellness Warrior”   TM
 
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html 
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html 
 
P.P.P.S. For conventional and alternative treatments and exercises to relieve knee pain without surgery click on http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html 
 
P.P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html 
 
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Copyright, 2010 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD, FACS
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