At first glance, many high school students would give Los Altos High School senior Sam Lodestro the nickname “tool.” As de-scribed in Urban Diction-ary, a “tool’’ is defined as “Al-most synonymous to douche bag; the type of person that likes to show off their phy-sique in public.’’ But despite his strapping appearance, Sam is far from this stereo-type. He is just another kid who found his passion in a sport; bodybuilding, to Sam, is a very unique sport that has more than just an entertainment value. Before he started bodybuilding, Sam realized early on that he needed to make a change to his every-day activities. He sought structure and balance in his life – both physically, men-

tally and socially. Most of all though, Sam knew that he needed to stabilize his personal life. In an effort to solve this problem, Sam sought an outlet and a solu-tion through bodybuilding. Lifting served as a confi-dence booster. Being the small kid in school, Sam felt that this weight lifting pro-gram was not only helpful in building his inner confi-dence, but also balancing this with his physical confi-dence. As a result, after three years, bodybuilding has led Sam to become more satis-fied with himself. When Sam started high school during his freshman year, he always felt aloof and apart from others. Emulating the confidence he saw during his brother’s high school

years, Sam wanted to change his whole lifestyle to be more like his brother – “that big kid with the mus-cles” - and to gain the con-fidence that he needed to succeed in the high school lifestyle. “My freshman year I just decided to do some-thing about [my confidence] and I stuck with it,” Sam said. “I got immediately hooked and it just evolved from there into more of a passion than a hobby ’’(S. Lodestro) Sam no longer wanted to be that skinny kid on the football team; he wanted to be the star player of the football team. Sam didn’t want to be the “stick [with] very little confidence.” He didn’t want to be socially limited by his size. While working out, all of these things were fuel for him to

All-OUT

By: AUSTIN aNAYA

keep at it. He would spend rigorous amounts of hours at the gym. He loved the concept of putting in hard work and receiving tangible, real results through his body image. This would lead to him being more comfort-able about himself as a person. Sam described his newfound confidence be-ing 6 ft. tall and 120 pounds. After building up from the little freshman he was at the beginning of high school, he became a lot more com-fortable and felt much more socially acceptable. The people who take bodybuild-ing seriously devote their whole life to their passion. Sam seems to have fallen into that same pattern. He described his initiation into the sport as one that quickly got him immersed in the lifestyle. “I started reading about training and nutrition and supplementation and I was just hooked,” Sam said. “I loved everything about it I loved the lifestyle and I love the results more than anything ’’(S. Lodestro). Sam realizes this passion has become an addiction for him. And as studies show, addiction occurs quite of-ten in bodybuilding. When working out some factors

led to an addiction. First, endorphins are produced in the brain. Endorphins, are basically natural pain relievers that create a sense of joy and excitement. This is what pushes Sam to work even harder when he is feeling the pain. A study online shows that “endor-phins act in a supporting role by blocking pain and reducing the cost associated with acquiring the benefits of exercise. The release of endorphins has an addictive effect, and more exercise is needed to achieve the same level of euphoria over time” (MK McGovern). Despite the physical endorphins that may be released during Sam’s work out sessions, he has definitely taken pride into improving himself and

heightening the intensity of his passion. Another posi-tive effect of bodybuilding is the confidence you gain. This usually occurs when you achieve the goals you set out to accomplish. A study at New Mexico State Uni-versity showed that body-building does make your more satisfied with your life. Dr. Larry A. Tucker admin-istered a test to one-hundred and eighteen males who lifted weights. The test as-sessed self-confidence, body satisfaction, extraversion, and neuroticism. “Appar-ently, the more weight train-ing reported by the subjects , the more self confident and satisfied they tended to be. Similarly, the males who indicated that they had trained relatively often with

weights in the past showed the most positive attitudes toward their body parts and processes. They also tended to be significantly more sociable, impulsive, and out-going that were the males who reported relatively few months of experience train-ing with weights’’ (Tucker). And when I interviewed Sam I could clearly distin-guish his new-found self from the freshman I once knew. He obviously was a completely different person with a new mentality. Recently, Sam took his passion to the next level by entering a bodybuilding

competition that will occur on October 6th, 2012. For the past three months he has been training for this spe-cific date. Sam has had to tailor his everyday routine to the intensity that will make him stronger or leaner. Although self-motivation is key to Sam, and the image of his brother’s confidence help motivate him, Sam also says his mom, Lesile, has had to help encourage him. If it is by motivation or plan-ning out his diet she said she is always ready to help cook meals for him. “I am meals on wheels. Again the meals are so specific,” Sam’s

Mom said. “It’s like a certain amount of fish with brown rice, with a vegetable, we have to the oils, the fats. And if that’s the one thing I do, I’ll do it ’’( L. Lodestro). Just by stepping into his house you can see how dedi-cated he is. Right when you walk in you see all of his sup-plements and energy drinks. He would later show me his refrigerator, and it was fully of pre-planned meals. These would all consist of large portions of carrots, brown rice, and chicken breasts. All of this dedication really translates to his views of being successful in his pas-sion. “I’d say there is always someone out there that is doing something you’re not,”(S. Lodestro) Sam said. “There’s always someone out there working harder than you right now. And so, you have to keep pushing yourself to the point where, you convince yourself you are working harder than anyone out there. And un-til your at that point you’re always going to have the desire to work harder ”(S. Lodestro). Hard work is more than what Sam has put into his passion of body-building – he’s created a lifestyle that’s shaped his

personality and what defines him. But Sam can’t be characterized as your typical bodybuilder. First of all, he doesn’t do it for the sake of popularity. Secondly, he is a teenager. This is a pretty odd hobby for a teenager to take on. Bodybuilding when you’re a teenager can be extremely harmful to your body. So builders like Sam must be cautious of injuries. Hugo Rivera, a ISSA Certi-fied trainer covers the nega-tive side of bodybuilding. “In my opinion, teen body-builders should not be max-ing out as during these ages the muscles grow stronger much quicker than the ten-dons and ligaments,” Rivera said. “‘Maxing out’, which is doing the most weight one can lift for one repetition, can exponentially increase

the chances of injury, espe-cially when proper form is not being used.’’(Rivera) Sam is no stranger to inju-ries. He once maxed out while doing squats and severely hurt his shoulder. These are only some of the precautions bodybuilder must know. But as Sam en-countered those injuries, he learned with time and has since persisted in bettering himself. For Sam, lifting in high school is only the be-ginning of going through his metamorphosis to turn into the internally and ex-ternally stable, confident person he strives to be. He always plans to keep nutri-tion and weight lifting in his life “I plan to compete throughout my senior year of high school and as well as college and who knows

” Sam said. “I plan to keep it as a part of my life through-out ’’(S. Lodestro) This addiction to bodybuilding has turned out to be a good thing for Sam. It has helped add structure to his life. It’s not only something he can apply to at the gym, but he can translate that persever-ance and hard work into other aspects of his life.