In the beginning, there was professional football and Victorian Dennis Guevin had to hit the gym to make the B.C.
Lions as an offensive lineman.
That was back in the days between 1982 and 1987 (which included the 1985 Grey Cup) and Guevin was carrying a playing weight of 285 to 300 pounds.
His time in the gym was aimed at achieving the massive, explosive strength lineman employ at the snap of the football.
Now, Guevin is participating in the Times Colonist Health Club Challenge. The 52-year-old real estate agent is hitting the gym to achieve a strength and endurance better suited to a healthy, middleaged lifestyle instead of a gameplaying readiness.
So far, half-way through the 12-week challenge, Guevin has lost just over 14 pounds.
That's well in line with a prescribed plan to drop two to three pounds a week from his sixfootfive, 370-pound frame.
"That's considerable," Guevin said.
"I picked up two jars of peanut butter in the grocery store the other day and put them in my pocket and they felt heavy," he said. "I am looking at them and they weigh maybe four pounds.
"So if I am down 14 pounds, that's pretty good."
In January, Guevin and four other readers were selected to be part of the Times Colonist Health Club Challenge. It's a $3,000, 12-week fitness package of measurements, tests, metabolic and fitness assessments, nutritional instruction and emotional counselling designed to get each participant on the road to a healthy fitness level.
The Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence was responsible for the initial testing and measurement and is co-ordinating the program. But each challenger is working out at community fitness centres around Greater Victoria. Guevin is working out at Crystal Pool and Fitness Centre at 2275 Quadra St.
Meanwhile, about 350 people are registered with the Times Colonist At Home Challenge, following directions and advice printed in the Times Colonist and online at timescolonist.com/healthclub.
Kevin Clarke, a personal fitness trainer at Crystal Pool Fitness Centre, said working with Guevin is easy because of his football days.
"He wants to see results and we know his potential because of how fit he has been before," Clarke said.
On the other hand, he said, football was long enough ago for Guevin that in some ways, he qualifies as a beginner.
Also, the routines of Guevin's football days were designed to achieve explosive strength. Now the goal is to reach a healthy endurance level.
In his B.C. Lions days, Guevin would work out by bench-pressing as much as possible (his best was 405 pounds). He now presses 155 pounds in sets of eight.
Guevin works out with Clarke three times a week. On two of those days, the routines are about twothirds exercises with weights and one-third aerobic fitness for his heart and lungs. The third day consists mostly of aerobic work.
"We want him to capitalize on his strength potential but also build up his endurance," Clarke said.
Meanwhile, Guevin finds himself reunited with some long-lost pals when he picks up the weights.
"We are doing exercises that basically I had done 24 years ago," he said. "Squats, dead lifts, bench presses - those were like my old friends."
The Times Colonist Health Club Challenge diet is also proving a success.
Guevin gives full credit to the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence and its initial metabolic testing. It established the base-level caloric intake necessary to sustain his body.
A nutritionist then established a daily intake designed to see him lose a healthy two to three pounds a week.
Guevin has learned to plan his daily meals and make sure that if he misses a meal, such as lunch, he has a healthy snack on hand, such as an apple or 15 almonds, to see him through.
While he expresses gratitude for the chance to be part of the Health Club Challenge, Guevin admits he doesn't really enjoy working out.
During his football days, he did it so he could make the team, or maintain his position on the team, and because he loved playing football.
Now, however, he is taking satisfaction from small, personal benefits.
He sleeps better and feels better. His wife jokes that it's easier to give him a hug.
Meeting long-term goals might mean going without a few things, notably the medications now assisting with his blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
"What would be really great in time would be to walk away from those drugs," he said. rwatts@timescolonist.com
TIMESCOLONIST.COM
There is much more Times Colonist Health Club information online. Go to timescolonist.com/healthclub to find blogs - including those by our participants - video, stories, fitness and nutrition tips.
