Of course I had to be in good shape to be a dancer. I had started body building 19 years earlier when I got a set of springs. I had a chest expander and hand grips and extra pieces so I could do presses and curls too.
Very soon after that I bought a 210 lb York barbell and dumbbell set. My dad took me down to a store somewhere down in Chicago on Division St. The owner introduced us to a body builder who had also just dropped in. This guy, he said, was so strong and full of hard muscle that when some guy shot him in the stomach, the muscles protected him from death! We were impressed and went away knowing I made a good decision to begin pumping iron!
And I worked out like crazy, at home, and at school too. I convinced my teachers to let me take much of my scheduled individual study time in the gym, weight lifting. (Our H.S. was kind of "experimental" and sort of modeled after college with lectures, small groups, and individual study periods!....we had people from all over coming to visit us to see how we were being educated)
But anyway I enjoyed my freedom at school and exercised a lot!
And I kept it up in college too.
I did a lot hiking and biking also.
