Pat Warner Article 1 – Biography & Beef Column Announcement

Introducing the Pat Warner Column

My name is Pat Warner, and I’m proud to announce that I will be writing a regular column in Beef magazine. Some of you may know me due to my career in bodybuilding. For those of you who don’t, I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself and tell you a little about my life and my long association with bodybuilding.

How it all began

My story begins when I was born in Leicester in 1965. Not long afterwards my family relocated to Bradford, so I have always considered myself a Bradford boy.

Although at the peak of my bodybuilding career I weighed in at 21stone with abs, if you had seen me in my youth, standing 5’ 10” and weighing 10 stone 7Ibs, I wouldn’t have been an obvious choice for a future bodybuilding champion. Although I was naturally very athletic and a keen footballer with the potential to turn pro, I had no intention of becoming a bodybuilder. I only began to lift weights because I suffered from recurrent hamstrings injuries and was advised to strengthen them. So, I took myself down to the local leisure centre (there were no serious gyms locally in those days) and began to train. One day, I noticed some guys doing squats, bench press and deadlifts in the corner of the room. I had no idea what powerlifting was at that time, but I watched them with interest and when I thought that they had gone, I went over and tried to lift one of the bars they had left loaded. To my surprise, I lifted it relatively easily and without knowing it, I had has just done a 195kg deadlift. It turns out, I equalled the Yorkshire record at the time for my weight class. That was my introduction to powerlifting, which I competed in for a number of years.

Bodybuilding came later. Those of you of a certain age will remember the TV show The Incredible Hulk. As soon as I saw this mountain of muscle, I was mesmerised. I didn’t know it was Lou Ferringo and that he was bodybuilder, until Mr Universe Basil Francis informed me. From that moment, I knew what I wanted to be.

My time in the spotlight

My first show was Latham’s First Timers, which I placed 8^th out of 15. Looking back, I would have done better if I hadn’t covered myself in quite so much baby oil and had known you are supposed diet down for a show. It was a great learning experience, and as I say, “every day is a school day”. That was in 1992. I then went to compete in somewhere between 75-100 shows, with my last being the Amateur Olympia around 2014/15. I won several UK titles and a European title. I came second in Mr World in New Zealand, losing by just 1 point in a field of truly international competitors. I won Mr Britain, placed 4 times in the top 5 of Mr Universe and competed 3 times in the Arnold Classic in the US, when it was invitation only.

It may sound strange, but the show that meant the most, was winning the local qualifier for Mr Britain in Leeds. I had won qualifiers all over the country, but up to that point, I couldn’t win my home show. So, when I eventually did, the victory was all the sweeter. Another memorable show, for a very different reason, was at the Blackpool Winter Gardens when I met Russ Abbot, who I was a huge fan of. I was so awestruck by Russ that when a fan asked me for my autograph, I signed it Russ Abbot without thinking, much to the fan’s bewilderment, and mine.

I have been lucky to meet so many big names in the sport such as Ernie Taylor, Ronnie Colemen, and Shawn Ray, to name just a few. I have been influenced by many great bodybuilders but Ronnie Coleman and Flex Lewis have been particularly inspirational. I must also give huge credit to Basil Francis, Colin Wright, Ian Morgan, Karl Tierney, and my main mentor, Kerry Kayes. Without these guiding lights, I would not have had a career, and without Hashim Rheman, my good friend, brother and literally my saviour, I would not be here today to tell my story.

Superman meets his kryptonite: How I nearly lost everything

Bodybuilding has given me so much and then one fateful day, I came close to losing it all. The last thing I remember was taking a break during a ‘light’ training session, then waking up 7 days later in intensive care. I had suffered a massive cardiac arrest and had been clinically dead for so long that I was unlikely to recover. The doctors warned my wife that if I did regain consciousness, I was likely to have brain damage and not even recognise her.

I have no recollection of what happened, but I was told later that Hashim, who I was training with at the time, came back into the room and found me slumped on the floor. At first, he thought I was playing a joke, so he gave me a playful kick and then realised that my body was limp and literally lifeless. Without hesitation, he leapt into action and began CPR while instructing his wife to call an ambulance. He continued to work on me for 45 minutes, as the ambulance was delayed. Once the paramedics arrived, they asked him to continue for a further 15 minutes until the air ambulance could land. I literally owe my life to him, for which I will be eternally grateful.

Thankfully, I did survive, but after 7 weeks in hospital, my weight had dropped from a lean 20 stone (125kg) down to just over 16 stone (105kg). Not only had I lost 20kg of hard-earned muscle, but I had gone from a 320kg squat, 350kg deadlift and 240kg bench press to being unable to even lift a mobile phone! We know you that you can’t buy physique, you have to earn it through hard work dedication, and now suddenly I am seeing years of sacrifice, pain and effort just disappear before by eyes.

As bad as this may sound, it was not the worst of it. Before I explain what happened next, it is important to understand that I spent many years working on the doors in some rough venues, and have faced many challenging situations, some of them even life threatening. So, it would be fair to say that I wasn’t easily scared or intimidated, but nothing was to prepare me for the living nightmare that was to confront me when I eventually came home.

In short, my life imploded. I had gone from feeling invincible and fearless to being fearful of everything. My entire world shrank to one room in my flat. Until recently, no really spoke about the mental health aspects of a traumatic life- threatening health issue such as the one I had experienced. Consequently, I wasn’t prepared for it. Also, I am of age and background where people didn’t talk about mental health, certainly not men. The attitude was always ‘man up and get on with it’. Sometimes, no matter big and strong you are, and with the best will in the world, you just can’t carry on.

I felt like a super hero who lost his super powers. It was like I had been swallowed into the belly of some great dark beast with no escape. It may seem like I am being overly dramatic or exaggerating, but those of you who have experienced a similar situation will understand what I am trying to say. For those of you who haven’t, there are no words to properly describe such feelings.   Everything was negative and hopeless. I couldn’t bear to face another day; I just wanted to go back to bed. Although I wasn’t suicidal, the thought of dying didn’t bother me. I was never what you’d call a drinker, but began to drink 3 bottles of beer a day and 5 or 6 bottles of wine per week.  People often talking of hitting rock bottom, well I felt that I had not only hit rock bottom but was now digging a hole.

I didn’t leave my flat for a year.  As much as I love my family, I couldn’t face seeing them. Perhaps the most devastating was the fact my mother could only see her son from a balcony and not hold him when he was going through such torment. Several years later, it still devastates me to imagine the terrible anguish I caused her. I was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a mental health condition that often occurs after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event, which, to put it mildly, can significantly impact your daily life and functioning.

Looking to the future

Although those dark days are behind me, I’m still a work in progress and have way to go but I’m getting there with the love and support of my wife and family and other great people.

After be given some misleading advice initially, which stopped me training for 3 years, I am now working hard to regain my fitness, albeit with some adaptations to allow for the constrictions of my pacemaker.

As we know, getting in shape is as much about we do in the kitchen as the gym, and rehabilitation is no different. So, I’ve got my diet back on track and am finding several supplements really beneficial. These are a vitamin/mineral mega pack, glutamine, collagen, vitamin D, and Time 4 Whey Protein Professional.

Now I have a new lease of life, I want to give something back to the sport that I have loved for so long. With this in mind, I’ll be doing a number of things: Firstly, I’ll be writing a regular column here in Beef magazine.  My aim is to not only talk about bodybuilding, but to use my experience to help others carry the sport forward. I want to encourage interaction and create a community feel. I’ll be inviting you to ask questions, particularly those that people are often scared or embarrassed to ask.

I’m also going to be working with my old mate from way back, Paul Smith from Time 4 Nutrition. We will be organising a series of events at gyms across the country to get back to grass roots and meet people in person. I will be providing advice and answering questions in a relaxed and informal way. This is will help to further create the sense of community that I feel is missing within our sport that I believe is so important. We’ll also be doing some things online and that I hope you will find useful and interesting.

Don’t be surprised if you see me at a show.  Not in the spotlight this time, but backstage helping to organise things and offering some support and advice where it’s needed.

There is no point in looking back in life so I am looking to the future with renewed confidence and optimism and taking the valuable lessons that my life and bodybuilding have taught me and putting them to good use. People often ask me if I miss being 21 stone of muscle. While I loved it and I felt invincible in the gym, I find easier to tie my shoelaces now.

I hope you have found my story interesting, and perhaps helpful if it has touched on issues you have also had to deal with.

I look forward to speaking to you all again soon through my column, and hopefully I’ll get to meet many of in person on my travels.

Until then, keep lifting the bar!!

Regards

Pat