Dialogs About Diabetic Dynamos

Dialogs About Diabetic Dynamos

DIALOGS ABOUT
DIABETIC DYNAMOS

by Debra Frank

The Steve Caggiano Story
The popularity of body-building as a
sport has grown enormously in the past decade. Champions like Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Lou Ferrigno, and Beverly Francis have become household names. As this sport
expands, the difference between "unnatural" (steroid-enhanced) and
"natural" body-building becomes a major issue for competitors and
event promoters.
Many athletic organizations allow only
"natural" body- building competitions, and the athletes' blood and
urine are tested before each event. A competitor in such a drug-free event has
no shortcuts, and must achieve and maintain top physical form without outside
influence. Strict nutrition, safe dieting, and serious weight training, combined
with cardiovascular conditioning and continual flexibility/stretching are the
tools for success. Is this the place for a type I diabetic?
Stephen Thomas Caggiano has had IDDM,
insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, since the age of six. For 30 years, this
man has taken insulin to keep his body functioning normally, and to stay alive.
And since high school, he has been seriously involved in weight training and
bodybuilding.
Stephen remembers being one of the smallest
guys in his high school graduating class. As a young boy, his sports and exercise
were closely monitored, and, because of his diabetes, he was often overlooked
for team sports. He found out early that weight training enhanced his insulin
sensitivity and allowed him to lower his daily dosages. He also found that he
was good, very good, at it.
At the All Natural Physique and Power
Conference (ANPPC) Eastern Regional Competition in 1996, Stephen utilized his
natural abilities and skills, and the discipline he learned mastering a much
harder variable, his diabetes, to win against non-diabetic competitors! Afterward,
the others complimented him on his physique, and asked him what kinds of supplements
he takes to stay so "ripped," in such good competitive form. When
he answered that he only takes a multivitamin, to keep up the essentials he
might lose if he has a "hypo" or excessive urination overnight, folks
were astonished, and asked him to reveal his training program. The rest of us
want to know, too.
Stephen trains four days on, one day
off, an average of two hours each session. He warms up with some "cardio"
exercises (5-10 minutes) and then a full body stretch. Each day of his four-day
cycle he works one specific body area: Day one; chest/bicep. Day two; back/rear
deltoids. Day three; shoulders/triceps. Day four; legs only. He does more "cardio"
exercises, every other day, for 20 minutes or so, and works his abdominal and
calf muscles every other day.
Balancing diabetes, insulin injections,
and food is a science by itself, but add the strain of serious body- building,
and it takes a disciplined and dedicated individual to live up to the test (Stephen
says that's his secret). He takes Regular and NPH insulin twice a day, morning
and night, and adds a lunchtime injection as needed. He eats approximately five
times a day, and tests his blood sugars at least six times, so he can carefully
adjust food and insulin to his anticipated level of exertion and his present
blood sugar level. Because of his diabetes, carbohydrates and fats are limited
in his diet, so he has to be creative and careful in balancing the diabetes,
medication, nutrition, and exercise. He makes it work. His HbA1C is 5.8 now,
and his doctor has commented on how Stephen's tight control has slowed the possible
progression of diabetes complications. If I didn't know his personal regime,
it would be hard for me to believe he has IDDM.
Stephen, a member of the Amateur Body-building
Association, took the same formula used by millions of diabetics to live long
and healthy lives, mastered it, then used it to beat the odds and the competition.
He is a champion.