To Hell and Back: Tom Prince’s Lesson

“To hell and back” is no figure of speech here. It is Tom Prince’s own story of how the choices he made for bodybuilding landed him in a hospital bed. It is a harsh reminder: a strong body is not always a healthy one, especially when the warning signs are ignored.

Tom Prince – 3rd place at the 2001 Night of Champions. Abridged from Flex magazine.

Why does the to-hell-and-back story matter?

In May 2003, Prince was working his way into contest shape. Training, diet and pressure were all at their peak at once. He was taking antibiotics, but the symptoms kept coming back, stronger than before. He was exhausted all the time, and on a low-calorie diet it felt even worse.

Tom Prince was a man who always tried to find strength within himself. His motto was simple: never give up. In the gym, that mindset can help. When it comes to health, though, it can turn dangerous, because pain, fatigue and strange symptoms are not always something you can simply push through.

The nosebleeds were the worst of it. Sometimes they went on for hours, and the blood was thick as syrup. In April, seven weeks before the contest, his wife Rebecca took Tom to the hospital. The doctor took blood samples. Prince was still worried about the contest, because that year he might have had a shot at winning the Night of Champions title.

When the doctor came back, he took Rebecca aside and quietly told her that Tom had to be admitted right away. Prince asked: right now, or in a day or two? The answer was short: right now.

What sent him to hell was the warning signs he ignored

The blood test showed a creatinine level of 6.9. For him, a normal level would have been 2.0. That pointed to serious kidney damage, and the situation was life-threatening. The wait was full of pain and worry. When his heart was checked, it turned out there were problems there too. That finally broke Tom for real. Heart problems.

He was given medication and antibiotics to bring down his extremely high blood pressure and help his heart work better. A few hours later, Tom was already feeling better. He had come very close to death. He lay in the hospital for four days. His blood partly normalized, although the numbers were still poor.

When Prince heard how serious his condition was, he knew where to look for the cause: the “drugs” he had used for bodybuilding. When the doctor asked whether he used any substances, Tom answered honestly: “I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, but I use steroids.” When the doctor wanted to know which ones, Prince’s reply was dry: if you want to know everything, you’d better get a second pen.

When he started recalling everything he had taken, the list scared even him. Anabolic steroids, growth hormones, other similar substances, painkillers and extremely high amounts of protein had the doctor seriously worried. Together, they had put a strain on his liver, affected his kidneys and contributed to his very high blood pressure.

What should Tom Prince have done sooner?

Prince later realized that the kidney damage may have begun as early as his preparation for the 2001 Mr. Olympia. That was when strange water “pockets” appeared in different parts of his body. The kidneys’ job is to clean the blood and keep the body’s water and electrolytes in balance. Unusual water retention may have been an early warning sign.

He regretted not having had blood tests done sooner. In 1999 he had severe headaches, probably related to high blood pressure. But he did nothing about it. Honestly, this is a familiar pattern for many athletes: when your physique is improving, health worries seem like background noise.

Prince’s own advice was simple: bodybuilders who use steroids should get regular blood tests. It is not a big price to pay for your health. In his view, many don’t do it because they are afraid to hear the result. But bad news on paper is better than bad news in intensive care.

Tom Prince was 23 years old when he started his first steroid cycle. The doses were small at first, but the amounts rose gradually, because his body seemed to get used to the smaller ones. In 2002 he spent more than $4000 on 13 different “drugs” over a 16-week contest cycle. Not all of them were anabolic steroids, but the overall picture was frightening.

Later he said it was almost suicidal. At the time, though, it seemed to him that if others were using even 2x as much, he would fall behind. This is the darker side of bodybuilding. At some point you simply can’t add more. You can’t eat 3000 g of protein a day or train legs for 10 hours straight. You hit a limit.

A practical lesson: health before ego

When Prince started his first cycle at 23, he already weighed 242 pounds (109 kg) at 5’8”, about 180 cm. That didn’t come from substances alone. His size was the result of genetics, hard training and a thorough diet. The “drugs” were largely overrated, as he later admitted.

After the summer of 2003, Prince kept getting tests done 3 times a week. His kidneys were working at about 80%. For him that was a tolerable result, but not normal enough for a full life. Prince needed a kidney transplant, and his younger brother was willing to be the donor.

One week after coming home from the hospital, he went back to the gym. Sitting around at home was crushing him. His energy slowly began to recover. His doctor allowed him to raise his daily protein intake from 100g to 250. His weight climbed back to more than 300 pounds (135kg). In August, after four months “drug-free,” he had deliberately brought his weight down to 285 pounds (128kg).

The hardest part was training without painkillers. His elbows and shoulders ached, but he did not stop training. He used lighter weights and did more reps. The goal was no longer to be the strongest person in the gym at any cost. The goal was to survive and take control of his life again.

Lying in the hospital, Prince first thought he would never compete again. Then the idea came to try once more, but in a cleaner way: get his blood pressure under control, get his kidneys in order and have his blood work done properly. Later he spoke of a strategy of competing with minimal amounts of “drugs,” cutting them to 1/3 of what he had used before and, if his health allowed, preparing for the 2004 Night of Champions contest.

He planned to compete lighter than before. Instead of his previous 260 pounds, he talked about stepping on stage at 240 pounds. Victor Martinez had weighed 235 pounds when he won and was taller than Prince, which gave Prince hope. His next contest was meant to be his last. But a truly happy ending would not have been just a title; it would have been that we could still hear his warm laugh many years from now.

FAQ: lessons from going to hell and back

Should you always put up with pain in the gym?

No. Normal exertion and muscle fatigue are one thing, but long nosebleeds, severe headaches, water retention and high blood pressure are warning signs. They need to be checked out.

Why are blood tests important for a bodybuilder?

A blood test can reveal a problem before you feel completely wrecked. Prince’s creatinine level of 6.9 was a sign that could no longer be ignored.

What is the simplest message of this story?

A simple truth: no physique, record or title is worth a kidney, a heart or a life. When your body sends a signal, you have to listen.

Author: joker FLEX

Come and train! ArtGym