In Greek Gods He Trusts

One Club Member turned around his health by pursuing perfection.

Simon Ross is easy to find in the Club’s Fitness Center. Lying on a bench, the exuberant, burly Londoner holds a 36-kilogram dumbbell over his head. His personal trainer, Marc McDonald, is close at hand.

Finished with his reps, Ross flexes his thick biceps, neck and calves. Each is 43 centimeters in diameter, the desired measurement on the way to attaining perfect body symmetry.

“For me, I am in finance, I am in hedge funds, and everything is out of your control. You’re managing risks that are unseen,” the 46-year-old says. “This is something I can control to some degree. You can control what you put in your
mouth. You can control how you feel. It’s all about studying, learning, having a model and creating an avenue to get there.”

Ross has lost 24 kilos since he began training with McDonald in the spring of 2014. Prior to that, he was a regular lifter of weights from his college days at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, but he never watched his diet. He ingested
protein powders to bulk up. He ate processed bread and refined sugars.

“I wasn’t eating right and I was fat,” says Ross. “And I was angry. I was an angry man. My grandmother always said, ‘Be an iron fist in a velvet glove. What happened to your velvet glove, Simon?’”

He was also lethargic. In 2010, Ross’ doctor conducted a hemoglobin A1C test, which revealed type-2 diabetes.

Drowsy from jet lag and his hay fever meds shortly after the diagnosis, Ross blacked out behind the wheel of his car while stopped at a light in Ginza. His car veered into another vehicle.

“If the car hadn’t been there, I would have gone up on the sidewalk and killed people,” says Ross. “That to me was a wake-up.”

He tackled the problem on his own for four years, then last February a friend convinced him to attend a health spa in Switzerland. There, his diet was strictly controlled.

“From 18 years old to 45, I didn’t know what I was doing,” says Ross. “Then, all of a sudden, I could see how I had to do it.”

His body responded to the new diet. Ross had more energy, and his attitude and outlook on life improved.

His friend told him he looked like Steve Reeves, the former Mr Universe and 1950s movie star who played Hercules. Reeves and his contemporary Reg Park sculpted their bodies after the classic Grecian physique. Ross found the model to emulate.

“I don’t want to get big. I want to get healthy, and, yes, I want to be beautiful,” says Ross. “Because beauty is truth, truth beauty, and that is all. That’s Keats. That is quality of life. It’s about beholding beauty. Whether it is in music or architecture or clothes, it is beauty that lifts up spirits. That is part of what I am trying to obtain for myself.”

With McDonald’s help, Ross developed a superfoods strategy. He ingests vitamins, minerals, greens, protein and the occasional square of dark chocolate, abstaining from dairy and wheat. At times, he fasts for 20 hours, just as the ancient
Greek warriors once did.

“They didn’t have trail mix in their skirts, did they?” says Ross. “I model my diet on the Greek classic. I model my physique on the Greek classic. I have a photo of Steve Reeves on my phone. …It’s about having a vision and realizing that vision.”

Ross works out with McDonald at the Fitness Center three times a week for 90 minutes. They combine resistance training with assisted stretching.

“For most people, in my experience, 80 percent of making dramatic change is going to be a food strategy,” says McDonald.

“People say, ‘OK, fine,’ but very few will actually do it. You are susceptible to thinking, calories in, calories out. Not all calories are created equal. If you think you are just going to go to the gym and burn those off, you might be disappointed with the  results.”

Ross weighs 97.5 kilos. His target is around 93. His diabetes is under control, and his doctor told him his heart is in better shape than it was 15 years ago. His 6-year-old daughter says he looks like a superhero.

“The Club has really helped me. Marc has been very instructive and the staff has been great. My wife has been extremely supportive and I have been inspired by other Members as well,” says Ross. “My biggest thing is mind-body connection. If you are going to do this, you have to want it enough.”

Visit the Club website or Fitness Center to find out how a personal trainer can help you reach your health and fitness goals.

Words: Nick Narigon
Photo: Benjamin Parks