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.