World’s fittest man to visit
Jul 11, 2004
TO become what he is today, he performed a feat: He cycled 100 miles, ran 10 miles, hiked 10 miles, power-walked five miles, kayaked six miles, skied on a Nordic track 10 miles, rowed 10 miles, swam two miles, did 3,000 abdominal crunches, 1,100 jumping jacks, 1,000 leg lifts, 1,100 push-ups and he
By Arthur Baguma
TO become what he is today, he performed a feat: He cycled 100 miles, ran 10 miles, hiked 10 miles, power-walked five miles, kayaked six miles, skied on a Nordic track 10 miles, rowed 10 miles, swam two miles, did 3,000 abdominal crunches, 1,100 jumping jacks, 1,000 leg lifts, 1,100 push-ups and he weight-lifted, cumulatively, 278,540 pounds, all in only 24 hours.
This is what it took Joe Decker to become the fittest man in the world. The American-based specialist who broke the year 2000 Guinness Book of World Records 24-hour physical fitness challenge will be in Uganda this evening.
A group of health conscious individuals under the umbrella name, Kampala Hash House Harriers (KH3) are already gearing up for his visit.
“The fraternity of about 200 hashers around will attend and expect some tips from Joe Decker on how to keep fit.
“His objective is to bring health and fitness awareness to an international audience. He is a renowned fitness trainer, syndicated columnist and author of “The World’s Fittest You,†Godfrey Ivudria the head of the team said.
Stephen Asiimwe, Editor in Chief of Procurement News, who are hosting Decker in Uganda, said, “Despite his international celebrity status, he is not known to many east Africans.
He will, for the first time, visit the three east African countries where he is going to showcase his renowned fitness programmes to orient people towards health consciousness.â€
According to a report in one of America’s popular publications, The Philadelphia Inquirer, on a typical Saturday, Decker will rise at 4.30am and run 40 to 50 miles (This is like running from Kampala to Jinja), or bike 50 to 100 miles, or kayak 20 to 30 miles and is back home early in the afternoon.
The report said most of what he does routinely would kill most people because for him a marathon is a training run.
“I don’t mean to sound crazy, but once you get to a certain point, it is just nothing. I run a marathon a month,†he is quoted in one of the interviews he has done during his career.
According to another report in The Washington Post (2001), Mr. Decker jogged 25,000 cumulative miles in training and races — the equivalent of one lap around the globe.
The fun began in May 2000, with the mother of all endurance contests, the Raid Gauloises, which was a 520-mile adventure race from Tibet to northern India via Nepal and the Himalayas.
He finished in eight days. This adventure race is considered by many to be the most gruelling endurance race on earth.
Decker calls himself “a country boy at heart.†He grew up on a farm in central Illinois, near the town of Cuba, about 50 miles southwest of Peoria. His father is a farmer who also worked for Caterpillar. His mother, Diane, was a custodian at the local elementary school.
He was the oldest of four boys who made their own entertainment. “I was never inside.
I was not a TV kid,†he says. I was always outside, swimming, climbing, running, playing in the woods. With no money for college, he joined the army, which he credits for toughening him, mentally and physically.
One could already be asking, why does he do it? According to The Observer report, his could be a childhood of extreme poverty or maybe it is his physique, more that of a weightlifter than an athlete, or the memory of being called a ‘fat boy’.
“I am an average person,†he insists. “What I’ve done is something just about anybody could do if they put their mind to it.
Don’t just want to do something; if you want to attain something, get off your butt and make it happen.
The Observer said that as a teenager, Mr. Decker devoured beer and pizza without exercise and saw his body balloon.
When he joined the US army, his inability to run two miles in 16 minutes meant he had to endure the humiliation of extra training in the ‘fat boy programme’.
TO become what he is today, he performed a feat: He cycled 100 miles, ran 10 miles, hiked 10 miles, power-walked five miles, kayaked six miles, skied on a Nordic track 10 miles, rowed 10 miles, swam two miles, did 3,000 abdominal crunches, 1,100 jumping jacks, 1,000 leg lifts, 1,100 push-ups and he weight-lifted, cumulatively, 278,540 pounds, all in only 24 hours.
This is what it took Joe Decker to become the fittest man in the world. The American-based specialist who broke the year 2000 Guinness Book of World Records 24-hour physical fitness challenge will be in Uganda this evening.
A group of health conscious individuals under the umbrella name, Kampala Hash House Harriers (KH3) are already gearing up for his visit.
“The fraternity of about 200 hashers around will attend and expect some tips from Joe Decker on how to keep fit.
“His objective is to bring health and fitness awareness to an international audience. He is a renowned fitness trainer, syndicated columnist and author of “The World’s Fittest You,†Godfrey Ivudria the head of the team said.
Stephen Asiimwe, Editor in Chief of Procurement News, who are hosting Decker in Uganda, said, “Despite his international celebrity status, he is not known to many east Africans.
He will, for the first time, visit the three east African countries where he is going to showcase his renowned fitness programmes to orient people towards health consciousness.â€
According to a report in one of America’s popular publications, The Philadelphia Inquirer, on a typical Saturday, Decker will rise at 4.30am and run 40 to 50 miles (This is like running from Kampala to Jinja), or bike 50 to 100 miles, or kayak 20 to 30 miles and is back home early in the afternoon.
The report said most of what he does routinely would kill most people because for him a marathon is a training run.
“I don’t mean to sound crazy, but once you get to a certain point, it is just nothing. I run a marathon a month,†he is quoted in one of the interviews he has done during his career.
According to another report in The Washington Post (2001), Mr. Decker jogged 25,000 cumulative miles in training and races — the equivalent of one lap around the globe.
The fun began in May 2000, with the mother of all endurance contests, the Raid Gauloises, which was a 520-mile adventure race from Tibet to northern India via Nepal and the Himalayas.
He finished in eight days. This adventure race is considered by many to be the most gruelling endurance race on earth.
Decker calls himself “a country boy at heart.†He grew up on a farm in central Illinois, near the town of Cuba, about 50 miles southwest of Peoria. His father is a farmer who also worked for Caterpillar. His mother, Diane, was a custodian at the local elementary school.
He was the oldest of four boys who made their own entertainment. “I was never inside.
I was not a TV kid,†he says. I was always outside, swimming, climbing, running, playing in the woods. With no money for college, he joined the army, which he credits for toughening him, mentally and physically.
One could already be asking, why does he do it? According to The Observer report, his could be a childhood of extreme poverty or maybe it is his physique, more that of a weightlifter than an athlete, or the memory of being called a ‘fat boy’.
“I am an average person,†he insists. “What I’ve done is something just about anybody could do if they put their mind to it.
Don’t just want to do something; if you want to attain something, get off your butt and make it happen.
The Observer said that as a teenager, Mr. Decker devoured beer and pizza without exercise and saw his body balloon.
When he joined the US army, his inability to run two miles in 16 minutes meant he had to endure the humiliation of extra training in the ‘fat boy programme’.