Lisa Bryant gives Mike Hall another title to add to his collection – Delmarva Treasure.
Mike Hall is a fitness trainer at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
When he was younger, he used tree branches, car rims, and cinder blocks as his weights. He realized he had a passion for weight lifting. In high school, Hall was a shot-put champion and could bench press 400 pounds.
Hall enlisted in the Marine Corps. He learned of a lifting team there and wanted to join. The drill instructor introduced him to steroids. Hall refused to take the pills and his drill sergeant said, “Get out of here. You’ll never become anybody.”
That statement challenged Hall to pursue his dreams. In 1986, Hall was given the title “The Strongest Drug-Free Man in the World.”
Hall went on to become a 5-time drug-free world power lifting gold-medalist, 10 national power lifting titles, and is a 2-time pan am games gold-medalist.
Hall retired from power lifting in 1991 and in 1992 he appeared on a poster as part of a campaign by the National Federation of High Schools to combat steroid and drug use.
Hall suffered a widow maker heart attack in December 2013. Very few people survive this attack and Hall says a lifetime of physical fitness saved his life.
Hall tells Lisa that God is his trainer and that he thanks him always. Hall says, “He allowed me to be able to come back, because he’s not done with me. To allow me to be able to share with the young people about what it takes and the crusade message of being drug-free.”
