Life weighed heavy on Bryan Ballard, so he started lifting back

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Bryan Ballard has had struggles in his life.

From a significant gallbladder surgery, to a nasty recent bout with COVID.

“Gallbladder was wrapped around my small intestine,” said Ballard. “They had to call two surgeons with another doctor, and they said it was the worst one they’ve ever seen. They weren’t sure I was gonna make it through the surgery.”

After a hip replacement surgery, he couldn’t take it anymore.

“I couldn’t envision myself in a walker or wheelchair, and that’s where I was heading,” he said.

So the 70-year-old Ballard - for the first time in his life - started hitting the weights.

“I could feel my hip, but it got better, it started getting better,” he said. “I’d move up on weights, then I’d add a machine, and then I’d add another machine. Pretty soon if I don’t do all of them I felt bad. I feel so much better when I get done.”

Life has hit Ballard hard lately, it doesn’t compare to the blow he took 11 years ago, when his wife Carol passed away.

“I think of her every day,” Ballard said. “Love of my life. Gorgeous, smart, funny.”

It could have been much earlier. When Bryan first met Carol, she had just had an aneurism

“She made it through it. She told me at the time ‘you shouldn’t date me, cause doctors didn’t give me that long to live. I probably won’t live more than three or four months,” Ballard said. “I go ‘it don’t matter. I’d rather spend one day with you and be happy than a lifetime of misery with somebody else.’”

After fighting through depression, and his physical ailments, Ballard started to rev up in the gym, doing it when most of the world is winding down.

He works out at around 11 at night.

“Because I’ve got all the machines to myself. I work out on like 18 different machines, and it’s hard to get ‘em in the exact order than I like,” said Ballard.

Ballard is a renaissance man, with interest in dancing, taekwondo, illustrating, model plans and more. But a body builder, he is not.

Ballard says his goals aren’t about perfect form or massive muscle growth, just a lifestyle change to keep him on his feet and dancing.

“I chose to change my diet, I chose to work out,” said Ballard. “I hate taking drugs and I got off of them.”

“Pain pills, aspirin, all gone.”

So late at night, when the rest of the world is slowing down, you can catch Bryan Ballard pushing some serious weight.

“Once I get in here, I might be yawning, and then after about five minutes I’m fine,” said Ballard. “I can’t quit till I’m done.”