JIM CORVIN: RECORD -SETTER DESPITE ONCE HAVING A BACK INJURY SO BAD IT ‘LOOKED LIKE A BOMB WENT OFF’

By all accounts, 49-year-old Jim Corvin was leading an ideal, normal life. 

He was always active, a proud father of two and a dedicated husband to a great wife. In fact, he had just accepted a promising new job. 

Until in a split-second, things would change forever. 

“My wife and I were working out in our basement doing some light deadlifts when I felt the twinge in my lower back,” Corvin said. “Not too alarmed I continued the workout. Just two hours later I had trouble navigating the stairs to get back to the living room. Long story short, I found myself in need a of discectomy just months later.”

During rehabilitation of this minor surgery while heading out the door for work, Jim fell on some icy stairs and later found out he had broken his L5 and needed another surgery to clean up what the doctor later described as, “looking like a bomb went off in your back.”

Damn.

Fast-forward to 2014. Jim had gone through five back procedures and was addicted to pain killers. Left with no hope, he was facing yet another surgery and pain management clinics as a means to cope for the rest of his life. 

“Angry and blaming attitudes took over,” he said. “However, one day while posting a ‘feel sorry’ post on social media, my wife bluntly told me, ‘Nobody wants to see that.’ That’s when I decided to take myself back and start showing people it can be done without the crutch of blame I was leaning on. Anger turned to determination, blaming turned to self-accountability and I set out to make myself better.”

Cycling strengthened his core and legs, chiropractic strengthened his spine, and prayer strengthened his spirit.

“I soon started lifting and found a circle of friends, including my wife to support my purpose,” he added. “I just finished my 4th powerlifting meet with a 630lb squat which is a SPF Masters State and World record. I also have a 405lb bench and 500 deadlift to my resume.”

For Jim, powerlifting is a “Me vs. Me” mentality. He strives to increase numbers, perfect his form and learn constantly about his limits and how to break through them. It’s the perfect platform for him to focus on himself and how mind, body and determination can be tested and fought through. 

“My most inspiring moment was right before my 630 Squat at SPF nationals,” Jim said. “I was preparing for the lift. I had the music in my headphones and getting ready when my phone got a text. My wife, who was in the crowd simply said, ‘This is what you have trained for, and I know you have it in you.’ There is no way I could have missed that lift after that. I turned my music off and just meditated on her words. I am pretty sure whatever you put on the bar that day I could have lifted it.”

Jim says what keeps him going is knowing that his daughters and wife look at him every day as a walking miracle. Prior to seeing him lift and set records, they were dressing him and tying his shoes. They remember pushing Jim in a wheelchair on vacation because he couldn’t make it back to the cruise ship after an excursion.  Jim said he will never forget that and won’t let himself get back to that dark place.

“The APEMAN brand reminds me of all the underdogs out there that no one believes in until they stood tall and proved everyone wrong,” Jim said. “I see so many great stories of people that have fallen to addition, or tragic times only to rise above it. I also love that fact that APEMAN gives back into other groups in need every month.”

Jim said the first APEMAN shirt he bought was REBIRTH. But like his own courageous journey, there is a new theme he identifies with.

“Early in the process the REBIRTH shirt was my favorite just because I was starting over,” he said. “Recently it is the HOLDFAST phrase. It is true that the ‘darkness, sin or wrongs’ will stay with us even in our happy days. But if we HOLDFAST to what is good and what keeps us going it will overshadow all the wrongs. What is exposed to the light cannot stay dark!”