Without water, we’d be poisoned to death by our own waste products. When the kidneys remove uric acid and urea, these must be dissolved in water. If there isn’t enough water, wastes are not removed as effectively and may build up as kidney stones. Water also is vital for chemical reactions in digestion and metabolism. It carries nutrients and oxygen to the cells through the blood and helps to cool the body through perspiration. Water also lubricates one’s joints.

In March 2001, I traveled three separate one-week intervals from San Francisco to London, from Columbus to Pittsburgh and from San Diego to Tulsa. Each excursion drew on my experience and history as a muscle building contributor, and each added to them immeasurably. I was pressed before people young and old who love bodybuilding, the iron, and the steel — fans, competitors, entrepreneurs, promoters, curiosity-seekers, and consumers. I was an inquiring curiosity in a curious world.