Area native is 'different' mentally, and now, physically

New Madrid native Michael Gurnow has transformed himself physically from 140 pounds to 200 pounds and is writing a book on the topic.

Submitted photo

Michael Gurnow comes across as a personable Midwesterner that can carry on a conversation with people of various demographics and any myriad of subject matters. In that way, he can mold himself into society comfortably.

However, make no mistake, Gurnow is like almost no one else you have ever met.

He’s different than you. He’s different from me. He’s just… different.

“I’m very passionate about my passions,” Gurnow told Semoball.com recently.

Two things you need to understand about the 43-year-old New Madrid native are that he is intellectually curious, as well as obsessive-compulsive. So keep those traits in mind as you follow this story.

New Madrid native Michael Gurnow has transformed himself physically from 140 pounds to 200 pounds and is writing a book on the topic. (photo submitted)

A man of many talents

Gurnow pays his light bill due to his success as a published author. But he is so much more than just that.

He taught for a decade at Southeast Missouri State but has also worked as a park ranger, farmer, film critic, and animal shelter operator.

He has written two books, “The Edward Snowden Affair” and “Nature’s Housekeeper.”

One is a tale based on international politics and law, while the latter is an environmental comedy.

“I have a tendency to jump from genre to genre,” Gurnow explained, “with a fairly, expert-like tinge to it.”

He can do this because he is well-read, well educated (he holds “a pile of degrees” from both Three Rivers Community College, as well as SEMO), and painfully curious.

“I used my intellect to get attention because I didn’t have the physicality,” Gurnow said of his upbringing in the Bootheel.

His third book could be, but won’t necessarily be, on the subject of bodybuilding, which is why you are reading his story in the Southeast Missourian sports section.

“Others have asked me why it has been a while since I published,” Gurnow said. “I was technically supposed to write a book on bodybuilding (in 2017). It’s been four years since. That is because my research isn’t done and this project has gotten a little bit out of hand.”

New Madrid native Michael Gurnow has transformed himself physically from 140 pounds to 200 pounds and is writing a book on the topic. (photo submitted)

To be like Thor

A 140-pound, Mr. Pibb-addicted, cigarette-smoking Gurnow saw a Halloween costume in 2016 designed as the super-hero, Thor, complete with his detailed physique. His wife, the former Heather Moran of Kelso, who had begun the process of transforming her body physically earlier that year, said he ought to purchase it.

Gurnow’s mind couldn’t process something so absurd, but somehow he had no problem envisioning something even more ludicrous.

He came up with the idea (known on social media as the ‘Thor challenge’) to not only purchase the costume, but he would also transform himself physically into the super-hero (I told you, the dude is different).

Oh, and along the way, he would pen a tome on the subject of bodybuilding.

“I was not an athlete,” Gurnow said. “I had no reason to believe that I could do this. But there have been a lot of books written about failure, as well.

“If I succeeded, then it was a great success story, but if I failed, there is also a story to it, regardless.”

New Madrid native Michael Gurnow has transformed himself physically from 140 pounds to 200 pounds and is writing a book on the topic. (photo submitted)

Life-altering routine

After watching her parents pass away at an early age, Heather, a Notre Dame High School graduate, began working out and lost 60 pounds.

“She is my inspiration,” Gurnow said.

He began the arduous routine of training six days each week and eating nutritious meals (very low sugar and/or sodium) five times each day.

“Three months into this,” Gurnow admitted, “I thought I was in over my head. The training was strenuous. I wasn’t expecting to see the results that I had expected to see.

“The eating regiment was just torture because I wasn’t accustomed to eating that much.”

He consumes “superfoods,” which can be spinach, kale, rice, and sweet potatoes.

Gurnow limits fruits (high sugar) and hasn’t had a soda in “probably four years.”

“I persevered,” Gurnow said. “I thought that I would continue on and if I don’t get the results, at least I could say that I did the due diligence.”

He also quit smoking cold-turkey and around the ninth month of his training, “the size started coming on very quickly.”

“Now it is ‘How far can I go with this?’”

Challenging himself

Gurnow weighs himself daily and is holding steady at a comfortable 200 pounds.

He plans on competing in bodybuilding competitions “until the wheels fall off” physically, which he believes is sometime in the next three to five years.

Last year, he attended the annual Arnold Sports Festival (named after and started by Arnold Schwarzenegger) in Columbus, Ohio, and stumbled onto something called the “Animal Challenge,” where attendees perform a physical feat, which is recorded and posted on social media.

He had already made a name for himself through various platforms due to the ‘Thor challenge,’ but he was curious (isn’t he always) as to how many repetitions of his body weight he could bench press.

The festival wasn’t held this year due to the pandemic, but the personal challenges were still performed and posted online by people.

Gurnow trained in his personal gym, which he has created in his basement, tested himself, and was able to perform 19 repetitions of 200 pounds.

To reach 20 repetitions, which would be the equivalent of two tons, he shifted his training from bodybuilding to strength training. However, one caveat was that he not only wanted to achieve the act but do so under one minute so that he could post it on Instagram.

As it turned out, the challenge – like the others he had pursued in recent years – was met.

“I throw myself into projects with great obsession and blinders on,” Gurnow said. “I see nothing or hear nothing else until that is done. That is part of my success.

“I’ve told people that I am not a great writer (and) I’m not a great athlete. My success in both fields is because I work harder than anyone else.”

Which clearly separates him from most.