Fort Mill bodybuilder lifting more than weights

While his health and wellness business is called Ability In Me, it is anything but himself that Steve Lister is interested in.

Paralyzed from the waist down at age 23 in a motorcycle accident, Lister, of Fort Mill, has not let that would-be setback determine his path in life. Now 40 and married with two children, Lister recently won in March the 2017 National Physique Committee Wheelchair National Championship in the heavyweight division earning his IFBB pro card. The International Federation of Bodybuilders and Fitness pro card puts Lister in rarefied air among the elite professional bodybuilders.

However, it was the journey to where he is today, that makes Lister who he is.

Lister started working out at the age of 12 at the YMCA in Connecticut where he grew up. For him, lifting weights was a way to get out his frustrations.

“I had a lot of issues growing up in a single parent household with my mom,” he said. “I was always into sports and working out was a way to get a lot of frustration out.”

After he graduated high school, Lister walked on to play football at West Virginia University in 1995 and graduated in 1999 with a degree in biology and exercise science. Less than a year later his life would change forever when the motorcycle he was riding was forced off the road straight into a guardrail. He woke up three months after the accident in a hospital in Connecticut with a plate in his head and without the use of his legs.

“The last thing I remember from the accident was flying through the air,” he said. “The doctors were able to save my life.”

Lister said he felt like he lost everything, including his then fiancé, and for two years he lived back home with his mother and described those two years of his life a grieving process.

“You learn who your friends are,” he said.

“I started to figure it out that I had to do something. My mom really inspired me. Seeing how my mom struggled as a single parent, but knowing she always kept going.”

Lister decided he wanted to do more with his life and was also inspired by the doctors and nurses who helped him after the accident. He decided to become a physicians assistant and moved to Florida, where he attended Nova Southeastern University to get a Masters of medicine science degree. He graduated in 2005 and ended up moving to North Carolina in 2007 and now works with Carolinas HeathCare System.

He married his wife, Summer, in 2009 and they moved to Fort Mill the same year.

Lister had always enjoyed going to the YMCA and regularly goes to the one on Gold Hill Road near Tega Cay nearly every morning when it opens at 5 a.m. While working out wasn’t new to him, it wasn’t until his friend Tim Caldwell suggested in 2016 he start training for a wheelchair bodybuilding competition that he gave the idea any thought.

Having a background in medicine helped.

“So, 80 percent of it is your diet, so if you know the basics, it’s not rocket science,” Lister said.

Still, he devoted six months to training and cut his calorie intake down to between 1,500 and 1,700 a day during his training. Lister won the first contest he entered in the NPC MidAtlantic Championship. He then went on to try his hand against the best of the best at the national championships in West Palm Beach, Fla. in March, again coming away with the top prize. Lister said he was expecting a top-three finished, but was surprised at the results.

“For me, it was about making connections,” he said. “I like to empower with education and motivation. This gave me a platform. My whole thing is about living longer and living better.”

Lister said he would like to continue competing in bodybuilding competitions, but knows it will cost between $12,000 and $15,000 to do so. He plans on selling his Ability in Me T-shirts to raise money and looks to get speaking engagements to help tell his story to inspire others.

“I am looking to empower those about what is healthy and what is right and promote health in the long term,” Lister said.

To find out more about Lister, you can go to his website, abilityinme.com.

This story was originally published April 13, 2017 at 4:08 PM with the headline "Fort Mill bodybuilder lifting more than weights."