Bios & Interviews
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Master Corporal Soteroff in Afghanistan
Master Corporal Mark Soteroff is a Canadian hero. He joined the Canadian Forces in 2004 and took the path of an infantryman in The Royal Regiment of Canada. He stands 6 foot 4 inches tall and is one big, tough soldier; as tough as they come. MCpl Soteroff gave me the opportunity to share his story with our RxMuscle readers in the hopes that it would both inspire people to overcome injury and highlight what our soldiers put on the line for us everyday. His story begins just before his arrival in Afghanistan in April of 2010. This is a story of a man that looked death square in the eye and told him to fuck off. This is a story of a man that looked at permanent injury
and said that it was unacceptable.
Mark has always taken his time in the gym seriously, something that would wind up saving his life down the road. His one year Pre-Deployment Training was coming around the corner and he decided to change his training up from primarily weights to a combination of weights, agility and cardio training. Knowing that it would be the most physical thing he had ever attempted and that he couldn't let his platoon down, he trained as hard as any man could in preparation. Mark said this about his training:
"Weights are my stress relief, I look forward to it. However, being a bigger, muscular guy, I had to cut down on my size because of how hard it is for your body to pump oxygen through all that size. I had to balance my weight/strength training with cardio and endurance training to make sure I had to strength to carry my equipment for long distances."
Reality began to set in during the few days before he was set to leave to Afghanistan. Nervousness started to creep over Mark's mind; that was unacceptable. Over the past year of Pre-Deployment Training, he and his platoon had prepared as well as they could have; there was no reason to be nervous. They had received the best training possible for what they would encounter and Mark was highly confident in his abilities. Not only that, his platoon was at a fitness level that was way above average, his platoon was filled with bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts. These were the kinds of people you would want beside you if the shit hit the fan.
Fast forward and all of a sudden Mark was in Afghanistan. Right away, Mark took care of whatever duties he had to, but he candidly admits that he was thinking about where the gym was the whole time. The outgoing company had a lot of junk food in the area that he and his platoon would be occupying, they threw it all out. What did they replace it with? Just like in civilian life, you have a choice; you can eat poorly or you can eat well. They decided to eat well. They had all the good stuff, high protein, nutritious food – no chips or cookies there. These were serious people that took their bodies seriously. Occasionally, they would eat at the Brit mess and the food was good there as well. If they went off base, they would consume day rations or field rations. Mark understood how important quality food is to making sure your body operates at the highest level possible.
There were several gyms that they would frequent at Kandahar Air Field (KAF). They made it a point to get in the gym at least once per day. Duty came first of course, but they made sure they made it in. If these men and women are in the shit in Afghanistan and they are finding time to eat well and train everyday, what's your excuse? Mark commented that the Canadian gym was phenomenal and that he crushed some of the best workouts of his life while training in that gym. Sometimes Mark would find himself off-duty at a Forward Operating Base (FOB) and the first thing he would do is try to find a gym. If none was available, him and some counter parts would make due with anything they could find; water jugs, metal poles for chin-ups and whatever they could find.
Mark was losing weight no mater how many calories he would eat. I asked him about weight loss and he said this:
"Oh yeah, it's a desert. You're at a higher altitude above sea level and it takes a bit of getting used to. A positive to that is that it is really good for your fitness level. The thing is that you're going all day and sweating so much; no matter how much water you drink, you have to keep drinking or you'll get dehydrated. My caloric intake was through the roof but I just kept losing weight. You can always tell when guys have gotten back from Afghanistan because they don't even come close to fitting in their clothes anymore."
While in Afghanistan, Mark was tasked with being a Crew Commander for Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs). Largely, his duties were to assist convoys in getting to their destinations safely. Mark was just finishing a dismounted patrol and checking culverts for improvised explosive devices. They were going to get back in their vehicle and 
head out. That's when they were ambushed. Mark had no idea who they were or where they were from. What he did know was that there were machine gun rounds whizzing past and Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) being launched at him. That was when the drills kicked in.
Mark just started doing his job. All the endless hours of training were now manifesting in every one of his movements. In his team's training, they were all very hard on each other to make sure that they were prepared for just this situation. Bullets were flying from everywhere; Mark took cover and was laying down fire at the enemy trying to protect his patrol. Bullets were raining down on the dirt around him. Everything had slowed down, from the pull of the trigger to the acquisition of targets; time had slowed to a snail's pace. Explosions were going off, but Mark held his calm and reacted with the precision of a soldier that had practiced for this a million times. That was when it happened.
A RPG was launched from an unknown position and went off on what is called the X. The X was the area of a LAV that was right beside Marks face. Mark was wounded; immediately he and his teammates went into training to react and carry on. Miraculously, Mark had not lost consciousness and was sorting himself out.
I asked Mark what he first thought when he first realized the he had been injured, this is what he said:
"The second that the RPG round exploded, the second that I realized my hand was wounded, my first thought was how long was it going to be until I could get back into the gym. A bullet went over my head and brought me back in - I realized I still had work to do. I was pretty pissed."
Later on, a doctor that treated Mark told him that there was no way he should've been conscious after the blast. The shockwave and the concussive force should have killed him or at the least knocked him out. Frankly, that would be unacceptable in Mark's world. He maintained consciousness despite having his hand very badly injured and taking shrapnel in the chest, neck, arm and face.
The doctor said that if it wasn't for Mark's level of fitness, he would be dead.
The soldiers with Mark got him out of the shit and into safety. When he arrived at the Air Force Base in Bagram (located in Northern Afghanistan), that was where they did the first in-depth assessment of his hand and wounds. The doctor told Mark that he would be losing fingers and his stomach sank. That was Mark's darkest moment. There was a whole day where he thought that there was no recovery, that he would never lift again and that he would never be able to deadlift again. Being a true iron freak, he started thinking about things that he could strap to his wrist to allow him to deadlift and keep training. Mark had a stroke of luck that day in the form of a Canadian hand surgeon who, by coincidence, was landing for two hours. They grabbed him and he managed to save all the digits.
Rehabilitation:
Mark had thought about how he was going to rehab his hand and other injuries directly after the event occurred. Mark went through nine surgeries to fix his hand and it had to be done part by part. He knew that in order to maximize his healing and mental state, he had to get in the gym. So, for months at a time, he would have a cast on and he would be in the gym training what he could. He knew with the next surgery, he would lose his gains. But, that didn't matter; he would get them back eventually. I ask again, if a man that survives a RPG blast, has a severe injury to his hand and is fresh off surgery with a cast on is in the gym training, what fucking excuse do you have? None.
Failure was unacceptable to Mark, it was never a possibility. The doctors began to get frustrated with him because he would always be trying to push his limits in rehabilitation. All that kept him going was a fierce desire to regain use of his hand. The doctors began hiding the dexterity grip device and other pieces of equipment for measuring grip because Mark kept pushing the limits.
One of the most important elements to Mark's recovery was his support network; family, friends and veterans that had been over there. Everyone came together around Mark and supported him in his recovery. Integrally, the veterans could identify and offer insight into what he was going through because they had been through similar experiences.
Mark's overall feeling was that he had weighed 225 pounds and was in the best shape of his life, and it was all taken away in an explosion. One of the things that helped him get through his ordeal was knowing that he could be patient and let time take care of it. Of course, there were dark days where he was fresh off surgery and waiting to get back in the gym, but he got through it. The other vets talked to him and he used them as a sounding board.
Finally 100% Back in the Gym:
Obviously, Mark battles with the pain every day. He knows that pain is something that a lot of people have to live with every day, but it is not going to stop him from doing what he needs to do. He realizes his limits but modifies his training to be able to work around them. One belief that Mark holds is that he can figure out the way around any obstacle that is placed in front of him. This is just another obstacle.
Mark had lost a lot of upper body strength, put on a ton of bad weight and was coming off of his last surgery. He knew that he would be back to work in a few months, so he now had a goal. He would be ready for work and be in shape. People take you seriously if you show up weighing 250 pounds and standing at 6 foot 4. That was his goal, to be taken seriously and be big as hell. Mark had to set out a plan and get cracking. Luckily for him, his years of being in the gym had earned him a level of expertise that gave him insight he otherwise would not have had.
He began by reassessing what he could do and couldn't do with his hand. Once he determined that, he started pushing that limit. He started with mostly machines instead of free weights, it was an easy choice. As he developed more strength and started maxing out the machines, he incorporated lighter free weight movements into his program.
Mark refused to accept any kind of limit.
At times, Mark had to just strap in the weight and see how it felt, he would just hold on and get at it. For him, several times a day at the gym just wasn't enough, rehabbing was all consuming to Mark. He said that the biggest thing for him was just not accepting any limit and working as hard as he could, limits were crap to him. Of course, Mark had to be careful. He had to let
the tendons heal and let everything heal up properly. There was no way he would let himself go back to stage one again.
Back At Work:
As was mentioned previously, Mark had a goal to work towards. When he walked in the door on his first day back a smile of accomplishment was brandished upon his face. He had accomplished what he had set out to do, overcome his obstacle and come into work in great shape. He had never met the company he would be working with, they were all new to him and don't know him from anyone. Needless to say, Mark was in the gym frequently, twice a day was normal. One by one, the other soldier's in the company wanted to come train and do Physical Training (PT) with Mark.
Eventually, the soldier that was leading PT was leaving and everyone's eyes fell on Mark to take up the mantle. He obliged their request and started leading PT. Slowly, everyone was adopting the culture of fitness that Mark was a shining example of; protein shakes and pre-workout pump drinks were flowing.
I asked Mark if he realized that he was a role model for not only soldiers but bodybuilders and everyday people, this was his answer:
"I'm not really comfortable with that title. I am no better than anyone else, I am just a Canadian soldier that got wounded. Lots of guys get wounded over there and some worse than me. If people can learn from what I have been through, so be it – I hope they do. But no, I don't see myself as a role model. "
What's Life Like Now?:
Mark has pain everyday and it will never go away. One finger doesn't work properly and he knows what it looks like. He lives with the memories of the firefight, but that doesn't bother him. What bothers him is that he couldn't stay to serve with fellow soldiers and had to end his service short. Mark is an intensely loyal man and it shows. Master Corporal Soteroff was awarded the Sacrifice Medal and the General Campaign Medal for his service in Afghanistan.
What keeps Mark motivated now is that his career is far from over and in order to do his job to the fullest, he needs to be in top physical condition. Moreover, weight training is a part of his life, it isn't something he does just to have nice abs for the summer. He does it because he loves it, so motivation doesn't really factor into it. It's a part of who he is – he lives, he breathes, he trains. Mark also acknowledges that his mind works better when his body is in shape. For him, and everyone else, it follows that when your body is in shape and healthy, so is your mind. Besides, Mark likes it when he walks in the room and people see a big guy. He likes that feeling and so do I.
