San Diego (KGTV) - James Kusuda's body didn't get built overnight — and it almost never got built at all.
The San Diego bodybuilder had a 98% blockage of his LAD artery discovered at age 39, a frightening diagnosis made worse by a family history of fatal heart problems.
"When I was 39, I started feeling some chest pain," Kusuda said.
The year after his diagnosis, his father died from a heart issue at 59. An uncle died at 55 on a tennis court.
Kusuda had a stent implanted and was prescribed statins, the most common medication used to treat heart conditions. But the statins came with a serious drawback.
"I'd do a chest workout; my chest would cramp, like towards the end of it, and then for the whole next day, I couldn't cross my arms. My chest would cramp every time I contracted it. The same thing would happen with my triceps," he said.
Muscle pain and cramping are common side effects of statins, affecting 1 in 10 patients.
His doctor, Scripps Health cardiologist Dr. Jorge Gonzalez, found a solution — a newer drug called Repatha, a PCSK9 inhibitor that fights bad cholesterol.
"That actually alleviated all the muscle pain that he was having, and he was able to pursue his career with lifting," Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez had known Kusuda for years and understood how important it was to manage both his health and his dream.
"It's amazing not only, you know, like to see, to make sure that his cholesterol is actually treated... that's the most gratifying part. Then you know the other part will be that he wanted to pursue that lifting, and eventually was able to do it. It was amazing," Gonzalez said.
Free from side effects, Kusuda threw himself into training. He competed in his first bodybuilding show in 2024 — at 51 years old.
"I was just going to compete, and I was one and done. Except I won the whole show," he said.
Kusuda went on to win a national championship in 2025 and placed third in 2026.
Now he has a new goal: moving up to Light Heavyweight and winning a national championship in a second weight class.
For others facing serious health challenges, Kusuda has a message.
"I have a strong belief that it's how you, what you make of a situation," he said. "Do the things you want, love the people you want. And be around the people you care for versus sitting alone, depressed about it."
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