How I Got Into Bodybuilding
Growing up I was always very active athletically, playing basketball, soccer, and baseball. In high school I lettered in both track and football, and in college I continued competing in track as a pole-vaulter. In my junior year I accumulated a number of recurring injuries and decided it was time to try something else. That's when I started "bodybuilding". The weight training that I had previously done for sports provided me with the basic knowledge I needed to start lifting seriously, and I picked up the rest as I went. In the first few months after starting training I gained about 8 lbs and I was immediately hooked. I loved getting stronger and bigger, especially since I had always been a skinny kid growing up (I graduated HS around 140 lbs- yikes!).
While home for the summers during college, I worked out at Perfect Shape Gym in Webster MA, and boy were there some big guys there. I learned all I could and trained hard. The owner, Leo Cazeault was a bodybuilder and encouraged me to give competition a try. I placed 4th in my first contest at and it's been non-stop since then, with only brief breaks to make the necessary improvements.
Looking
back, I guess I wanted to be a bodybuilder long before
I consciously knew it - if that makes any sense. As
a kid, I used to constantly play with action figures
like He Man, GI Joe, etc. I also loved superheroes,
including the Hulk, Superman, and Spiderman. I guess
somehow those characters made an impression on me. I
wanted to be big and strong like those action figures
and superheroes, and what better way to achieve those
goals than bodybuilding?
|
 My most recent contest |
