I’ll always remember walking into a service station and a guy yelling out to me “far bro you’re in pretty good shape! Ho long did it take you to get where you are?”
Without pausing and I called back over my shoulder “about 15 years bro”.
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh” he said, audibly disappointed.
It got me thinking about the ups and downs of my gym career and all the setbacks I’ve had. The gym has been a passion of mine for the better part of 20 years. I first touched a pair of dumbbells when I was 17 and became more or less hooked.
I went to the YMCA first where I spent maybe a year or two. It’s a long time ago so I can’t remember how long exactly. From there I moved on to Les Mills, joining up around the year 2000. I was essentially a lone wolf in the gym, was quiet as hell and didn’t associate with anybody. I just went in, did my thing and went home.
After a while I got myself a training partner, Pete. Basically we got together, talked shit and lifted a whole bunch of heavy shit. He was exceptional company.
From here I started to learn more about eating. I heard it all. Eat this not that, detoxing, low carbs, no carbs, high fat, no sugar. You name it, I tried it along the way.
I think it was about maybe ten years in when I injured my shoulder pretty badly. I was limited for about 18 months to just cardio and lower body stuff. Really very annoying. I finally sucked it up and went to a physiotherapist after a couple of years. It was essentially fixed after a couple of months. Lesson learned.
I’ve always been a big guy, but I carried a fair bit of body-fat. I liked having big muscles but was still kinda self-conscious.
I started training with my friend Matt. We trained like complete idiots and worked hard. I learned about MyFitnessPal and started tracking my energy intake.
It took a while, but I finally hit upon a winning formula. Body-fat started to fall off me.
“Well” said Matt, doing my skin pinch one day “whatever it is you’re doing, keep doing it”.
I fell from 95 kilos down to 77, still managing to retain quite a bit of my muscle mass. My confidence went through the roof. I smiled more. I laughed more. I was more outgoing.
Fast-forward to where I am now and I’m still going. I became a trainer because I want people to develop and grow in the same way I did.
Why didn’t I stop?
I’m a stubborn bastard.