Austin

Male

23

University Student

2002

I started bodybuilding because of sports, such as basketball, then later it was rugby. My aims were to build strength and endurance, but later on, that wasn't enough for me; I didn’t just want to be strong, I also wanted to look the part as well. I guess I wanted to look good; because presentation is everything, whether it's for: work, girls, or for health and fitness, or for all. When a good friend of mine introduced me to dietary supplements that led me to the distance, because it improved my structure and performance. Another friend of mine, introduced me to the Flex magazine, and after looking through that, I became amazed with muscularity, and that persisted me to take both training and nutrition seriously, although discipline, patience, and self-motivation are hard, especially when you’re surrounded by temptations like fatty food etc. This process was a struggle, which caused me to bounce from being lazy to being committed. When I started University, I found that I had no time for sports, and as I progressed in bodybuilding, it led me to the path of bodybuilding alone, and therefore leaving sports, because I found bodybuilding more motivating and satisfying.

I love bodybuilding, because it’s a stress relief, and it’s good for health and fitness. I like being in great shape, because presentation is everything, even though you may have a great personality (your so called inner beauty), it will always be overruled by your physical appearance (your so called outer beauty). This is a world over-ruled by stereotypes, where some or parts of that are true. And presentation represents who you basically are. Bodybuilding, however, is great for health and fitness, because you’re more energetic, fit, in shape, and live longer than those who are not in shape.

God motivates me to stay disciplined and patient in my nutrition and training. It’s hard at times, but with god on your side, anything is possible. Also, I guess the fear from the past haunts me, mostly at the stage when I was over-weight, because, not being in shape is depressing. Also, the stress relief factor, working out and looking good, encourages me to keep at it.

My major accomplishment was in 2005. From 2003-2004, I was over-weight, which I gained weight from 100kgs-125kgs. Back then I was a hard gainer, due to playing basketball six days a week, including at school, such as: intervals, lunch breaks, trainings, the game, and playing for fun in the weekend. I thought by gaining fat, I could convert it to muscle, but I guess that didn’t work.I should of lost fat and gained muscle because it's impossible to convert fat into muscle. I was stubborn and lacked the knowledge of both training and nutrition. But in April in 2005, a good friend of mine, introduced me to dietary supplements, such as: creatine, protein, and fat loss pills, as well as some diet tips on nutrition; this however persisted my training in both training and nutrition; which was pretty average. While other good friends of mine introduced me to the flex magazine and to some tips on training, which led me to do some research on magazines and websites, to enrich my knowledge in bodybuilding, and from April that year to December; I was 125kgs to 92kgs.

"Shut Up And Train." Every day you train is judgement day. Each rep, each plate matters. You don't make time for talk. All you care about is moving weight. Nothing else. This is hardcore. Can you handle it?