I first started training in junior college in 1996. That was in Watertown, NY at the YMCA, which was a total basement torture dungeon with old rusty equipment, frayed cables, duct taped pads, and bare light bulbs. Ever since then I've never really been turned on to the posh type of gym. I love that down to business feel of the dungeon gym.

I had always been a really skinny kid and pretty nerdy, so the satisfaction of gaining mass and feeling stronger was certainly sweet to me.

In 1997, AustrianOakJr and I started training together, and both built our best physiques together. After college, we both fell out of the gym and I especially shrank to oblivion.

Probably like most guys, the feeling of the pump, the resistance of the weight, the awesome rush during training, and the soreness after that tells you about muscles that you didn't know you had. That's what keeps me coming back. Even more, I enjoy the health benefits and injury prevention and I enjoy the workouts themselves immensely. I see no negative to it, unless it were to lead to extreme pridefulness.